Celebrity chaser and police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon has been charged with the double murder of Channel 10 presenter Jesse Baird and his boyfriend Luke Davies.
Police will allege Lamarre-Condon, 28, shot the pair with his police pistol at Mr Baird’s home in Paddington, in Sydney’s inner east.
Lamarre-Condon appeared in Waverley Local Court on Friday afternoon, sitting in the dock in a black t-shirt after he handed himself into police at Bondi.
He only looked up briefly to acknowledge the magistrate, and had no-one in court, either family or friends, to support him during his short appearance.
He did not apply for bail and was ordered to reappear in court on April 23.
According to court documents, Mr Baird and Mr Davies were both allegedly killed by Lamarre-Condon at Paddington between 12.01am and 5.30pm on Monday.
The shooting occurred just hours after they were last seen alive at a pre-Mardi Gras party night on Sunday at the Beresford Hotel in Surry Hills.
Later on Monday evening, Lamarre-Condon hired a white Toyota HiAce van from Mascot and allegedly used it to dispose of the couple’s bodies, police said.
Detectives believe Lamarre-Condon then returned the alleged murder weapon to a police station’s locked firearms safe on Tuesday.
Constable Beau Lamarre-Condon (pictured) has been charged with murdering flight attendant Luke Davies and former Channel 10 presenter Jesse Baird
Beau Lamarre-Condon was charged after he handed himself in to police at Bondi following a massive manhunt (Lamarre-Condon is pictured being led away for questioning by detectives)
Former Channel 10 presenter Baird, 26, (right) and his new partner Luke Davies, 29, (left) vanished from Paddington, in Sydney’s east, on Monday night
A crime scene was established at Newcastle, 165km north of Sydney, where the Toyota HiAce police believe was used to move the bodies of Mr Baird and Mr Davies was spotted (pictured)
He took sick leave from the NSW Police Force for the rest of the day and failed to return to work on Wednesday.
Bloodied clothes and other belongings including credit cards belonging to former Studio 10 staffer Baird, 26, and Davies, 29, were found dumped in a skip bin in Cronulla on Wednesday.
That discovery led police to Baird’s home in Paddington where pools of blood and blood-spattered furniture were found – sparking grave fears for the new lovers.
Homicide Squad commander Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said police had matched a bullet cartridge found in the premises to a police weapon.
‘Police located a projectile at the premises which had been discharged and also a fired cartridge case,’ Det Supt Doherty said.
‘This has now been physically matched to a NSW Police firearm and forms part of the evidence for the alleged facts to face court for this 28-year-old man.’
The bodies of Mr Baird and Mr Davies are yet to be found.
The murder investigation had multiple crime scenes at several locations across the city and stretching 165km north to a suburb in Newcastle
A white Toyota HiAce police believe was used to transport the bodies of Mr Baird and Mr Davies was located at Grays Point near Cronulla. It is pictured being removed by police
Police had frantically searched for a white van they believe was being driven by Lamarre-Condon. It was captured on CCTV (pictured) driving past Baird’s home in Paddington
It is understood police will allege Mr Baird was already dead when friends received messages from his phone and social media accounts on Tuesday.
Superintendent Doherty said a Triple Zero call had been made to emergency services but could not confirm whether it was made by Lamarre-Condon.
It is understood Lamarre-Condon handed himself in to police with the assistance of worried family members. Police raided his family’s home in Balmain in the early hours of Friday.
He surrendered at Bondi police station at 10.30am on Friday.
That was about the time Daily Mail reported that Lamarre-Condon’s phone was operational.
Lamarre-Condon was being questioned by police on Friday afternoon. He will be formally refused bail by police and face court on Friday or Saturday.
Lamarre-Condon’s phone had been switched off – but his WhatsApp account showed messages were ‘last seen today at 9.55am’ on Friday morning
Police raided a home in Balmain connected with Lamarre-Condon’s family early on Friday morning when they seized a ‘number of items’
New crime scene in Newcastle
A street in New Lambton, Newcastle – 165km away from the Paddington crime scene – was sealed off by police on Friday after a white van was sighted near Lambton Pool in Karoola Road.
The vehicle matched the description of the one police were searching for.
‘There’s cops everywhere, walking the streets, door knocking,’ said one local resident. ‘Got the road closed past the pool.’
Another added: ‘The park is taped off with police tape up near the bowling club and lots of police are walking the park at the moment.’
Lamarre-Condon is suspected to have driven the van, registration CW 82 PM, to a home in the Newcastle suburb where it was spotted at 10pm on Thursday before it had vanished again by 2am.
Police located the van at Grays Point near Cronulla later on Friday and it has been seized for forensic examination.
Daily Mail understands a close friend of Lamarre-Condon’s lives in Newcastle and he would visit her regularly.
No wrongdoing or involvement is suggested of that woman.
Prior to becoming a police officer, Lamarre-Condon was a celebrity blogger, notorious for grabbing selfies with stars like Jessica Hart (pictured)
His social media accounts, which featured pictures of Beau Lamarre-Condon with celebrities including Taylor Swift (pictured), have all been deactivated
Who is Beau Lamarre-Condon?
Prior to becoming a policeman, Lamarre-Condon was a celebrity blogger who was notorious for taking selfies with stars including Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga.
He joined the NSW Police Force in 2019, and hit the headlines again when he was caught on camera tasering a man during an arrest.
An investigation later cleared him of any wrongdoing.
Just days before Mr Baird and Mr Davies vanished, Lamarre-Condon was still following celebrities, and was pictured grabbing an awkward selfie with Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker in a Sydney street last week.
Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said Lamarre-Condon was working with a specialist command unit at the time of the alleged murders but refused to go into further detail.
However Lamarre-Condon had recently bragged to others that he was completing a VIP protection module as part of his new duties.
Last week, Lamarre-Condon was still takeing selfies with stars, grabbing this selfie with Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker
Jesse Baird and Luke Davies are pictured. Police believe they have been murdered
Jesse Baird and Luke Davies’s disappearance
Mr Baird and Mr Davies went missing from the television presenter’s $3million rental home on Monday after CCTV captured them late that night entering the premises.
The men were filmed wandering outside before heading towards the back of the terrace. A white van was then seen driving nearby.
Neither man has been seen since, however Mr Baird’s phone appeared to have last been active on WhatsApp on Tuesday evening.
Now the search is on for their remains.