Luke Davies is pictured before his farewell in Brisbane in November
EXCLUSIVE
Luke Davies threw a farewell party before he moved to Sydney to follow his dream of becoming an international flight attendant, three months before he was allegedly murdered alongside his new boyfriend.
Mr Davies, 29, was living in Brisbane and working as a cabin crew member on domestic Qantas flights until November, when he was offered his dream job working on international flights.
He threw a party with mimosas and margaritas to say goodbye to all his friends before he flew south and excitedly moved into a home in Waterloo, in Sydney’s inner suburbs, to start the next chapter of his life.
One of his best friends Dean Bailey told Daily Mail it was a bittersweet farewell because they didn’t want him to move, but they felt better knowing they would see him again in August for his 30th birthday celebration in Bali.
‘It was for selfish reasons that we didn’t want to him to go,’ he said.
‘But then we watched Instagram stories of him going to Chile or Tokyo – he loved travel and he was living that dream.
‘He was starting a new chapter, landed his dream job and moved, which was huge for him.’
Mr Davies didn’t tell his mates about his new boyfriend Jesse Baird, 26, because he was shy about revealing fresh relationships, but they assumed he was seeing someone when he uploaded a photo of them together on February 5.
Just two weeks to the day after that post, Mr Davies and Mr Baird were dead.
Luke Davies posted this picture with new boyfriend, Jesse Baird, to Instagram on February 5 – exactly two weeks before they died
Luke Davies is pictured, right, with friends at his farewell function in November, before he moved to Sydney
Luke Davies is pictured, front left, with his friends at his farewell party in Brisbane
Mr Baird’s one-time lover Beau Lamarre-Condon, who was a NSW Police constable at the time, allegedly used his police-issued Glock pistol to shoot them both three times in a Paddington terrace at 9.50am on Monday, February 19.
Police allege Lamarre-Condon did not expect Mr Davies to be at the house when he allegedly arrived to kill Mr Baird, but quickly adapted his plans.
Mr Baird had previously decided to end his brief friends-with-benefits relationship with Lamarre-Condon via text message in November, asking the ex-cop to refrain from ever contacting him again.
The deaths have been widely reported in the media, partly because Mr Baird was a presenter for Channel Ten and his former colleagues made heartfelt tributes to him on national television.
But while Mr Davies’ friends believe both men deserve the tributes they’re getting, Mr Bailey said they also feel his death has been overshadowed by Mr Baird’s.
‘I think the general consensus is he’s not getting as much media attention as Jesse – we all get that feeling a bit,’ he said.
Mr Bailey has now organised a vigil for Mr Davies at a park in Brisbane on Saturday, partly in response to the perceived imbalance.
Luke Davies is pictured with a friend at a farewell party in Brisbane in November
Dean Bailey is pictured, left, with Luke Davies. Mr Bailey has organised a vigil on Saturday
He has been overwhelmed with the large number of people who responded to the invitation, including people he went to high school with.
When Mr Davies’ death was revealed last week, Mr Bailey said a friend asked him if he had ‘seen what happened with Luke?’
‘I thought it would be some light-hearted thing,’ said Mr Bailey.
‘And I thought, “What’s Luke done now?” and then he tried to explain it to me and it wasn’t making sense and I started calling friends to find out.
‘He was a lovely guy, friendly, loving, caring, he had a cheeky side to him – that’s what made us instantly connect – he loved to laugh, and it was always like he was floating in an air of happiness.’
Another friend, Tomas Mian, told Daily Mail remembered Mr Davies as a ‘super adventurous’ person who was genuine and kind.
‘It’s hard to find people like him, and I knew he had a good amount of friends, but I didn’t how many he had,’ Mr Mian said.
He said his heart sank when a friend sent him a link about Mr Davies’ death, on February 21.
‘I read it and I thought, “no way, that’s not possible”, and I remember getting goosebumps because it didn’t feel real,’ he said.
Lamarre-Condon has been charged with two counts of murder and will face court at a later date.
In light of the charges, NSW Police chiefs have now started the process to dismiss Lamarre-Condon from the police force.
EXCLUSIVEREAD MORE: Beau Lamarre-Condon’s estranged dad breaks his silence over his son’s arrest
Pictured: Beau Lamarre-Condon, who allegedly killed two people on February 19