Cop charged over murder of missing TV host and lover
A CELEBRITY blogger-turned-police officer has been charged with the murders of an Australian TV presenter and his boyfriend.
Prosecutors will allege Beau LamarreCondon, 28, shot Jesse Baird and Luke Davies with his police pistol at Mr Baird’s home in Paddington, an upmarket suburb of Sydney, Australia.
Lamarre-Condon appeared in Waverley local court yesterday after handing himself in. He did not apply for bail and was ordered to reappear in court on April 23.
In court papers, Lamarre-Condon is alleged to have killed Mr Baird, 26, and Mr Davies, 29, at Paddington, south-east Sydney, between 12.01am and 5.30pm on Monday. The shooting is thought to have happened hours after the pair were last hired a white Toyota HiAce van and allegedly used it to dispose of the couple’s bodies, police said.
Neither man has been seen since, though Mr Baird’s phone appeared to have last been active on WhatsApp on Tuesday evening. The bodies are yet to be found.
Detectives believe Lamarre-Condon then returned the alleged murder weapon to a police station’s locked firearms safe on Tuesday.
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 red carpet reporter Mr Baird and flight attendant Mr Davies were found in a skip in Cronulla, south of Sydney, on Wednesday.
This led police to Mr Baird’s home in Paddington where pools of blood and blood-spattered furniture were found. Homicide squad commander Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said police had matched a bullet cartridge found in the premises to a police weapon, adding: ‘Police located a projectile at the premises which had been discharged.
‘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.’
Before becoming a police officer, Lamarre-Condon was a celebrity blogger known for taking selfies with stars including Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga.
Last week, days before Mr Baird and Mr Davies vanished, Lamarre-Condon had taken a selfie with Kourtney Kardashian and her husband Travis Barker.