A friend of Beau Lamarre-Condon has told a New South Wales supreme court jury that the former police officer confessed to killing two men, describing the act as an "out-of-body experience" before attempting to downplay it as a joke.
Lamarre-Condon, 31, is accused of fatally shooting couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies with his police service weapon in Baird's Paddington home on 19 February 2024. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one charge of aggravated break and enter.
Friend recounts confession
The friend, whose identity is suppressed, testified on Friday that Lamarre-Condon arrived at his workplace on the day of the alleged murders and said "I've done something". When asked for an explanation, the officer allegedly said "I've killed people".
"I said 'are you fucking kidding me?', he said 'I wish I was'," the friend told the court. "He said it just felt like an out-of-body experience and it just wasn't him."
The friend said Lamarre-Condon made a gesture with his fingers indicating a firearm and said "pew pew" when describing how he killed the men. When pressed for details, Lamarre-Condon allegedly said: "I shot the first one through the head and the second one through the door." He then said the second person wasn't meant to be shot but he "couldn't leave any witnesses".
Request for help cleaning up
The officer asked his friend to leave work to help "clean up his mess", noting the bodies were heavy and he needed to buy a new door. The friend returned to his workplace and explained the situation to his team lead, who told him to say he had a meeting he couldn't miss.
Lamarre-Condon later messaged the friend asking "I should get an Oscar, hey?" before going on a video call and saying "got you". The friend responded: "it's not a fucking joke, you're mentally fucking with me". The officer replied: "OK it is real but I just didn't want you to tell anyone."
On 20 February 2024, the day after the alleged murders, the pair went to dinner and Lamarre-Condon said he needed to "throw out bloody clothes and things". He made a gesture indicating his legs were sore and said: "I didn't realise bodies would be heavy."
Attempts to contact police
Shortly before Lamarre-Condon handed himself in, the friend contacted a lawyer who attempted to connect him with NSW police. Police said: "Is it worth our time coming out? It's really busy," the court heard. The lawyer responded: "You'll want this information."
Earlier on Friday, the friend revealed that during a trip overseas in late 2023, Lamarre-Condon told him: "I need to find a spot … to purchase a silencer." The officer said he was going hunting on a mate's farm. They found what they believed to be a gun store, but it had either closed down or there had been a fake ad.
Back in Sydney, Lamarre-Condon drove his friend to a national park and took a police service weapon out of a paper bag. He gave the friend a police-issued radio and asked him to listen for reports of police movement after firing the weapon. The friend said Lamarre-Condon told him they were training bullets taken from an annual police shoot.
Lamarre-Condon fired the weapon and asked how loud it was, then shot a bullet into bushland and asked: "does this make any difference on the sound?" The friend said: "I proceeded to say 'you could hear that anywhere, it was super loud'." On their way home, Lamarre-Condon allegedly said "you can't tell anyone about this".
The defence team claims Baird and Davies were accidentally shot when the accused acted in "self-defence". Defence lawyer John Stratton SC said Lamarre-Condon then "panicked considerably", cleaning up the scene and disposing of the bodies. The trial before Justice Natalie Adams continues.
