Beau Lamarre-Condon's Text Messages Reveal 'Infatuation' with Jesse Baird
Newly revealed text messages show Beau Lamarre-Condon's 'infatuation' with Jesse Baird, who was allegedly murdered by the former police officer in February 2024. The messages, tendered as evidence, paint a picture of Mr. Lamarre-Condon's obsessive behaviour towards Mr. Baird after their casual romance ended.
Ten months before his alleged murder, Jesse Baird made it clear to Beau Lamarre-Condon that they were not in a relationship. In an Instagram message from April 2023, Mr. Baird stated, "Beau and I see each other from time to time however we aren't 'seeing' each other or in a relationship."
However, court documents reveal that Mr. Lamarre-Condon, who is accused of Mr. Baird's murder, had been developing an "obsessive and jealous infatuation" with him after their casual romance ended. The accused, a former police officer, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, accused of shooting Mr. Baird and his new boyfriend, Luke Davies, using a police pistol in February 2024.
Messages Reveal 'Infatuation'
Messages between Mr. Lamarre-Condon and his colleague and friend, Senior Constable Nicole Harvell, have been tendered as evidence. In one exchange, Mr. Lamarre-Condon expressed his feelings about Mr. Baird, saying, "Argh idk if I'm being stupid or not or I'm wasting my time".
Ms. Harvell replied, "… he told him he's not seeing you. Well of course he's seeing you. That was a massive lie". The jury has heard that Mr. Lamarre-Condon met Mr. Baird in 2022, but there was a "disconnect" between what each saw as the nature of the relationship and where it was going.
Prosecutors allege that Mr. Lamarre-Condon's infatuation with Mr. Baird led him to stalk the victim in the months prior to the alleged double murder. The accused's lawyers have indicated an argument of self-defence, telling jurors that separate struggles inside Mr. Baird's Paddington home in Sydney resulted in two tragic deaths.
Online Surveillance and Interference
The court has heard that Mr. Lamarre-Condon engaged in online surveillance of Mr. Baird, checking his Instagram followers and interfering with his phone by deleting contacts of other men and deleting text messages. In one instance, Mr. Lamarre-Condon sent Mr. Baird a series of messages asking him to call or "chat in person", saying he was "confused" and he did not "understand why this [the flowers] is an issue".
In a draft message, Mr. Lamarre-Condon wrote, "… You feel as if I possibly blocked someone on your Instagram, as I was with you this morning, which would be a massive betrayal of your trust …… When I re-entered this situation with you, I even said to you I want to live in the moment with you and I don't want to know about anything or anybody else …".
Break-Ups and Damage Control
The evidence suggests that there were two apparent break-ups between Mr. Baird and Mr. Lamarre-Condon, first in April 2023 and another in November 2023. After the second break-up, Mr. Lamarre-Condon sent Ms. Harvell a screenshot of a follow-up message to Mr. Baird saying "after sleeping on it I really want to take ownership of something".
About six hours later, Mr. Lamarre-Condon said Mr. Baird had blocked him on social media. On the morning of November 18, Ms. Harvell touched base with Mr. Lamarre-Condon, who said, "I'm so in the wrong though and it sucks!". Ms. Harvell replied, "… He caused you to do this. Honestly. He was the biggest mind f**k".