Sydney court heard that brand‑new AFL shorts, a Qantas card and other blood‑stained items were found in a dumpster two days after the murders of umpire Jesse Baird and flight attendant Luke Davies.
Beau Lamarre‑Condon, 31, is accused of fatally shooting the couple with his police service weapon at Baird’s Paddington home on 19 February 2024. He has pleaded not guilty to two murder counts and one aggravated break‑and‑enter charge.
A statement from Craig Scott, a greenkeeper at Cronulla Bowls Club, was read in the New South Wales Supreme Court. Scott and a co‑worker discovered the belongings on 21 February after noticing the skip bin lid propped open. He described seeing black plastic bags and a brown garment with red stains that looked like dried blood.
During the search, Scott and his colleague found a silver watch, a leather pouch, a Qantas ID card, wooden drawers, various shoes, clothing and AFL shorts still in plastic packaging. Hours after the bin contents were reported, detectives visited Baird’s home; body‑worn camera footage showed officers meeting three cleaners hired by a housemate.
The video revealed police used Google Translate to communicate with the Portuguese‑speaking cleaners and instructed them to stop cleaning while declaring the property a crime scene. The jury also saw more than 200 photos of the scene, including walls, flooring and a fired bullet with blood traces. Senior Sergeant Bronwyn Lansley explained that the bullet passed through a blood source before penetrating wooden flooring, and that a significant amount of blood had saturated the joists.
Defence counsel John Stratton SC argued that Baird and Davies were shot in self‑defence after a struggle with the policeman, and that Lamarre‑Condon panicked and began cleaning immediately. The trial, presided over by Justice Natalie Adams, continues.
