Jury Examines Close-Range Gunshot Evidence in Lamarre-Condon Double Murder Trial

Forensic examiners found markings consistent with a close-proximity gunshot wound on Jesse Baird’s body after his decomposed remains were located, a jury has heard.

Former police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon, 31, has pleaded not guilty to the February 2024 murders of Baird, his former partner, and television presenter Luke Davies, 29. The trial, now in its third week, has shifted focus to the discovery of the couple’s remains in rural New South Wales.

Crime scene officer Greg Moon, who oversaw the forensic sweep of the Greek monastery at Bungonia where the bodies were found, continued his testimony on Thursday regarding the condition of the remains. Most family members of Baird and Davies have been absent from the courtroom during the graphic forensic evidence.

Close-up photographs of the gunshot wound to Baird’s head were displayed to the jury, though shielded from the public gallery. Moon walked the length of the jury box to individually show each juror pinpoint stippling marks surrounding the wound—patterns caused by gunshot residue particles that indicate the firearm’s distance from the target.

The prosecution alleges Lamarre-Condon killed Baird “execution-style” at close range. The defence contends both men died during separate violent struggles in which the accused acted in self-defence.

Moon testified that stippling density correlates directly with muzzle-to-target distance. “The closer the firearm is to the target, the stippling will be quite condensed around the gunshot wound,” he said. “The only area I saw stippling was around that gunshot wound on the right temple.”

Justice Natalie Adams cautioned jurors on Thursday that they would encounter confronting photographic evidence as part of their civic duty. “Skin will be in a decomposed state … it’s not going to look what you think it’s going to look like,” the judge advised.

The bodies were discovered inside two surfboard or stand-up paddleboard bags, with the smaller bag containing one body zipped inside a larger one, Moon said. The remains were stacked atop one another and covered with rocks and small branches.

Fellow investigator Christine Abela testified on Wednesday that a powerful odour of decomposition was apparent immediately upon arriving at the rural property more than a week after the killings.

Abela detailed the discovery of concrete blocks, a gym weight, and a severed padlock at Cella Farm, where Lamarre-Condon allegedly attempted unsuccessfully to submerge the bodies in a dam. Moon noted multiple indicators that the remains had been at the monastery, roughly 20 kilometres from the farm, for several days, citing a large volume of maggots, other insects, and decompositional fluids within the bags.

The accused’s efforts to clean up and dispose of the bodies have drawn significant scrutiny. His barrister argues the actions at Bungonia, 200 kilometres south of Sydney, reflect panic over unexpected deaths rather than premeditation.

Earlier in the trial, jurors viewed CCTV footage allegedly showing Lamarre-Condon’s movements in the hours following the killings, including the purchase of a second surfboard bag and the hire of a larger vehicle. Footage released by the court on Thursday allegedly depicts the heavily disguised former officer returning to the murder scene with cleaning products and a tarpaulin.

The 12-week trial continues.

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