Arabic version: هيئة المحلفين تستمع إلى رواية صديقة عن رحلة بشاحنة إلى مزرعة
According to ABC News, a jury has heard evidence from a former friend of Beau Lamarre-Condon about a February 21, 2024 drive in a white van to a farm south of Sydney. Lamarre-Condon, 31, is on trial in the Supreme Court over the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies. He has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers will argue self-defence.
The witness, identified by the pseudonym Elizabeth Kennedy, said the accused was “very talkative” on the trip to the Goulburn area and asked her to pay for an angle grinder at Bunnings. She told the court there was a blue tarp in the rear of the van, which smelled “lemony” as if it had been cleaned. She said she was told to keep the windows down, leave the air conditioning on and turn off her phone.
Kennedy said Lamarre-Condon told her they were going “just to a farm” and, after arriving at a property with dams, used the angle grinder while wearing gloves to cut a gate padlock. She testified that he asked her to put garbage bags over the number plates, but she refused. After waiting at the gate for 30 to 40 minutes, she said she began panicking. When he returned, she said he told her to be quiet and later said: “I don’t want to involve you.”
Under cross-examination, Kennedy denied knowing there were two bodies in the van or assisting with the disposal of bodies. She also rejected suggestions that Lamarre-Condon had shown her Baird’s head, told her Baird was dead, or said he should go to police. Her evidence is protected by a certificate granted by Justice Natalie Adams, meaning it cannot be used against her in NSW court proceedings.
The court also released a two-hour CCTV compilation that prosecutors said showed Lamarre-Condon’s movements on February 20, 2024. The footage included an ATM withdrawal of $500, a stop at Balmain Police Station and visits involving several vehicles. It also showed him at Bunnings Alexandria buying a drill and drill bit, hi-vis clothing, gumboots, pants and dust masks, before later meeting a male friend in Cronulla.
