Arabic version: بدء محاكمة في قضية مقتل جيسي بيرد ولوك ديفيز المزعوم

According to ABC News, the trial of former police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon, accused of murdering Sydney couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies, begins today in the NSW Supreme Court.

Mr Lamarre-Condon, now 31, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of domestic violence-related murder and one count of aggravated break and enter. It is alleged he shot the pair with his service firearm inside Mr Baird’s shared terrace in Paddington, in Sydney’s east, in February 2024.

The aggravated break and enter allegation relates to the Paddington property in August the previous year. Mr Lamarre-Condon was charged days after NSW Police appealed for information about the couple, who had last been seen at a pre-Mardi Gras party. Personal possessions were later found in a bin at Cronulla in the Sutherland Shire.

The following week, the men’s bodies were found in surf bags in a rural area at Bungonia, nearly 200 kilometres south-west of Sydney’s CBD. Mr Baird was a Channel Ten television presenter and Mr Davies was a Qantas flight attendant. The case affected families and friendship circles and sent shock waves through the LGBT community.

The case is being heard before Justice Natalie Adams at Sydney’s King Street Courts and is estimated to run for three months. The court is expected to complete jury empanelling from a wider jury pool before Crown Prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC delivers an opening address. Jurors are likely to hear from dozens of witnesses.