Jesse Baird, left, and Luke Davies, together at a Pink concert in Sydney the weekend before they disappeared. Photo / Instagram / Jesse Baird
Jesse Baird, left, and Luke Davies, together at a Pink concert in Sydney the weekend before they disappeared. Photo / Instagram / Jesse Baird
Human remains have been found at a rural property as police search for the bodies of two men allegedly murdered by a serving Australian police officer.
Investigators set up a crime scene at a second property at Bungonia after spending days searching dams and paddocks at another site in thearea outside Goulburn, close to 200km southwest of Sydney.
Police confirmed the two debris-covered bodies - thought to belong to Jesse Baird, 26, and boyfriend Luke Davies, 29 - had been located at the site.
The two men were allegedly murdered in the inner-city suburb of Paddington by serving police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon, 28, on February 19.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb said detectives were “very confident” the bodies belonged to the couple and the find had come after investigators received help from Lamarre-Condon.
The senior constable, who briefly dated Baird, allegedly twice attended a property at Bungonia after the double killing, once with an acquaintance who was unaware of the murders and a second time to move the men’s bodies to the nearby site.
Beau Lamarre posted an image in 2014 with Taylor Swift on his Instagram account. Photo / via Instagram
Webb said the families of the two missing men had been notified, while a forensic investigation was also being carried out at the Bungonia site.
“On behalf of the NSW Police Force, I’d like to pass on my condolences to the Davies and Baird families, their friends and the LGBTQI-plus communities,” she told reporters.
Police today began hunting an area deep in the sprawling Royal National Park as they tried to find the bodies and other evidence linked to the killings.
Investigators also said canvassing was continuing at Grays Point, in southern Sydney.
Jesse Baird and Luke Davies together at a Pink concert in Sydney on the weekend of February 10.
Divers previously finished a multi-day search of dams at another property at Bungonia while officers continued a line search in the area.
Webb previously said the crime scene was being treated as “anywhere between Newcastle and Bungonia and to the south of Sydney”.
“It is a massive area and without co-operation, it is just old-fashioned police work to work through every single lead and every single piece of information to try and locate Jessie and Luke for their family,” she said.
The senior constable is accused of using his police-issued firearm in the killing before disposing of the couple’s bloodied items in a skip bin at Cronulla, not far from Grays Point.
Police earlier on Tuesday confirmed a triple-zero call was made from Luke Davies’ mobile phone, rather than from Mr Baird’s phone as previously reported, four minutes after neighbours heard gunshots at the Paddington house.
A patrol car was later sent searching for the source of the call, which was disconnected before anyone spoke.
Luke Davies, left, and Jesse Baird. Photo / Instagram
But officers were unable to locate the user and did not attend Baird’s house at the time.
Investigators allege the crimes followed a months-long campaign of “predatory behaviour” by the charged officer, culminating in the fatal shooting.
Baird’s friend Isaac Muller said the former TV presenter and Lamarre-Condon had a brief encounter but were never ‘going out’.
Police allege Lamarre-Condon acted alone but divulged “partial admissions” to others before handing himself in, having travelled more than 1000km from Sydney to Bungonia and Newcastle in a rented van during his attempts to cover up the crimes.
What we know
Lamarre-Condon allegedly enters Baird’s home in inner-Sydney Paddington on February 19.
Witnesses report hearing gunshots about 9.50am.
Lamarre-Condon allegedly uses his police-issued firearm checked out from a police station in Sydney’s south two days earlier to murder the couple. Police believe several bullets might have been fired.
A triple-zero call is made from Baird’s phone at 9.54am, but the call disconnects before anyone speaks.
The aftermath
Lamarre-Condon allegedly uses Davies’ phone to delete messages and poses as him in texts to throw investigators off track.
Lamarre-Condon allegedly makes attempts to clean the crime scene and returns his firearm to Balmain police station, near his mother’s house, on Tuesday. He moves the weapon back to Miranda police station on Wednesday.
The bodies
Lamarre-Condon hires a white van from Mascot on Monday night. Police allege the Toyota HiAce, seen on CCTV footage outside Baird’s house, was used to move the bodies after the men were killed at Paddington.
An “innocent friend” travels with Lamarre-Condon in the van to a property in the Southern Tablelands on Wednesday afternoon. They stop in Goulburn to buy an angle grinder and padlock.
Lamarre-Condon allegedly cuts open a gate and goes alone into a property, returning about 30 minutes later.
The pair make the two-hour trip back to Sydney.
Lamarre-Condon allegedly buys weights and returns to the property later on Wednesday night. Police say it is possible he retrieved the bodies and disposed of them somewhere else after becoming suspicious his acquaintance might know what he was up to.
Lamarre-Condon is seen leaving the area about 4.30am on Thursday for Sydney, before heading to another acquaintance’s property in Newcastle. He allegedly asks for a hose to clean the van.
He leaves Newcastle about 5am on Friday and drives back to Grays Point, in Sydney’s south, where he leaves the van near a family home.
Lamarre-Condon allegedly makes “partial admissions” to acquaintances, including a former officer.
The investigation
Police begin an investigation after the couple’s blood-stained possessions are found in a skip bin in the southern Sydney suburb of Cronulla about 11am on Wednesday. A phone, credit cards, a wallet and a set of keys are discovered.
Officers declare Baird’s Paddington home, about 30km away, a crime scene after blood is found inside the property.
Items from a home at Balmain, in Sydney’s inner west, are seized about 11.30pm on Thursday.
