Luke Davies (left) and Jesse Baird are believed to have been murdered. Photo / Instagram
Luke Davies (left) and Jesse Baird are believed to have been murdered. Photo / Instagram
The alleged murders of Sydney couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies have renewed tensions between the LGBTQIA+ community and New South Wales Police ahead of this weekend’s Mardi Gras parade.
The annual celebration of the rainbow community has already been overshadowed by the deaths of former TV presenter Baird, 26,and flight attendant Davies, 29, last week.
Senior Constable Beau Lamarre-Condon has been charged with two counts of murder in relation to the crime. Police believe Lamarre-Condon was previously in a relationship with Baird.
Due to the alleged involvement of a police officer in the crimes, NSW Police faced calls not to march as part of Mardi Gras this weekend, but eventually reached a deal with the organising committee that officers would march in plain clothes.
ABC News journalist Isaac Nowroozi toldThe Front Page, the Herald’s daily news podcast, that while Commissioner Karen Webb said she was delighted with that outcome, the situation is incredibly delicate.
“There’s a lot of anger about these alleged crimes, and what happens if police clash with people taking part in the parade, or if people start jeering or throwing things at officers, or anyone that is recognized as a police officer?
“Views on this are split, and police participating in the parade has been a contentious matter before this. When push comes to shove, if things kick off on the ground, how are they going to respond? Because there’s going to be a lot of eyes on this parade this year.”
Beau Lamarre-Condon, pictured with Taylor Swift, was a notable celebrity blogger before joining the police.
This comes after a report released in December was highly critical of how there have been reports of gay hate crimes committed by NSW police officers over the last 40 years, which has only highlighted the existing tensions between the police and LGBTQIA+ communities.
The police’s handling of the case, and questions around Lamarre-Condon’s alleged access to his police-issued firearm, are issues due to take centre-stage now the police have concluded their search for Baird and Davies’ bodies.
Police announced earlier this week they had found two bodies at a property in the rural area of Bungonia, roughly 200km south west of Sydney.
Media descended upon the sparsely populated town, which is largely surrounded by bushland, alongside police. Nowroozi was among the reporters at the scene, and told The Front Page it was hard to ignore how eerie the situation was, heightened by how far the town is from urban areas.
“When we got there, some of the members of Jesse Baird’s family were visiting the site, and we saw them leave and drive out the area around 7:30pm that evening, and you can just imagine what they would have been thinking on their drive on the way to that site. All the circumstances leading up to it would have just been absolutely horrific for them.”
Listen to the full episode to hear more from Isaac Nowroozi on the case that has gripped both sides of the Tasman.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. This episode was presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined Newstalk ZB in 2016.
