Double murder trial: Former officer denies fake Grindr profile

Beau Lamarre-Condon, a former police officer facing two murder charges, denied creating a fake Grindr account for his ex-partner Jesse Baird during cross-examination on Wednesday. The denial comes after a friend of Lamarre-Condon’s testified earlier in the trial that he had made fake profiles of Baird on various apps following their breakup.

Lamarre-Condon is accused of fatally shooting Baird and Baird’s partner, Luke Davies, in their Paddington home in Sydney on February 19, 2024. He used his police service weapon in the incident. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one charge of aggravated break and enter.

Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC questioned Lamarre-Condon in the witness box regarding a specific email address. Hatfield suggested the former officer created the address himself rather than using one belonging to the man Baird was seeing at the time. Lamarre-Condon said he could not confirm if the address was 100% the other man’s, noting it was something he had seen on social media.

The former officer explained his actions were an attempt to verify if the email was active on the app. He stated he wanted to see if Baird was in an exclusive relationship with the other man. Lamarre-Condon told the court, “I attempted to create a fake account with an email I believed was from him to see if it was active.”

He clarified that he did not make an account or operate it as Baird. Lamarre-Condon said he was only checking if the address was available on the service, which would indicate whether the person was using the platform. The trial before Justice Natalie Adams continues in the New South Wales Supreme Court.