Witness tells jury of 'awful' drive with accused double killer

In short:

A jury has heard from a former friend of accused murderer Beau Lamarre-Condon about a drive in a white van to a farm south of Sydney.

The witness, known by the pseudonym Elizabeth Kennedy, told the court she thought Mr Lamarre-Condon was "up to something".

Mr Lamarre-Condon denies murdering couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in a Paddington home in February 2024.

Accused murderer Beau Lamarre-Condon told a friend "I don't want to involve you" during a drive in a white van to a farm south of Sydney, where he allegedly attempted to sink the bodies of a young couple in a dam, a jury has heard.

The 31-year-old former police officer is on trial over the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in February 2024, who he is accused of shooting with his police pistol in Mr Baird's Paddington share house.

He has pleaded not guilty and his lawyers will argue self-defence.

The jury in the Supreme Court trial, which is now in its fifth week, has heard of an alleged attempt to sink the men's bodies in a dam at rural Bungonia after storing them in surfboard bags and transporting them in a hired van.

A witness known by the pseudonym Elizabeth Kennedy on Wednesday told jurors of a drive she went on with Mr Lamarre-Condon in a white van to the Goulburn area on February 21, 2024, where they stopped at a Bunnings store and he asked her to pay for an angle grinder.

Ms Kennedy said the accused was "very talkative" during the drive and "wouldn't let me get a word in".

She recalled there being a blue tarp in the back and the vehicle smelled "lemony" as if it had been cleaned.

She said she "wasn't allowed to put the windows up or turn the aircon off" and testified that he also asked her to turn her phone off.

When she asked where they were going, she said he told her: "Just to a farm, the farms are so beautiful around here."

'I thought he was up to something'

Mr Kennedy recalled arriving at a property which had dams and said Mr Lamarre-Condon told her he knew the owners and needed to break in and "save" cattle that were going to get out.

She told the jury that he used the angle grinder while wearing gloves to cut a padlock at the gate, before leaving her at the gate and driving further into the property.

"Before he did the padlock thing … he asked me to put garbage bags over the number plates. And I said no. So he got out and did it himself," she said.

"Was there any conversation about why?" Crown Prosecutor Caitlin Diggins asked.

Ms Kennedy replied: "No, I thought he was up to something."

She testified that she waited at the gate for 30 to 40 minutes and it was getting dark when she began to have a panic attack.

"I was hyperventilating and crying."

She gave evidence that when the accused returned, he was wearing gumboots and "told me to shush because I was panicking".

He checked that she had not called anyone from her phone, Ms Kennedy said, and mentioned that he would have to return there later but would take her home.

"I did ask why he had to come back, he said 'don't worry, I can't tell you'," she said.

"He said: 'I don't want to involve you'."

On the two-hour drive back, she said the accused "wouldn't take any of the tolls" despite her knowledge of a shorter route.

"It was freezing, the windows were still down, the aircon was still on. It was an awful drive back."

Ms Kennedy said Mr Lamarre-Condon made "cryptic" conversation on the return trip, including about her medication, whether she had thought about suicide, and having nightmares.

"It seemed like something went wrong … he wouldn't tell me about it, he said you don't need to know, I'm taking you home'."

Ms Kennedy said she did not see anything in the rear of the van on the return drive and said the blue tarp was gone.

She said the accused asked her to buy him a peach iced tea because he would need the caffeine because he would have to be "up all night".

The court has previously heard that the couple's bodies were ultimately found near a monastery in the Bungonia area — about 15 minutes away from the farm, eight days after the alleged murders.

New CCTV vision of accused released

On Wednesday, the court also released a two-hour video of footage from various CCTV cameras, which was recently played to the jury.

The compilation shows what the Crown said were Mr Lamarre-Condon's movements on February 20, 2024, the day after the alleged murders.

The footage includes stops at an ATM to withdraw $500 and Balmain Police Station, and shows various changes in vehicle including Mr Lamarre-Condon's Tesla, a hired car, and a white van, which travel around areas including Kensington, Balmain near the accused's home, and back to Paddington.

In part of the video, Mr Lamarre-Condon is recorded in Bunnings Alexandria, where he purchased a drill and drill bit, hi-vis clothing, gumboots, pants and dust masks.

Later in the day, the footage shows Mr Lamarre-Condon having sushi with a male friend in Cronulla for half an hour before they walk along the esplanade and near the car park of the mall.

The two later stop at a Cronulla bowls club, where the friend gets out of Mr Lamarre-Condon's Tesla and looks inside a skip bin.

The court has previously heard that the following day, a groundskeeper alerted police to items in the bin which included bloodied items, identification cards and possessions.

The discovery prompted police to attend Mr Baird's share house, where they found three cleaners who had been organised because Mr Baird was moving out that week.