The bodies of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies were finally found on Tuesday, more than a week after they were allegedly killed by Beau Lamarre-Condon.

The murder of the couple – TV presenter and AFL goal umpire Baird, 26, and flight attendant Davies, 29 – has gripped the nation and sparked criticism of New South Wales Police practices.

Senior Constable Lamarre-Condon, 28, handed himself in to police on Friday, but initially refused to reveal the location of the bodies.

On Tuesday morning, after obtaining a lawyer, Lamarre-Condon allegedly drew a map of the bodies’ location from his jail cell.

This led police to find surfboard bags containing the bodies of Baird and Davies at the fence line of a rural property at Bungonia, about 200 kilometres south-west of Sydney.

As of Wednesday afternoon, police were still collecting evidence at the Bungonia property.

Lamarre-Condon has been stood down without pay and remains in custody.

He has not made a bail application, and is set to appear in court on April 23.

Who is Beau Lamarre-Condon?

He first made headlines in 2014 after publicly coming out at a Lady Gaga concert by throwing a note on stage, which the singer read aloud before asking him backstage, where Lamarre-Condon told The Sydney Morning Herald the pair talked for hours.

His fondness of celebrity continued into adulthood; Lamarre-Condon ran now-defunct celebrity websites, attended red-carpet events and interviewed or took pictures with big names such as Russell Crowe, Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus.

He eventually joined the NSW Police Force. His mother is a former police officer, his father is a security guard, and his sister is a former NSW Police radio dispatcher.

In 2020, Lamarre-Condon made headlines after viral footage showed him tasering a suspect. He was cleared of any wrongdoing following an internal investigation.

History with Baird

According to police, alleged murderer Lamarre-Condon had an on-off relationship with Baird that ended late last year.

However Corey-Dean Thorpe, a friend of Baird’s, claims the pair actually had a friends-with-benefits arrangement and Lamarre-Condon had developed unreciprocated deeper feelings, later falsely portraying the pair as a couple on social media.

Thorpe told Daily Mail Australia Baird said he had been followed home by a police car in Sydney in August 2023, and later felt like someone had been standing over him while he was sleeping.

Investigators allege Lamarre-Condon embarked on a months-long campaign of “predatory behaviour”, and had used a key to sneak into Baird’s home to wipe contacts and messages from his phone.

Baird and Davies reportedly began dating in February.

“What we’ll allege is that the accused went to the first property at Bungonia, as has been outlined, did go back to the property which was the first property that was searched and moved the bodies to the current location,” Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said on Tuesday.

Tributes flow

By Wednesday afternoon, there was no space left for flowers on the fence outside Baird’s home as the couple’s friends, family and members of the LGBTQI+ community continued to leave tributes at the property.

One bouquet featured a scale-model Qantas plane in tribute to Davies, who worked as a member of the airline’s cabin crew.

Sharing a pic of these beautiful boys, Luke Davies & Jesse Baird as reported they have both lost their lives due to murder. I’m absolutely heartbroken for my friends. Sending all my love to the families, friends and communities of these two souls, taken far too soon #RIP 💔🥺 pic.twitter.com/G4li03r0Vj

— Tim Millgate (@timinthecity) February 23, 2024

Questions over police protocols

As Lamarre-Condon allegedly used a police-issued firearm to murder Baird and Davies, gun safety processes within the NSW Police Force are being reviewed.

A friend of ours was subject to stalking and domestic violence by her husband, a serving Sergeant in @nswpolice . He had his service issue Glock removed for a period of 12 months. During that time he was able to sign out a Glock to do paid crowd control for NRL matches.

— Phteven with a pee haitch (@BroHilderchump) February 26, 2024

• 1800 RESPECT: (1800 737 732)
• Lifeline: 13 11 14

-with AAP