An “innocent friend” of a police officer charged with the murder of a Sydney couple unknowingly assisted him when he allegedly disposed of their bodies, detectives say.

NSW Police on Monday detailed the great lengths Beaumont Lamarre-Condon allegedly took to cover up the murders of former Ten reporter Jesse Baird, 26, and Qantas flight attendant Luke Davies, 29, a week ago.

It came as efforts to find the couple’s bodies led to police divers scouring dams at Bungonia, an area near Goulburn and almost 200km southeast of Sydney.

“It’s our number-one priority to try and locate Jesse and Luke to give the family some solace,” Deputy Commissioner David Hudson told reporters.

Officers were pointed to the Southern Tablelands property after discovering “an innocent agent” travelled there on Wednesday afternoon with Lamarre-Condon in a hired van.

An angle grinder bought earlier by the acquaintance was used to cut a padlock on a gate, before Lamarre-Condon travelled alone into the property, returning about 30 minutes later, police allege.

The pair made the two-hour trip back to Sydney only for the accused to allegedly purchase weights and return to the property later that night.

Gaps in the timeline of Lamarre-Condon’s movements last week left open the possibility he retrieved the bodies and disposed of them somewhere else, police allege.

“It would appear that the accused was suspicious of the acquaintance that attended with him and about her belief that what he might have been up to, and very likely may have returned to those bodies later that evening,” Hudson said.

The acquaintance was not a suspect and did not know that two bodies were allegedly in the back of the hired white van.

Lamarre-Condon was next seen leaving the area about 4.30am on Thursday for Sydney, before heading to an acquaintance’s property in Newcastle.

“Without fully disclosing any criminality, he asked for access to a hose to clean that van,” Hudson said.

Police gun used

Police allege Lamarre-Condon entered Baird’s home in inner-Sydney’s Paddington on February 19 armed with his police gun.

Witnesses reported hearing what may have been several gunshots about 9.50am, although only one bullet was found in the share house.

A day later, Lamarre-Condon allegedly signed his weapon into Balmain police station, near his mother’s house, before moving it back to the Miranda station the following day.

They say the officer hired a white van from near Sydney airport on the evening of February 19.

After being named in media reports about the two mens’ disappearances, he handed himself in to police and was charged with two counts of murder on Friday.

The 28-year-old senior constable has not entered a plea and has, after legal advice, exercised his right to silence.

Police allege Lamarre-Condon, who was previously in a relationship with Baird, went to Newcastle on the night before he handed himself in at an eastern Sydney police station on Friday.

Divers had previously been seen searching a waterway at Lambton, Newcastle.

Lamarre-Condon is being held in custody after not making a bail application on his initial court appearance for the twin murder charges.

The couple’s disappearance was deemed suspicious when blood-stained possessions belonging to both of them were found in a skip bin in the southern Sydney suburb of Cronulla on Wednesday.

The discovery led police to Baird’s blood-smeared share house, about 30km away in inner-city Paddington.

Police Commissioner Karen Webb on Sunday asked the community for patience as police work to determine what happened.

“I can reassure Luke and Jesse’s loved ones, and the people of NSW, that we are working around the clock to find those answers,” she said in a statement.

Former Network Ten colleagues of Baird paid their respects on social media while the AFL, for whom he was recently acting as an umpire, said their thoughts were with the men’s families and the umpiring community.

Mourners continue to lay floral tributes outside the Paddington terrace where police allege the murders took place.

Lamarre-Condon, who up until days ago had an active social media presence, joined the police force in 2019.

Photos posted online show the former celebrity blogger posing with dozens of A-listers including Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus and Harry Styles.

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– AAP