Jesse Baird’s family has made the heartbreaking journey to a rural property where his and Luke Davies’ bodies were found in surfboard bags, more than a week after the couple was allegedly murdered.
The alleged killer, 28-year-old Senior Constable Beau Lamarre-Condon, provided information from his jail cell that helped police finally locate the missing men.
Police on Tuesday confirmed the two debris-covered bodies had been located near a fence line on a second property at Bungonia, outside Goulburn, about 200km southwest of Sydney.
Investigators set up a crime scene after spending days searching dams and paddocks at another property in the area.
“It is an important time in this investigation (and) we’re very confident that we have located Luke and Jesse,” NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said.
“(Their families) have been waiting for news and each day, each hour was an agonising wait … we’ve been working around the clock to find Luke and Jesse and I’m pleased that we have found them.”
She said both their families, who had travelled from interstate, were planning to visit the site. Baird’s family was seen arriving at and leaving the property on Tuesday evening.
“Whilst this news may bring some solace to the Baird and Davies families I know this will be incredibly heartbreaking for them,” Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald said.
Family members leave a rural property on Jerrara Road, Bungonia, in the Southern Tablelands. Photo: AAP
The two men were allegedly murdered on February 19 in the inner-city suburb of Paddington by Lamarre-Condon, who police insist briefly dated Baird, a former Ten presenter.
The senior constable allegedly originally dumped the bodies at the first Bungonia property on Wednesday while an acquaintance who travelled with him, but was unaware of the murders, was left waiting at the gate.
Police allege Lamarre-Condon returned to the property and moved the bodies from there to the second Bungonia property after getting “spooked” when the female acquaintance may have become suspicious.
Police say the bodies were placed in the surfboard bags at Baird’s Paddington home, where they were allegedly shot dead on Monday last week, and transported in a Toyota Hiace van.
The second property at Bungonia where the bodies were found on Tuesday. Photo: AAP
Police allege Lamarre-Condon acted alone but divulged “partial admissions” to others before handing himself in, having travelled more than 1000km from Sydney to Bungonia and Newcastle in the rented van during his attempts to cover up the crimes.
Detective Superintendent Daniel Doherty said the bodies were located along a fence line at a property, about 20 minutes from a site police had searched in recent days.
“(The bodies) were in surf (board) bags which we allege were used to transport them from the house and Paddington,” Det Supt Doherty said.
“They were covered in debris and the state of the bodies won’t be known until we do a proper crime scene examination.”
Investigators were yet to determine whether Lamarre-Condon had any connection to the property.
Investigations also switched to the Royal National Park south of Sydney before police made the breakthrough to find the bodies.
The senior constable is accused of using his police-issued firearm in the killing before disposing of the couple’s bloodied items in a skip bin at Cronulla, not far from Grays Point.
The remains of Luke Davies and Jesse Baird were found in surfboard bags. Photo: AAP
Police earlier confirmed a triple-zero call was made from Luke Davies’ mobile phone, rather than from Baird’s phone as previously reported, four minutes after neighbours heard gunshots at the Paddington house.
A patrol car was later sent searching for the source of the call, which was disconnected before anyone spoke.
But officers were unable to locate the user and did not attend Baird’s house at the time.
Investigators allege the crimes followed a months-long campaign of “predatory behaviour” by the charged officer, culminating in the fatal shooting.
Top cop under pressure
The alleged double murder using a police-issued firearm has triggered a review of gun safety processes within the NSW Police force.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the use of a police gun to commit a crime like this “can never happen again”.
“So we’ve got to look to ways to mitigate that risk in whatever way we can.”
A critical incident was declared following the alleged murders, meaning it will be investigated by police internally and reviewed by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission.
Webb said a senior officer from Victoria Police would also be commissioned to conduct a review of NSW Police systems relating to guns.
“Victoria Police, simply by its size, the nature of their policing responsibility and the type of policing operations they conduct and some lessons they’ve learned, I think we can learn from them,” she said.
Asked if more safeguards were needed in relation to police accessing firearms, Ms Webb agreed.
“We don’t want this to happen again, we need to understand how this happened,” she said.
Tributes
Following the discovery of the couple’s bodies, AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon issued a statement.
Baird recently acted as an umpire for AFL and VFL games.
“Jesse will be fondly remembered for his vibrant, fun-loving personality, his professionalism and his commitment to the next generation of young umpires,” Dillon said.
“The entire AFL family extend our deepest sympathies to both Jesse and Luke’s families as well as our umpiring and broader team during this very difficult time.”
Dillon said the AFL would work with Baird’s family on a suitable tribute.
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-with AAP
