Live: Beau Lamarre-Condon explains why he threw Baird's phone off a bridge

Beau Lamarre-Condon's murder trial is continuing, after the jury was sent home early yesterday for a legal issue to be discussed.The former police officer has pleaded not guilty to murdering Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in February 2024.He has been cross-examined by the Crown since late last week.Follow live.Thu 12 Nov 2026 at 9:36amThu 12 Nov 2026 at 9:36amFamily and domestic violence support services:NSW Domestic Violence Line on 1800 656 463Lifeline on 131 114Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467Men's Referral Service on 1300 766 491Mensline on 1300 789 978Full Stop Australia on 1800 385 578Emergency services on Triple Zero (000) if you need immediate careThu 12 Nov 2026 at 11:05amThu 12 Nov 2026 at 11:05amLamarre-Condon had 'intentions' of Baird to join him on holidayLamarre-Condon says he was talking to Baird at the time he booked his own ticket using points to Bali."I booked the flight there agessss ago with the intentions of him coming," Lamarre-Condon texted a friend on October 26, 2023.In court, he says at this point their relationship was "not exclusive" and it's a "possibility" Baird was seeing other people.Thu 12 Nov 2026 at 11:02amThu 12 Nov 2026 at 11:02amHousemate said she only met accused onceBaird met a friend in October 2023, and met another friend's mum via FaceTime.Hatfield says Baird's housemate testified they only met once at the Paddington house."When I was at their house I would not often see them, no," the accused replies, saying it was a "handful" of times.Still on October, the accused says Baird booked tickets to Bali to go with him."It was my idea because I was already planning it."Thu 12 Nov 2026 at 11:00amThu 12 Nov 2026 at 11:00amBaird 'brave' for chasing out intruderHatfield says the accused told a room after the alleged break-in that Baird was "incredibly brave for chasing after the person".Lamarre-Condon agrees he said "words to the effect" of that.The prosecutor suggests he was "deceiving everyone in the room"."That is not correct ... because Jesse was brave for chasing someone who he believed was" an intruder, the accused replies.Thu 12 Nov 2026 at 10:58amThu 12 Nov 2026 at 10:58amBaird 'ignoring me', Lamarre-Condon texts friendOn September 7, 2023, the accused texted a friend saying a man was "ignoring me".He "believes at the time", he was referring to Baird in this exchange, he tells court."I would have been seeing other people as well, yes," he says, when asked.We're now looking at an exhibit of texts to a friend, laughing and saying "look at this guy that tried to match with me on Hinge".Hatfield is asking whether the accused blocked a man on Baird's phone in the same month."I didn't block [him] ... in September," Lamarre-Condon says.He says he didn't know the man and believes he didn't have interactions with him.Thu 12 Nov 2026 at 10:54amThu 12 Nov 2026 at 10:54amLamarre-Condon says he resumed sexual relationship with Baird"Banter" from September 2023 of Baird saying he could smell the accused's cologne in Woolies is being shown.Hatfield asks if he was in the grocery store at the time."I was definitely not," he replies.We're looking at a birthday card he made for Baird. It has a photo of Lamarre-Condon's dog Ivy, and a man kissing the dog's nose."It arrived late, so I gave it to him a bit later," the accused says."It's made from a website."The accused says "we were" in a sexual relationship with Baird, by the time of his birthday."I am 100 per cent certain Jesse Baird and I had sex on his birthday."Thu 12 Nov 2026 at 10:50amThu 12 Nov 2026 at 10:50amRequest of friend to dispose of phoneHe's being asked about a conversation on February 22 with a friend asking her to dispose of Baird's phone."After that discussion and before you handed yourself in ... you threw it in the water," Hatfield asks."Which I said very clearly, yes," the accused says.Lamarre-Condon says he doesn't want to be "making any guesses" and asks for a timeline from the Crown.Thu 12 Nov 2026 at 10:49amThu 12 Nov 2026 at 10:49amLamarre-Condon threw Baird's phone off bridgeLamarre-Condon says he had Baird's phone.It was thrown off a bridge in the Shire "on the Friday morning or the Thursday at some point".That's February 22 or 23 in 2024.And later says it could have been February 21, but evidence later rules this out."Why did you do that?" Hatfield asks."Because ... I can't accurately recall when I did it ... I obviously did it because I didn't want any evidence of Jesse's phone on me."He agrees, "essentially yes", that he didn't want any incriminating evidence on him.Thu 12 Nov 2026 at 10:46amThu 12 Nov 2026 at 10:46amBeau Lamarre-Condon speakingCrown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC has continued cross-examining Lamarre-Condon.To kick off the day, we're being shown a screenshot of messages between the accused and Baird from September 3, 2023.Hatfield asks if its from a restored set of messages from the cloud."That could be one possibility or its possible this was screenshotted after or during my breakup with Jesse, and I've sent to friends," he says.He tells the jury he did not delete messages before his arrest."Did you delete all of the photos that you were able to of you and Jesse Baird before you handed in your phone?" Hatfield asks."No, I don't remember doing that, no.""Do you deny deleting the messages?"He disagrees.Thu 12 Nov 2026 at 10:43amThu 12 Nov 2026 at 10:43amJury brought inThis morning has started out with legal argument in closed court, which means the public was not able to listen or view proceedings.Court is now open again and the jury has taken their seats.Thu 12 Nov 2026 at 10:43amThu 12 Nov 2026 at 10:43amCatch-up on yesterday's coverageMissed out on yesterday's cross-examination?You can read about the day's events here:Thu 12 Nov 2026 at 10:43amThu 12 Nov 2026 at 10:43amWelcomeIt's a little bit of an earlier start today, after a shorter day in court yesterday.An "issue" was raised after the morning tea break that couldn't be resolved quickly, so Justice Natalie Adams sent home the jury for the day.The rest of the day was heard in closed court, and now we're back this morning.We'll be following along live, so stick around!