The Squiz

NSW Police Detective Superintendent Daniel Doherty says they are “very confident” that 2 bodies found at Bungonia (about 180km southwest of Sydney) are those of young couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies. After days of not cooperating, the breakthrough was made after the accused murderer/serving police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon “was forthcoming with detectives about the location” yesterday morning. The bodies were found in surf bags, and the couple’s families were immediately called, Doherty said.

They were searching around that area already, right? 

Yep. Police divers searched 2 dams at a Bungonia farm on Monday but came up empty-handed. And then yesterday, the bodies were found “near a fence line” under rocks and debris at another Bungonia property’s entrance, 20 minutes away from their initial search. Police will allege 28yo Lamarre-Condon acted alone in transporting the bodies from Baird’s Paddington home to the original Bungonia farm before returning at a later time to move them to the second property. “He is the sole person responsible for the murders of Luke and Jesse,” Doherty said. The breakthrough came with homicide detectives re-interviewing him after he’d “obtained legal counsel”. Police Commissioner Karen Webb gave a nod to detectives working on the case for following up on “many, many leads” from the community.

What happens now?

Crime scene detectives began their forensic analysis at the property yesterday, and a postmortem will be conducted on the bodies. In the meantime, Doherty says arrangements have been made for members of the Baird and Davies families to visit the area where they were found. Webb passed on her condolences to them, the couple’s friends and the LGBTIQ+ community, saying that “each day, each hour was an agonising wait” to find Jesse and Luke. Webb also said a senior Victorian Police officer will review the NSW Police processes around officers’ access to guns after Lamarre-Condon allegedly used his service weapon to shoot the couple. She’s also met with Sydney Mardi Gras organisers to discuss a deal for plain-clothed police officers to march in the parade down Oxford Street on Saturday night after NSW Police were disinvited. Stay tuned…