A number of witnesses gave evidence on Wednesday, including Jesse Baird’s former partners and colleagues of Lamarre-Condon.
Corey-Dean Thorpe (pictured below) was in a relationship with Baird for about five years, before Baird moved from Brisbane to Sydney to take a job with Channel Ten.
Although they had separated, the pair continued speaking almost every day.
Mr Thorpe told the court that during a conversation on November 16, 2023—three months before the alleged murders—Baird appeared to be “petrified” of Lamarre-Condon.
During the phone call, Mr Thorpe said: “I’d never heard him so scared in his voice before and that’s when he started sending me messages.”
Referring to Lamarre-Condon’s position as a senior constable with NSW Police, Mr Thorpe said Baird kept repeating: “He has a gun.”
Mr Thorpe recalled Baird telling him that Lamarre-Condon had allegedly searched through his phone, deleted messages and “unfollowed gay men” on Instagram.
He also remembered Baird saying he had caught Lamarre-Condon allegedly going through his phone during the night. In a separate incident, Baird reportedly woke to find a man in his bedroom.
Mr Thorpe said Baird was allegedly “extremely scared” to report Lamarre-Condon because he was a NSW Police officer who had access to a gun.
Two Channel Ten employees became emotional while giving evidence on Wednesday afternoon.
Briony Blackstone worked as a freelance producer on Studio 10 alongside Baird in 2023.
“I adored Jesse,” she told the court.
Ms Blackstone said Baird spoke to her about Lamarre-Condon while they were working at the network’s Pyrmont office, prompting concern.
She told the court she asked whether he was all right because “he was noticeably agitated in the office”.
“That was unusual because he was really happy and diligent, and he was clearly upset and not himself,” she said.
When Crown prosecutors asked whether Lamarre had allegedly “done something that really freaked him out”, Ms Blackstone replied: “Yes.”
She recalled Baird allegedly saying: “I’ve been casually seeing a guy and his behaviour is a bit stalkerish … I probably like his dog better than him.”
Damon Wilson (pictured below) told the court he went on one date with Lamarre-Condon in August 2023, then heard nothing further until three months later, after he had started seeing Baird.
He said Lamarre-Condon later posted a video of himself playing on a bed with Baird, another showing the pair at a concert, and photos that falsely suggested they were in a relationship.
The video and photos were shared only with people Lamarre-Condon had added to his Instagram “close friends” list. Mr Wilson was included, while Baird was not.
On November 18, the court heard, Lamarre-Condon sent Mr Wilson a lengthy message accusing Baird of lying, manipulating, gaslighting and playing mind games with him throughout their time together.
The message read: ‘Hey Damon, I was debating sending this message or not but we obviously dated before but I would hate to see you hurt the way I have been, and multiple others. I have nothing against you.
‘When I first started see Jesse 11 months ago, I got multiple [direct messages] from other guys saying “good luck when he gaslights/plays you”.
Lamarre-Condon said he didn’t believe them, saying ‘Jesse led me on to believe it was going to be a relationship’, explainaing Baird had met his family and friends.
‘He then gaslit the whole situation because he’s very charming and he’s good at what he does … he then sent me this amazing message saying I was everything on paper he was looking for, but he wasn’t ready for a relationship.’
Lamarre-Condon told Mr Wilson that Baird had done the same thing to a host of other men and urged him to ‘be very careful’, saying: ‘It took me so long to recover from all the manipulation.’
Lamarre-Condon’s former police officer friend and colleague also told the court the accused allegedly told him about making a fake dating profile to check on Baird.
He also alleged that Lamarre-Condon took him on a drive through Baird’s neighbourhood to see if Baird’s new flame was there.
Our blog from yesterday is below.
