The Supreme Court heard on Wednesday that a woman identified in proceedings as Elizabeth Kennedy gave an induced statement to police, meaning a statement given on the condition that what is disclosed will not be used against them in any criminal proceeding.
Homicide Squad Detective Senior Constable Christine Abela testified that Kennedy said she had driven to the southern tablelands with Lamarre-Condon on February 21, 2024, two days after the alleged murders, in a white van. She had paid for an angle grinder at Bunnings Goulburn, the statement said.
Kennedy's information prompted a police search for the bodies of Baird and Davies on February 23. Detective Abela told the court it was akin to searching for a "needle in a haystack" because Kennedy did not know the exact location of the property.
Following extensive searches, a property in Bungonia was identified on February 25 and declared a crime scene. Police found a cut padlock in the letterbox at the gate. Officers used a drone to obtain an aerial view of the farm, which had a dam at the front and the rear. Weights and large rocks of cement were recovered from one of the dams, along with a dinghy.
Lamarre-Condon, 31, a former NSW Police senior constable, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder over the shooting deaths of Baird, 26, and Davies, 29, in a Paddington terrace on February 19, 2024. The 15-person jury has already heard he hired a white van hours after the alleged murders.
The jury also heard from Lamarre-Condon's close friend Nicole Harvell, a serving police officer. Despite being in almost daily contact with the accused, Harvell testified she could not recall any conversation with him about Baird after the pair broke off contact in November 2023.
Harvell told the court she tried to contact Lamarre-Condon after seeing media reports suggesting he was under suspicion. "F*** Beau, are you ok?" she texted him. She never received a reply.
Under cross-examination, Harvell maintained Lamarre-Condon had told her about posting an Instagram story with a bunch of flowers and the caption "When he's in Melbourne but still sends you these", though publication was restricted to select friends and did not include Baird.