You walk out to check your washing after a heavy storm, and you notice something strange on the ground. A blue tarp draped over two heavy bags. A pool of red liquid oozing out onto the pavement. What do you think it is? If you are Jesse Baird’s housemate, you think it’s rusted water dripping from old outdoor furniture. You take a quick photo on your phone, send it to a group chat, and move on with your day.
You don't know you're staring at a crime scene. You don't know those surfboard bags are holding human bodies.
This chilling detail emerged in the New South Wales supreme court during the murder trial of former police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon. Lamarre-Condon stands accused of fatally shooting Jesse Baird and his partner Luke Davies with his police service weapon inside Baird’s Paddington home on February 19, 2024. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one charge of aggravated break and enter, while his defence claims the fatal shootings occurred in self-defence after a struggle.
The Courtyard Photo That Shocked the Court
The housemate, testifying under the pseudonym Belinda Smith, told the court about walking out to the courtyard on the evening following the killings. Heavy rain had fallen earlier that day. When she spotted the two heavy surfboard bags covered by a blue tarp and leaking an ominous red liquid, she didn't panic. She snapped a picture and texted it to her other housemate, Sarah King.
Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC walked the jury through the details during the proceedings. He asked Smith if Baird had ever mentioned surfing or if anyone had ever seen a surfboard anywhere in the house. Smith confirmed they hadn't.
“You had no reason to suspect there was anything else in those surfboard bags?” Hatfield asked.
Smith answered simply: “no.”
She genuinely believed the red fluid was just rust washing off the metal framework of the patio chairs. It's a horrific reminder of how ordinary people caught in extraordinary nightmares rationalize bizarre, terrifying elements right in front of their eyes. You make sense of the senseless using whatever mundane logic is closest at hand.
Tension in the House Before the Tragedy
Long before the police discovered the remains of Baird and Davies stuffed into surfboard bags on a rural fence line in Bungonia five days later, domestic friction filled the Paddington property. Tensions had peaked in early 2024 after the housemates asked Baird to move out so a friend could take his room.
Baird agreed, telling the group chat he would pack up and leave on February 20. But when Smith woke up and headed out for work on the morning of the 20th, Baird's belongings were untouched.
Unease set in immediately. Smith texted King, admitting she felt genuinely scared that the tenant wouldn't move out on time.
Then, messages started coming from Baird’s phone, claiming he had hired someone to clear his things and mentioning a sudden road trip to Perth with mates. Smith felt confused. She pushed back, reminding him that cleaners were scheduled to arrive the next day and demanding his room be emptied. A response from Baird's phone asked for the exact booking time of the cleaners. Soon after, items vanished from his room, and by February 22, the mysterious surfboard bags and the red liquid had disappeared from the courtyard entirely.
The Defence Strategy and the Reality of the Trial
The trial before Justice Natalie Adams continues to lay bare the harrowing mechanics of a case that shocked the country. Defence lawyer John Stratton SC argued in his opening statement that the fatal shootings happened during a struggle where Lamarre-Condon acted in self-defence. The defense claims that after the incident unfolded, the former cop panicked and immediately launched into a frantic clean-up operation, spending thousands of dollars on cleaning supplies, cable ties, and quick-set concrete.
Yet the jury is left grappling with the timeline of deception, the chilling text messages sent from a dead man's phone, and the haunting image of a housemate standing in a courtyard, photographing a puddle of blood while mistaking it for rust.
Justice demands clarity, but the testimony shows just how easily reality can be masked by routine. You overlook the unthinkable because your brain refuses to go there until it's too late.
