Several witnesses gave evidence on Wednesday, including Jesse Baird’s former partners and colleagues who had worked with Lamarre-Condon.
Corey-Dean Thorpe (pictured below) had been in a relationship with Baird for about five years before Baird relocated from Brisbane to Sydney to take up a role at Channel Ten.
Although the relationship ended, the pair continued speaking almost every day.
Mr Thorpe told the court that during a conversation on November 16, 2023 — about three months before the alleged murders — Baird sounded “petrified” of Lamarre-Condon.
Recalling 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.
Mr Thorpe said Baird repeatedly referred to Lamarre-Condon’s position as a senior constable with NSW Police, telling him: “He has a gun.”
According to Mr Thorpe, Baird said Lamarre-Condon had allegedly searched through his phone, deleted messages and unfollowed gay men on Instagram.
He also recalled Baird saying he had caught Lamarre-Condon allegedly looking through his phone during the night. In another incident, Baird reportedly woke to find a man standing in his bedroom.
Mr Thorpe alleged that Baird was “extremely scared” to report Lamarre-Condon because he was a serving NSW Police officer who had access to a gun.
Two Channel Ten employees became emotional as they gave evidence on Wednesday afternoon.
Briony Blackstone was working as a freelance producer on Studio 10 alongside Baird in 2023.
“I adored Jesse,” Ms Blackstone told the court.
She said Baird spoke to her about Lamarre-Condon while they were working at Channel Ten’s Pyrmont office, prompting concern about his wellbeing.
Ms Blackstone said she asked Baird whether he was all right because he appeared “noticeably agitated in the office”.
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“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 telling her: “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. He said Lamarre-Condon did not contact him again until three months later, after Mr Wilson had begun seeing Baird.
Mr Wilson said Lamarre-Condon later shared a video of himself playing on a bed with Baird, footage of the pair at a concert and photographs that falsely suggested they were in a relationship.
The videos and images were sent only to people Lamarre-Condon had included on his Instagram “close friends” list. Mr Wilson was on that list, 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.