Beau Lamarre-Condon told one of his closest police friends about the insulting messages he sent to his former partner, Jesse Baird, a court has heard. Nicole Harvell later praised one of the messages, accusing Baird of “gaslighting” Lamarre-Condon.
Senior Constable Nicole Harvell sent Lamarre-Condon dozens of supportive messages between 2023 and 2024. At the time, she had no idea he would allegedly go on to kill Baird and Baird’s new boyfriend, Luke Davies.
Lamarre-Condon, a former police officer, has pleaded not guilty to two domestic violence-related murder charges over the deaths at Baird’s Paddington rental property on February 19, 2024. He also faces one charge of aggravated break and enter relating to an alleged incident in August 2023.
Prosecutors allege Lamarre-Condon was “obsessed” with Baird and stalked him during their on-and-off relationship, which began in 2022, and after the pair permanently separated in November 2023.
Giving evidence at his trial this week, Ms Harvell told the NSW Supreme Court that she had been trying to support Lamarre-Condon because he was distressed by Baird’s refusal to commit to a serious relationship.
Nothing in the court documents suggests Ms Harvell knew Lamarre-Condon allegedly watched Baird having sex through his bedroom window, spied on his coffee dates with other men or tracked his movements using his phone.
However, text messages exchanged between Ms Harvell and Lamarre-Condon and released in court this week show that his intense focus on Baird was apparent. Almost all of the messages sent during their year-long friendship, which began in March 2023, concerned his troubled relationship with Baird.
In November 2023, Lamarre-Condon sent Ms Harvell a screenshot of a message he had sent to Baird, in which he called him selfish and manipulative. She responded: “That message was the most satisfying thing I’ve ever read … It’s worded PERFECTLY!”
Senior Constable Nicole Harvell is pictured outside the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday
Beau Lamarre-Condon is pictured being escorted from the NSW Supreme Court into a police van after the first day of his trial
Pictured: A mock-up of a text exchange where Nicole Harvell says Lamarre-Condon’s insulting text to Baird was ‘perfect’
The message was sent one day after Baird confronted Lamarre-Condon over a fake bouquet of flowers posted on Instagram, which falsely suggested the pair were in a relationship.
The court heard Lamarre-Condon met Ms Harvell during a police shift in March 2023. By the following month, they were speaking by phone and exchanging messages, with their conversations focused almost entirely on Baird.
On April 4, 2023 — less than a year before the alleged murders — Ms Harvell told Lamarre-Condon she believed Baird was “DEFFS still keen” to pursue a relationship with him.
Several of Baird’s friends have previously told the court that he had made it clear to Lamarre-Condon that he did not want a relationship. There is no evidence to suggest Ms Harvell knew about those conversations.
Lamarre-Condon replied: “I just need to get out of my head and stick to the game plan. Be in the moment and when I’m back from Europe it’s you either want it or goodbye. If I can make it for that long hahahaha.”
Ms Harvell responded: “Haha don’t worry you are SO similar to me in that regard! It’s so normal! Don’t bear yourself up about being in your head.”
He then wrote: “I feel like a f***ing crazy person haha.”
Ms Harvell replied: “Don’t! Well if you’re crazy then I’m equally as crazy! Haha. I think it’s preeeetty normal to feel the way you’re feeling.”
Pictured: Lamarre-Condon asking Nicole Harvell which photo to upload to Instagram
Pictured: A mock-up of a text exchange between Lamarre-Condon and Nicole Harvell, where she says his feelings are normal
Pictured: A mock-up of a text exchange between Lamarre-Condon and Nicole Harvell, where he sends a photo of a conversation on Baird’s phone
By April 14, he was sending her screenshots of Baird’s text conversations with another man. She told the court this week that Lamarre-Condon had obtained the password to Baird’s phone and went through it.
Ms Harvell replied: ‘He’s definitely playing you both and he’s doing a really f***ing good job of it … Are you okay? I feel like you wouldn’t be.’
On April 17, Lamarre-Condon sent her a screenshot of Baird’s Tinder profile. She then asked if he was going to tell Baird that he knew about his texts with another man.
Lamarre-Condon replied: ‘Yeah I’ll tell him about the messages but I might tell a semi white lie and not say I went through his phone.’
Ms Harvell replied: ‘Yea good idea. Think about how you want to word it … he’s playing you hard. He can’t have his cake and eat it too.’
By November, Lamarre-Condon’s relationship with Baird had started to degrade, the court heard.
Baird confronted him about the bouquet of flowers posted on Instagram that falsely implied they were in a relationship.
The court heard Lamarre-Condon allegedly spun an elaborate lie to convince Baird the flowers weren’t about him, saying they were actually from his stepfather to his mother.
Pictured: A mock-up of a text exchange between Lamarre-Condon and Nicole Harvell, where he says he’s going to lie to Baird
Pictured: An Instagram story Lamarre-Condon posted to his ‘close friends’, excluding Baird. The post implied they were in a relationship when they were not
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Pictured: Lamarre-Condon’s mother posing with the bouquet of flowers. He allegedly fabricated the situation to ‘prove’ to Baird that the Instagram post was not about him
He allegedly paid a florist $160 to recreate the bouquet and write a fake note from his stepdad, before he asked his mother to pose with it for a photo, which he then sent to Baird.
When it appeared as though Baird didn’t believe him, he sent a long-winded message about how he was in tears over the accusation and how honesty was his best quality. He sent the text to Ms Harvell, asking her opinion.
Ms Harvell, who knew he lied to Baird about the flowers, said she thought he should be honest about the situation, but acknowledged it would be difficult when he’d already denied it.
The following day, Lamarre-Condon told Baird he wanted to be honest and asked if they could meet for coffee. Instead, Baird blocked him on one social media channel.
Texts released by the court show Lamarre-Condon sent screenshots of those conversations to Ms Harvell.
The following day, on November 23, Ms Harvell told Lamarre-Condon that she had told her partner all about his relationship problems with Baird, and her partner was ‘completely on your side’. She then asked: ‘How are you?’
Lamarre-Condon replied: ‘I’m so in the wrong though and it sucks! Honestly I’m not feeling good hey. Haven’t slept, haven’t eaten it’s f***ed.’
Ms Harvel said: ‘[Baird] caused you to do this. Honestly. He was the biggest mind f***.
Pictured: A mock-up of a text exchange between Lamarre-Condon and Nicole Harvell
Pictured: A mock-up of a text exchange between Lamarre-Condon and Nicole Harvell, where he tells her that he sent a message to Baird’s new date, slamming him as a manipulative player
‘This was his opportunity out and to blame it on you so that he wasn’t the one to “hurt” you. He he really cared about you he wouldn’t end things over that. He’s making it out to be far worse than it actually is.’
Later that day, Lamarre-Condon messaged Baird on another social media platform, saying: ‘You’re a manipulative player. This will be my last message to you ever. And it’s is going to be brutal, but it’s time you get called out on your s**t and stop playing the victim in every scenario.’
‘… When I finally walked away from this, simply because you strung me along and emotionally destroyed me, you send me a lovely text message saying you’re so sorry for all the hurt you’ve caused, wished you were ready for a relationship.
‘You simply only care about yourself and it’s evident that nobody’s emotions or feelings are a consideration for you. You have a very charming way of playing it off, but deep down I believe you know exactly what you’re doing.’
Ms Harvell told him the message was ‘the most satisfying thing I’ve ever read… It’s worded PERFECTLY!’
The texts show Lamarre-Condon then wrote to a man Baird was dating, telling him that Baird was a serial cheater who was manipulative.
He sent the text to Ms Harvell, who told him the message was: ‘Perfect perfect perfect. Oh and yes when I was talking to [my partner] about it before he said that Jesse is gaslighting you.’
Later that day, she said: ‘Honestly if Jesse wants to play a dirty hame like he has … you can play it too … He literally could have met with you and been civil about it but he decided to gaslight you and then block you instead. F*** him.’
Pictured: A mock-up of a text exchange between Lamarre-Condon and Nicole Harvell
Pictured: A mock-up of a text exchange between Lamarre-Condon and Nicole Harvell
Pictured: The last messages before Lamarre-Condon’s arrest. He allegedly killed Baird and Davies on February 19
On November 20, Lamarre-Condon was still talking about Baird’s social media posts but told Ms Harvell: ‘I need to let it go and keep reminding myself if it was for the best x … who’s the next boy I can bitch about though? haha.’
‘Haha nah jokes I honestly need to do me for a while next I think.’
Ms Harvell replied: ‘It was absolutely for the best … But honestly I’m always here for you and if your curiosity gets the better of you then I’ll do the stalking for you xx.’
Texts show Lamarre-Condon went to Ms Harvell’s birthday party on February 17, 2024. The following day, when boarded a plane to Texas on February 18, he said: ‘Have the best flight xx.’
On February 19, he allegedly killed Baird and his new partner Davies.
By February 22, Ms Harvell saw Lamarre-Condon and Baird’s names on news reports.
She texted him: ‘F*** Beau are you okay?’
He never replied.
Ms Harvell told the court this week that she reflected on the conversations they had about Baird and immediately went to her supervisor, saying she had information police would be interested in.
The murder trial will resume on Monday.