Police officer accused of murdering two men in Australia

A police officer in Australia has been charged with the murders of two men whose bodies were found Tuesday in a rural area south of Sydney, and authorities said he had once had a relationship with one of the victims.

New South Wales state police commissioner Karen Webb said detectives had found the bodies of the men, Jesse Baird, 26, and his partner, Luke Davies, 29, who had been missing for more than a week, in Bungonia, a small town about 185 kilometers southwest of Sydney.

“We believe – we are confident – ​​that we have found Luke and Jesse,” she says said at a news conference on Tuesday. She expressed her condolences to their families and added that the information about the location of the bodies had been obtained “with the help of the suspects”.

The police officer, Beaumont Lamarre-Condon, was charged with two counts of murder on Friday, according to information provided by the New South Wales Local Court. He was detained and will appear in court on April 23. He was provided with legal assistance, a court spokesperson said by email.

Chief Inspector Daniel Doherty said Mr Baird and the officer had been in a relationship ‘at some point’.

Mr Lamarre-Condon surrendered to authorities in the Sydney suburb of Bondi on Friday, ending a search by detectives in connection with the disappearance of Mr Baird, a former television presenter, and Mr Davies, a flight attendant at Qantas. Superintendent Daniel Doherty said separately last week.

A separate statement of the police identified Mr. Lamarre-Condon as a senior off-duty officer attached to a special command.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation cited court documents as stated that the men were murdered on February 19 between 12:01 pm and 5:30 pm.

The discovery of the bodies was the latest development in a murder case that has taken investigators through towns and villages around Sydney.

The men were last seen in Sydney’s eastern suburbs of Paddington on February 19. said a police statement. Mr Davies was reported missing after his family were unable to contact him and he failed to report to work, police said. On February 21, some of their belongings were found in a dumpster in the Sydney suburb of Cronulla, police said.

A “projectile” found in Paddington was ballistically linked to a New South Wales police firearm, the deputy commissioner said. He said a white van was found that authorities believed had been used to transport the bodies.