The hero homicide detective leading the investigation into the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies has spoken openly about the emotional toll of the case that shook Australia.
Detective Sergeant Sasha Pinazza is credited with solving the case after Baird, 26, and Davies, 29, were allegedly shot dead by police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon in Sydney on February 19.
Lamarre-Condon, 28, has been charged with two counts of murder and remains in custody.
The bodies of Baird and Davies were found on February 27 at a rural property in Bungonia, in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales.
NSW Police Detective Sergeant Sasha Pinazza is credited with solving the case after Baird, 26, and Davies, 29, were allegedly shot dead.
The vital breakthrough came after Sgt Pinazza and Chief Inspector Glen Browne interviewed Lamarre-Condon at Silverwater prison when he allegedly revealed where the bodies were.
The seasoned police officer said the face-to-face moment had left a lasting impact on her.
“The day you lose your humanity is the day you should leave the police force,” he said. The Daily Telegraph.
‘My team knows it’s okay to cry. I cried in the car after I got out of jail, I cried when I met the families.’
A police press conference was held on the day the bodies were found, with Detective Sergeant Pinazza visibly exhausted and emotional.
The bodies of Jessie Baird and Luke Davies were discovered on a rural property in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales on February 27.
During one moment during the press conference, Detective Sergeant Pinazza answered a journalist’s question and became momentarily nervous when she got the journalist’s name wrong.
She apologized and said, “I’m exhausted, I’ve barely eaten or slept.”
New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb thanked “all the detectives who have worked hard on this investigation tirelessly 24 hours a day,” but singled out Pinazza, who was the officer in charge.
DS Pinazza said that in the rare moments when he was able to go home to shower and sleep, all he wanted to do was get back to the investigation.
“You just want to get back to work, because at that point you just want to find Luke and Jesse,” he said.
Police had searched for the bodies in another area of Bungonia just a day before they were found and were “flatted out” when they were unsuccessful.
DS Pinazza said every day a missing person was not found was another day he felt he was “failing” his family.
Lamarre-Condon has been suspended without pay from the New South Wales Police and will appear in court in April.
Following the press conference regarding the discovery of Baird and Davies’ bodies, the detective sent a text message to the family of missing Sydney Jessica Zrinski to inform them he had not dropped his case.
Ms Zrinski was last seen in the Bossley Park area around 10pm on November 27, 2022.
CCTV showed her entering a Blue Holden Commodore at a pub in Greenfield Park in Sydney’s southwest, but she was never seen again.
Lamarre-Condon has been suspended without pay from the New South Wales Police and will appear in court in April.
