A police officer made a late change in his legal representation after he was accused of murdering two men with his service weapon in an alleged double homicide that shocked the nation.
Beau Lamarre-Condon faced Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court on Tuesday after spending more than eight months behind bars on remand.
The 29-year-old has been accused of murdering Channel 10 presenter Jesse Baird and her boyfriend, Qantas flight attendant Luke Davies, at a Paddington share house in February.
Police allege he killed the pair using a police-issued firearm before placing their bodies inside surfboard bags and transporting them to a remote property near Goulburn in the southern tablelands of New South Wales.
The murders allegedly followed the “predatory” behavior of Lamarre-Condon, who had had a brief relationship with Baird in the months before her death.
Lamarre-Condon was expected to plead guilty Tuesday in response to two counts of domestic violence-related murder and one count of home invasion.
However, as Daily Mail Australia revealed last week, her lawyer John Walford told the court he was officially withdrawing from the matter after months of representing Lamarre-Condon.
The former police officer will now be represented by NSW Legal Aid on taxpayers’ money.
Magistrate Clare Farnan said it was “unfortunate that legal representation is changing at this late stage”.
Lamarre-Condon’s new lawyer, Rachel Durmush, told the court that Legal Aid had received most of the evidence against her client.
He asked for a two-week adjournment to confirm they had received the full brief and to contact the Crown Prosecution Service about next steps.
The court was told Legal Aid had initially requested a staggering five-month adjournment to obtain a report from a forensic psychiatrist, but the Crown objected to the long delay.
Crown prosecutor Brendan Donnelly explained it was unclear why an appointment could not be made earlier or whether the psychiatrist’s report would be ready by March next year.
He said a shorter adjournment would give the parties the opportunity to “create a realistic timeline” and allow the Crown to take a position on whether a longer adjournment is necessary.
Farnan ordered the matter to return to court later this month.
Lamarre-Condon briefly appeared on screen wearing a prison-issued green T-shirt and a blank expression when told he was not needed on screen.
The bodies of Baird (left) and Davies (right) were found near Goulburn in the NSW Southern Tablelands after a week-long search.
A relative of one of his alleged victims received special permission to participate in the judicial process on Tuesday.
Police allege that Lamarre-Condon planned to kill Mr Baird and that Mr Davies became collateral damage.
The serving police officer handed himself in four days after the couple were murdered in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
The men’s bodies were later found on a rural property near Goulburn in the NSW Southern Tablelands after a week-long search.
Lamarre-Condon has since been dismissed from the New South Wales Police.