Latest / The Front / ‘I’m not a little creep’: Beau Lamarre-Condon in the witness box

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‘I’m not a little creep’: Beau Lamarre-Condon in the witness box · The Front

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Today's biggest news from The Australian. I'm Kristen Amiott with
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: the front's afternoon headlines. Accused killer cop Beau Lamar Condon
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: admits he watched through a window as his ex-lover slept
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  Speaker 1: with another man, but denies he was stalking him after
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  Speaker 1: their relationship ended. In a long afternoon of testimony, Lamar
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  Speaker 1: Condon gave evidence before a jury in the New South
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  Speaker 1: Wales Supreme Court. where he's on trial for murdering TV
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  Speaker 1: presenter Jesse Baird and Baird's partner, flight attendant Luke Davies,
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  Speaker 1: at Baird's Paddington share house in 2024. The former New
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  Speaker 1: South Wales police officer has pleaded not guilty to two
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  Speaker 1: counts of domestic violence-related murder and one count of aggravated
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  Speaker 1: break and enter. He entered the witness box on Thursday
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  Speaker 1: after the Crown concluded evidence in its case. More than
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  Speaker 1: 60 witnesses have given evidence and over 100 exhibits have
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  Speaker 1: been entered into evidence in the first six weeks of
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  Speaker 1: the marathon trial, which is expected to last around three months.
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  Speaker 1: The Crown alleges Lamar Condon stalked Baird for several months
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  Speaker 1: before posing as an Uber Eats delivery driver and entering
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  Speaker 1: Baird's share house on the morning of February 19, 2024,
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  Speaker 1: using a key he'd stolen or copied and carrying his
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  Speaker 1: police-issued Glock pistol. Prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC told the court
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  Speaker 1: Lamar Condon then twice shot Jesse Baird, who was in
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  Speaker 1: the home's kitchen, before shooting Luke Davies through a bedroom door.
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  Speaker 1: Evidence presented by The Crown suggests Lamar Condon then spent
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  Speaker 1: several days attempting to cover up his alleged crime, before
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  Speaker 1: dumping Baird and Davies' bodies on a property two hours
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  Speaker 1: southwest of Sydney. In his opening address to the jury,
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  Speaker 1: Lamar Condon's barrister John Stratton, SC, said Lamar Condon is
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  Speaker 1: not guilty of the murders and was acting in self-defence
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  Speaker 1: when Baird and Davies were fatally shot. Stratton said his
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  Speaker 1: client accidentally shot Baird, whom he dated casually for about
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  Speaker 1: a year, before struggling with Davies, who fatally shot himself
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  Speaker 1: in the brawl. Lamar Condon handed himself into detectives at
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  Speaker 1: a police station in Sydney's eastern suburbs several days later,
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  Speaker 1: on February 23, 2024, where he was arrested and charged.
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  Speaker 1: Lamar Condon told the court on Thursday afternoon he started
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  Speaker 1: seeing Baird casually in late 2022. He said he regularly
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  Speaker 1: stayed at Baird's share house while they were dating, and
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  Speaker 1: that Baird would leave a key to the house in
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  Speaker 1: the mailbox for him to let himself in. A voice
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  Speaker 1: actor is reading the words spoken by Beau Lamar Condon
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  Speaker 1: in court.
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  Speaker 2: It was a very common occurrence that he would, so
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  Speaker 2: I got into his house in Paddington. I'd let myself
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  Speaker 2: in with consent with the key he gave me.
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  Speaker 1: Lamar Condon said Baird gave him a copy of the
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  Speaker 1: key for the home's internal door later in 2023. He
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  Speaker 1: said he planned to end his casual relationship with Jesse
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  Speaker 1: Baird in early 2023 after stumbling upon messages between Baird
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  Speaker 1: and another man, and discovering Baird still had an active
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  Speaker 1: profile on the dating app Tinder.
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  Speaker 2: I told him that I'd looked at messages between him
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  Speaker 2: and the other man. I told him, obviously, this made
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  Speaker 2: me feel a bit upset because I thought we were
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  Speaker 2: moving towards being, I guess, a couple, you could say.
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  Speaker 2: He became emotional and started crying and said that he
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  Speaker 2: wasn't ready for a relationship with anyone, not just me.
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  Speaker 2: And obviously, I told Jesse I was looking for something
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  Speaker 2: more serious, and I told Jesse I think I need
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  Speaker 2: a few weeks off. just to let my romantic feelings
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  Speaker 2: settle for if we want to continue a friendship or
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  Speaker 2: a sexual relationship. Jesse then said, please let me know
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  Speaker 2: when you're ready to hang out again. I'd love to
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  Speaker 2: have you back in my life and see you often.
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  Speaker 2: And I said I would let him know when I
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  Speaker 2: was ready. It was very amicable.
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  Speaker 1: Denying an allegation he'd watched Baird having sex with other
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  Speaker 1: men through Baird's window, Lamar Condon said the encounter happened
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  Speaker 1: accidentally when he went to Baird's home to collect his
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  Speaker 1: belongings after they agreed to take a break.
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  Speaker 2: I went to knock on the window, but I did
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  Speaker 2: not knock because I saw him having sex with a male.
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  Speaker 2: I kind of froze until the realisation hit. I did
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  Speaker 2: not stay and watch him like a little creep. I
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  Speaker 2: did not take any photos of Jesse Baird. I left
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  Speaker 2: and actually laughed about it with friends.
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  Speaker 1: He also said he'd never sought out CCTV footage of
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  Speaker 1: Jesse Baird on a date with another man after their
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  Speaker 1: first split, but that the footage was viewed as part
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  Speaker 1: of a police inquiry into a possible assault at a
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  Speaker 1: venue where he'd gone to visit Baird. Lamar Condon said
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  Speaker 1: he and Jessie Baird resumed a sexual relationship following the
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  Speaker 1: former cop's birthday in June of 2023. It was around
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  Speaker 1: this time that Lamar Condon admits he entered Baird's home
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  Speaker 1: using the key from the mailbox and took Baird's phone.
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  Speaker 1: He said he placed a bobby pin in the front
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  Speaker 1: door lock as a decoy in case Baird woke up.
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  Speaker 1: When Baird woke and chased Lamar Condon onto the street,
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  Speaker 1: Lamar Condon said he threw Baird's phone, which slid into
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  Speaker 1: a roadside drain. Baird reported the incident to police. And
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  Speaker 1: Lamar Condon said he never disclosed he was the one
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  Speaker 1: in the Paddington home that night.
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  Speaker 2: I just didn't want to have that awkward conversation with
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  Speaker 2: him because it was stupid and I admit that it
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  Speaker 2: was stupid.
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  Speaker 1: Lamar Condon said later he admitted to Baird he'd blocked
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  Speaker 1: a contact he considered a romantic rival in Baird's phone
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  Speaker 1: and also that he'd posted an Instagram story suggesting Baird
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  Speaker 1: had sent him flowers when he hadn't.
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  Speaker 2: I didn't block anyone else. I didn't unfollow anyone else.
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  Speaker 2: I didn't do anything to anyone else on Jessie's phone.
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  Speaker 1: The pair broke up again in November of 2023 at
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  Speaker 1: Baird's suggestion. Lamar Condon said he returned money Baird had
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  Speaker 1: given him for a planned trip to Bali, which Lamar
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  Speaker 1: Condon later embarked on with a friend. The former cop
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  Speaker 1: said he avoided Paddington until January of 2024 because he
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  Speaker 1: didn't want to bump into Jesse Baird, and claimed the
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  Speaker 1: next time he saw him was on the morning of
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  Speaker 1: the alleged murders. He said comments made to a friend
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  Speaker 1: around the start of the year about helping to hide
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  Speaker 1: a body were said in jest, as prompted by a
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  Speaker 1: script he was preparing for acting classes he planned to
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  Speaker 1: commence in the coming weeks. Lamar Condon said he asked
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  Speaker 1: the same friend if he could hire a van in
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  Speaker 1: her name because he needed to purchase and collect a
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  Speaker 1: new mattress, and his license was suspended. He later allegedly
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  Speaker 1: transported Jessie Baird and Luke Davey's bodies to the property
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  Speaker 1: in Bungonia in a rented van. Reflecting on his work
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  Speaker 1: as a police officer, Lamar Condon said he'd encountered multiple
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  Speaker 1: suicides and fatalities during his time as a duty cop,
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  Speaker 1: including the death of a colleague who took his own
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  Speaker 1: life at his desk, but that he and other officers
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  Speaker 1: weren't given time off to process the trauma that came
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  Speaker 1: with their jobs. Lamar Condon claimed he was subjected to
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: homophobia and bullying during his time with the NSW Police Force.
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  Speaker 2: I didn't want to be at work anymore and I
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  Speaker 2: loved my job. I loved helping youths and I felt
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  Speaker 2: like I was going to let them down if I
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  Speaker 2: didn't show up to work. It was getting too much
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  Speaker 2: for me and it made me feel like having thoughts
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  Speaker 2: of wanting to take my life.
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  Speaker 1: The former police officer became upset as he said he'd
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  Speaker 1: considered taking his own life at his office at the
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  Speaker 1: St George PCYC near Coggera in late 2023 but was
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  Speaker 1: interrupted by a knock on the door. He also told
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  Speaker 1: the court he later attempted to hang himself in the
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  Speaker 1: Royal National Park and said he started seeing a psychologist
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  Speaker 1: after his mother, also a former police officer, said he'd
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  Speaker 1: lose his job if he was placed on a psychiatric hold.
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  Speaker 1: Lamar Condon said he was so distressed by what he
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  Speaker 1: called a toxic workplace that he also considered suiciding on
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  Speaker 1: the trip to Bali over New Year's in 2023, so
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  Speaker 1: none of his former colleagues and first responders would have
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  Speaker 1: to find his body. He said he mentioned to his
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  Speaker 1: travel companion they should look for firearms in Indonesia for
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  Speaker 1: practice shooting at a gun range, but that he never
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  Speaker 1: intended to bring any guns with him back to Australia
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  Speaker 1: because he knew they wouldn't clear customs. The former cop
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  Speaker 1: agreed with his barrister's suggestion he could obtain an illegal
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  Speaker 1: firearm in Australia if he wanted to. The jury previously
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  Speaker 1: heard a covertly recorded prison meeting between Lamar Condon and
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  Speaker 1: a friend captured in December. A call made by Lamar.
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  Speaker 2: Condon to a police assistance line following the disappearance of
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  Speaker 2: Baird and Davies was also.
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  Speaker 3: Previously played in court. I've been bullied by multiple New
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  Speaker 3: South Wales police force members.
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  Speaker 4: Multiple police force members.
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  Speaker 1: Yep.
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  Speaker 3: And when reporting bullying against myself, no action has been taken.
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  Speaker 4: Myself, no action has.
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  Speaker 1: Yep.
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  Speaker 4: All this stress and trauma has caused me not sleep,
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  Speaker 4: yet anxious.
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  Speaker 1: The court also heard Lamar Condon allegedly confess to the
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  Speaker 1: killings to friends. Both Jessie Baird and Luke Davey's mothers,
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  Speaker 1: as well as Baird's father, were in court to hear
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  Speaker 1: Lamar Condon's evidence on Thursday. He'll return to the witness
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  Speaker 1: box in the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney on Friday,
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  Speaker 1: with cross-examination to follow likely next week. You can follow
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: this story live at theaustralian.com.au and come back to the
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: front first thing in the morning for our look at
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: the stunning collapse of the Australian retail icon David Jones
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: and why it's not surprising things went south. That's right here,
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: Friday morning.