A vigil is held in memory of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies while the investigation by police remains ongoing. Image source: Ramon Perucho. Via Pexels
Close friends have held a vigil for Luke Davies and Jesse Baird, the couple who were assumed murdered by police earlier this month, while Australia’s queer community grieves the loss.
The murder of Baird and Davies has been a subject of intense scrutiny from the media and the public, as Baird was a known TV presenter for Network 10. Davies, meanwhile, was a Qantas flight attendant.
The murders are alleged to have occurred on 19 February, in Baird’s home in Paddington, Sydney.
Senior Constable Beau Lamarre-Condon has been charged with the crime, “the sole person responsible”, according to the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
The bodies were found at a property in Bungonia, supposedly with the cooperation of Lamarre-Condon, who handed himself in at Bondi Police station.
Detective Superintendent Daniel Doherty addressed the crime scene, where he states the bodies were found in “two surf bags” close to a “fence line, near the entrance to the property”.
The murders have sparked a wider discussion about the interplay of the police and the Australian LGBTQIA+ community.
Police have marched in the Pride festival parade for over two decades, as a show of goodwill between the communities.
Lamarre-Condon was known to have marched along with the AFP in the Mardi Gras parade in 2020.
The murders of Baird and Davies have led to the board for Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras to request the AFP not march in the Mardi Gras parade.
This has been a controversial decision, one already under debate after the release of a recent inquiry into the AFP’s mishandling of queer hate crimes.
“Sydney Mardi Gras along with LGBTQIA+ communities across the country have been devastated by the loss of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies, whose lives were cut short,” the board said.
Our community needs space to grieve the loss of Jesse and Luke who, before this tragedy, would have been here celebrating with us at the festival.”
Former Mardi Gras board director Charlie Murphy backed the board’s decision, stating “Cops marching in Mardi Gras is salt on open wounds.”
The NSW Police were reportedly “disappointed with the outcome” but accepted the decision.
Friends and colleagues of Baird and Davies have expressed their grief, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Chris Minns publicly expressing their condolences.
“Expressing the depth of my current pain is beyond words,” said Brooke Copson, a close friend of Baird.
In a further statement, Copson recalled a final conversation with Baird, which “showcased how truly happy and full of life he was”.
