Major twist for alleged murder cop Beau Lamarre-Condon charged with double murder over the deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies: ‘Unfortunate’

A police officer has made a late change to his legal representation after he was accused of killing two men with his service weapon in an alleged double murder that shocked the nation.

Beau Lamarre-Condon faced the Sydney Downing Center Local Court on Tuesday after spending more than eight months in custody.

The 29-year-old is accused of murdering Channel 10 presenter Jesse Baird and his friend, Qantas flight attendant Luke Davies, at a share house in Paddington in February.

Police allege he killed the couple with a police-issued firearm before placing their bodies in surfboard bags and transporting them to a remote property near Goulburn, in the Southern Heights of NSW.

The murders are said to be the result of “predatory” behavior by Lamarre-Condon, who had had a brief relationship with Baird in the months before his death.

Lamarre-Condon was expected to enter pleas Tuesday in response to two counts of domestic violence and one count of burglary.

However, as revealed by Daily Mail Australia last week, his lawyer John Walford told the court he was officially withdrawing from the case after months of representing Mr Lamarre-Condon.

The former police officer is now being represented at taxpayers’ expense by NSW Legal Aid.

Magistrate Clare Farnan said ‘it was regrettable that legal representation should change at this late stage’.

Lamarre-Condon’s new lawyer, Rachel Durmush, told the court that Legal Aid had received the majority of the evidence against her client.

She asked for a two-week extension to confirm they had received the full order and to contact the prosecutor’s office about next steps.

The court was told that Legal Aid had initially applied for a staggering five-month delay to obtain a report from a forensic psychiatrist, but the Crown opposed the lengthy delay.

Crown prosecutor Brendan Donnelly explained that it was not clear why an appointment could not be made earlier and that the psychiatrist’s report would even be ready by March next year.

He said a shorter delay would give the parties a chance to “create a realistic timeline” and allow the Crown to take a position on whether a longer delay is necessary.

Ms Farnan ordered the case to go to trial later this month.

Lamarre-Condon appeared briefly on screen wearing a prison-issued green T-shirt and with a blank expression, as he was told he did not need to appear on screen.

A family member of one of his alleged victims was given special permission Tuesday to dial into the legal proceedings.

Police allege Lamarre-Condon planned to kill Mr Baird and Mr Davies became collateral damage.

The serving police officer handed himself in within four days of the couple being murdered in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

The men’s bodies were subsequently found on a rural estate near Goulburn in the NSW Southern Tablelands after a week-long search.

Lamarre-Condon has since been dismissed from the NSW Police Force.