New South Wales police will allege one of their own constables made “partial admissions” about an alleged double murder to an acquaintance before he turned himself in to police last week.
The deputy commissioner Dave Hudson said Sen Const Beau Lamarre – who was charged on Friday over the deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies – wasn’t cooperating with investigators searching for the men’s bodies south-west of Sydney.
NSW police divers were examining dams near Goulburn on Monday as Hudson revealed the latest details regarding Lamarre’s alleged movements last week.
Police will allege in court that last Tuesday Lamarre made “partial admissions” about the killings after he hired a van the night before to transport their bodies.
“We will allege that partial admissions were made by the accused to an acquaintance of having been involved in the death of two individuals,” Hudson told reporters.
Hudson said the acquaintance had been fully cooperating with police and they believed she “was an innocent agent”. The woman allegedly accompanied Lamarre in the van to a Bungonia property near Goulburn, Husdon said.
He alleged the pair purchased an angle grinder and a padlock from a hardware shop and drove to the gates of the property where the acquaintance said she waited for half an hour at the entrance while Lamarre proceeded into the property after cutting the lock with the grinder.
The new lock was later placed on the gates before the pair returned to Sydney, Hudson alleged.
Police believe Lamarre later purchased weights from a hardware store and returned to the property. They are exploring the possibility the bodies are not in dams there but that Lamarre allegedly moved them again.
“The accused has refused at this stage to tell us or assist us,” Hudson said.
Hudson said police would allege Lamarre first took a force-issue handgun from storage at Miranda police station on Friday 16 February when he signed it out for a “protest activity” event happening on Sunday 18 February.
He said Lamarre was working as part of the “user pays” team where officers are hired to protect private events.
Hudson said police believed the gun may have been stored at Balmain police station after the alleged shootings before being returned to storage at Miranda. Lamarre may have been residing with his mother in Balmain at the time, the deputy commissioner said.
Investigators raided a Balmain property late on Thursday which property records suggest was a Lamarre family home. Hudson said on Monday there were “approvals within the organisation for firearms to be stored at home as well”.
An independent review into NSW police officers’ access to weapons has been announced with oversight from the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission.
Police said neighbours heard gunshots at the Paddington home of Baird at about 9.50am on Monday 19 February but did not report them to police until days later.
Hudson said an emergency call was made to triple zero at 9.54am on Monday from Baird’s phone but it was terminated before being connected to an operator. He said he did not want to speculate as to whether the call was placed by Baird or Lamarre.
Hudson said police alleged Lamarre later sent messages using Baird’s phone pretending to be him – telling his housemates he was potentially moving to Western Australia and to deal with his property.
Hudson confirmed on Monday there had been a break-in reported at Baird’s house in August last year. Lamarre and Baird were still in a relationship at the time.
“There has been activity reported at that house which, in hindsight, appears suspicious,” the deputy commissioner said.
