As Beau Lamarre-Condon took his seat in a historic wing of the NSW Supreme Court, scores of onlookers waited to find theirs.
Students, seniors, legal buffs and grieving families have squeezed into the multi-level Court 3 of the colonial-era King Street Courthouse during the opening week of the sworn police officer's murder trial.
The jury of 15 has heard competing accounts of what happened after Lamarre-Condon, armed and disguised, entered the home of an ex-partner in February 2024.
Jesse Baird, 26, and his new partner, Luke Davies, 29, were fatally wounded by bullets fired from the officer's police pistol before the home was cleaned and their bodies moved.
Prosecutors allege Lamarre-Condon had spiralled from an obsessive ex-boyfriend to planning murder, laying out purchases and alleged acts of deceit and manipulation before the shootings.
After shooting and killing Mr Baird "execution-style", the officer was surprised by the presence of Mr Davies attempting to ring triple zero and shot him through the bedroom door, the Crown alleges.
The officer, through his barrister, has rejected that narrative, arguing he was simply returning to retrieve some belongings and wore the disguise to avoid being recognised.
His pistol was on him as he was not allowed to leave it unattended in his car, as per police protocol, John Stratton SC said.
The officer's case is that once inside, he was not recognised by Mr Baird in the kitchen and a violent struggle ensued.
Lamarre-Condon argues he shot Mr Baird twice in self-defence.
At the end of the struggle, the gun flew across the room towards Mr Davies as he emerged from a bedroom armed with a knife, Mr Stratton said.
Another struggle took place and this time Mr Davies accidentally shot himself in the melee, the defence argues.
Spending three days disposing of the bodies by taking them to a farm more than 200km away was not the action of a calculated killer, jurors have been told.
It was the action of a man who had "panicked considerably", Mr Stratton said.
But nothing else could explain the police officer entering the house armed and in disguise unless he intended to kill the 26-year-old, Brett Hatfield SC told the court in his opening address.
Calling a steady stream of witnesses - sometimes five a day - Mr Hatfield has begun painting a picture of Lamarre-Condon's alleged manipulation of those around him.
The breakdown of the brief relationship between Mr Baird and his alleged killer has been a central focus of the trial's first week.
Mr Baird's former long-term partner, Corey-Dean Thorpe, gave evidence about the television presenter's growing fear of his alleged murderer.
"I never heard him so scared," said Mr Thorpe, who was deeply emotional throughout his evidence.
"He just kept repeating: 'He's got a gun'."
In November 2023, three months before Mr Baird's death, Lamarre-Condon posted an Instagram story with an internet picture of a bunch of flowers and a message.
The Crown alleges the officer falsely implied Mr Baird, who could not see the post, had sent them.
"He was sending out the message (he and Mr Baird) are together and Jesse's not available," a former colleague of Lamarre-Condon's testified.
When Mr Baird found out about the alleged Instagram ruse and broke off all contact with his alleged murderer, Lamarre-Condon's demeanour changed dramatically, the PCYC worker said.
"He did say he would do anything to get him back ... he was really mad about it," Rubina Shrestha said.
Lamarre-Condon used a lifelong friend's Instagram account to send Mr Baird an essay-length message, referring to himself in third person.
"(Lamarre-Condon) was told he has a cancerous tumour growing within his left shoulder," the message from Shae Davison's account allegedly read.
"Worst case scenario could result in ... having to possibly have his arm amputated."
The 1600-word message then claimed strong cancer medications were causing Lamarre-Condon's erratic behaviour, the prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC said.
It was a lie, Mr Hatfield said.
Lamarre-Condon did not have cancer and was not being treated as such.
Ms Davison testified she had been pressed to allow her friend of 17 years to use her account.
"He put a lot of pressure on me ... he was so upset, he wore me down," she said.
"It felt like guilt-tripping to me, and using our friendship to get what he wanted out of that."
She also testified about Lamarre-Condon's Instagram post with the bunch of flowers.
The November 9 story featured a heart-eyes emoji and the caption: "When he's in Melbourne but still sends you these ..."
When Mr Baird found out about the ruse, Lamarre-Condon got an identical bouquet and took a photo of the flowers with his mother, telling Mr Baird the post referred to her, Ms Davison said.
Prosecutors also contend the officer's purchases in the week of the shooting demonstrate his preparedness for the killing.
Buying two surfboard bags, one two days before the deaths and one hours after, indicated Lamarre-Condon planned on killing Mr Baird and had to adapt to the unexpected killing of Mr Davies, Mr Hatfield said.
Lamarre-Condon's barrister has conceded his client did some "stupid things" but disputes he exhibited threatening behaviours or intended to kill.
"He never planned to kill or ever cause any harm to anyone," John Stratton SC has told jurors.
"It was in self-defence."
Seated in the dock, the officer has remained largely impassive throughout the evidence, occasionally writing handwritten notes to pass to his legal team.
He was provided access to a laptop to communicate with lawyers in court.
Seated metres away, the mothers of the men he denies murdering have listened intently to each day's evidence, becoming emotional when footage or accounts of their sons were brought up.
Testimony about the fledgling couple's growing fondness for each other prompted the most reaction from Helen Baird, Sandra Davies and others in the crowded courtroom.
"There was something about Luke that just lit Jesse up," Mr Baird's best friend Matthew Edwards said through tears in court on Wednesday.
"They were the real deal."
The second week of the months-long trial begins on Monday.
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