{"publisher":{"name":"MediaBias News","url":"https://mediabias.news","methodology":"https://mediabias.news/methodology","editorialPrinciples":"https://mediabias.news/editorial-principles","corrections":"https://mediabias.news/corrections"},"scoreGuide":{"trust":"How well corroborated and evidenced the source reporting is. 0-100, higher is better.","critic":"Craft quality of the source journalism: context, balance, fact vs comment. 0-100, higher is better.","hype":"How far the source presentation runs ahead of substance. 0-100, LOWER IS BETTER.","scope":"Scores assess the original reporting this article was written from, not the truth of the underlying event and not the quality of this write-up."},"assessmentGuide":{"type":"coverage-and-source-reporting-analysis","factCheck":{"status":"not-performed","note":"Media Bias News compares coverage and scores the source reporting. It does not currently publish a ClaimReview verdict on whether the underlying event or claim is true."},"sourceFactuality":{"note":"Factuality values describe published ratings of the outlets that covered the story. They are not a factuality verdict on this story or its claims."}},"story":{"id":"https://mediabias.news/politics/detective-describes-finding-bodies-in-surfboard-bags-at-trial","slug":"detective-describes-finding-bodies-in-surfboard-bags-at-trial","url":"https://mediabias.news/politics/detective-describes-finding-bodies-in-surfboard-bags-at-trial","title":"Detective describes finding bodies in surfboard bags at trial","subtitle":"Beau Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty to murdering Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in February 2024.","excerpt":"A senior police officer described to a jury the discovery of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies' bodies in surfboard bags at a rural New South Wales property. Beau Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty to their murders.","category":"Politics","area":"United States","publishedAt":"2026-10-07T04:45:37.133Z","sourceReportedAt":"2026-10-07T03:34:23.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-07T04:45:37.133Z","readTime":"4 min read","scores":{"trust":60,"critic":70,"hype":20,"notes":{"trust":"Central claims attributed to named police officer and witness; two independent outlets published full reports.","critic":"Reports clearly separate fact from comment and provide specific details of the investigation.","hype":"Headlines and content are measured and proportionate to the information presented."}},"tags":["#BeauLamarreCondon","#JesseBaird","#LukeDavies","#MurderTrial","#NSWPolice"],"entities":["Beau Lamarre-Condon","Jesse Baird","Luke Davies","Christine Abela","Elizabeth Kennedy","Goulburn","Bungonia"],"body":[{"type":"key_takeaways","items":["Beau Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty to murdering Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in February 2024.","Detective Senior Constable Christine Abela testified about finding surfboard bags containing the bodies at a Bungonia property.","A friend of Lamarre-Condon, known as Elizabeth Kennedy, provided an induced statement to police about purchasing an angle grinder.","Kennedy stated she drove with Lamarre-Condon in a white van to Goulburn on February 21, 2024, where they bought an angle grinder."]},{"type":"paragraph","text":"Beau Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty to murdering Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in February 2024. The trial heard that Detective Senior Constable Christine Abela described to a jury the discovery of the men's bodies in surfboard bags at a rural property in Bungonia. Some of Mr Baird's loved ones left the courtroom as the detective began to describe the finding."},{"type":"paragraph","text":"Detective Abela testified that she took an induced statement from a friend of Lamarre-Condon, identified in proceedings as Elizabeth Kennedy. Ms Kennedy stated that on February 21, 2024, she drove with Lamarre-Condon in a white van to Goulburn. There, they purchased an angle grinder from a Bunnings store. Ms Kennedy also provided a description of a farm."},{"type":"paragraph","text":"Police searched a rural property in Bungonia and found surfboard bags containing the bodies of Baird and Davies. Detective Abela described a strong smell of decomposition at the site, where the bags were found on a fence line with sticks and branches on top. Police divers had previously searched two dams on the farm and found weights, cement residue, and cable ties."},{"type":"heading","text":"Disagreement on the van and padlock"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"WA Today and The Sydney Morning Herald report that Kennedy stated she had driven to the southern tablelands with Lamarre-Condon on February 21, 2024, in a white van. WA Today also reported that Kennedy said the accused had cut the padlock off the gate of a rural property after the Bunnings trip. ABC Australia reported that Detective Abela said she observed the wires to CCTV cameras at the property had been cut, but the property owner thought cockatoos were responsible."},{"type":"heading","text":"What the coverage left out"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"None of the left-rated or centre-rated reports mentioned the detail that a friend of Lamarre-Condon, known as Elizabeth Kennedy, provided an induced statement to police. The reports also did not mention that Kennedy stated she drove with Lamarre-Condon in a white van to Goulburn on February 21, 2024, and they bought an angle grinder."}],"basedOn":[{"sourceName":"INTELLINEWS","url":"https://intelli.news/2026/10/07/beau-lamarre-condon-didnt-talk-about-jesse-baird-to-friend-in-lead-up-to-alleged-murders-court-hears","headline":"Beau Lamarre-Condon Didn-T Talk About Jesse Baird to Friend in Lead-up to Alleged Wallers, Short Ears","angle":"","publishedAt":"2026-10-07T03:34:23.000Z"},{"sourceName":"ABC Australia","url":"https://abc.net.au/news/2026-10-07/police-officer-discovers-bodies-beau-lamarre-condon-trial/107237650","headline":"Detective describes finding bodies to Lamarre-Condon trial","angle":"","publishedAt":"2026-10-07T03:17:48.000Z"},{"sourceName":"Sydney Morning Herald","url":"https://smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-white-van-and-the-angle-grinder-what-lamarre-condon-s-friend-told-police-20261007-p613i0.html","headline":"The white van and the angle grinder: What Lamarre-Condon’s friend told police","angle":"","publishedAt":"2026-10-07T03:09:52.000Z"},{"sourceName":"The Age","url":"https://theage.com.au/national/nsw/the-white-van-and-the-angle-grinder-what-lamarre-condon-s-friend-told-police-20261007-p613i0.html","headline":"The white van and the angle grinder: What Lamarre-Condon’s friend told police","angle":"","publishedAt":"2026-10-07T03:09:52.000Z"},{"sourceName":"Brisbane Times","url":"https://brisbanetimes.com.au/national/nsw/the-white-van-and-the-angle-grinder-what-lamarre-condon-s-friend-told-police-20261007-p613i0.html","headline":"The white van and the angle grinder: What Lamarre-Condon’s friend told police","angle":"","publishedAt":"2026-10-07T03:09:52.000Z"},{"sourceName":"WA today","url":"https://watoday.com.au/national/nsw/the-white-van-and-the-angle-grinder-what-lamarre-condon-s-friend-told-police-20261007-p613i0.html","headline":"The white van and the angle grinder: What Lamarre-Condon’s friend told police","angle":"","publishedAt":"2026-10-07T03:09:52.000Z"},{"sourceName":"MSNBCTV NEWS","url":"https://msnbctv.news/beau-lamarre-condon-didnt-talk-about-jesse-baird-to-friend-in-lead-up-to-alleged-murders-court-hears-australia-news","headline":"Beau Lamarre-Condon didn’t talk about Jesse Baird to friend in lead-up to alleged murders, court hears","angle":"","publishedAt":"2026-10-07T02:45:00.000Z"}],"analysis":{"distribution":{"percent":{"left":67,"centre":33,"right":0},"count":{"left":4,"centre":2,"right":0},"totalSources":7,"untracked":1,"rated":6,"observedAt":"2026-10-07T04:30:52.089Z"},"lifecycle":{"state":"developing","lastCheckedAt":"2026-10-07T07:00:22.235Z","closedAt":null,"checks":9,"changes":0,"reopened":false},"framing":{"left":["The left-rated reports led on the testimony of Detective Senior Constable Christine Abela describing the discovery of the bodies. ABC Australia's full report detailed the search for the bodies, the induced statement from Elizabeth Kennedy, and the prosecution's allegations regarding Lamarre-Condon's alleged infatuation with Baird. The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and Brisbane Times, using digests, also highlighted Kennedy's statement about the white van and angle grinder purchase."],"centre":["The centre-rated reports focused on the details of Elizabeth Kennedy's induced statement to police. WA Today's full report detailed the white van, the purchase of an angle grinder, and the search for the bodies, including the discovery of a cut padlock. IntelliNews, using a digest, noted that Lamarre-Condon did not talk about Jesse Baird to a friend in the lead-up to the alleged murders."],"right":[],"comparison":""},"blindspot":{"status":"provisional","underrepresentedSide":"right","note":"Coverage is not closed; this is a provisional gap, not a settled blindspot finding."},"sourceFactualityDistribution":{"mixed":1,"high":3,"unknown":1,"veryHigh":2},"ownershipDistribution":{"mediaConglomerate":2,"government":3},"firstDatedReport":{"sourceName":"MSNBCTV NEWS","url":"https://msnbctv.news/beau-lamarre-condon-didnt-talk-about-jesse-baird-to-friend-in-lead-up-to-alleged-murders-court-hears-australia-news","publishedAt":"2026-10-07T02:45:00.000Z"},"countries":[{"country":"North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia","count":1},{"country":"Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Australia","count":1},{"country":"Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia","count":1},{"country":"City of Perth, Western Australia, Australia","count":1},{"country":"Ultimo, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia","count":1}],"outlets":[{"name":"MSNBCTV NEWS","url":"https://msnbctv.news/beau-lamarre-condon-didnt-talk-about-jesse-baird-to-friend-in-lead-up-to-alleged-murders-court-hears-australia-news","headline":"Beau Lamarre-Condon didn’t talk about Jesse Baird to friend in lead-up to alleged murders, court hears","publishedAt":"2026-10-07T02:45:00.000Z","leaningSide":null,"leaningRating":"unknown","factualityRating":"unknown","angle":null,"isOpinion":false,"country":null,"repostedFrom":null},{"name":"Sydney Morning Herald","url":"https://smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-white-van-and-the-angle-grinder-what-lamarre-condon-s-friend-told-police-20261007-p613i0.html","headline":"The white van and the angle grinder: What Lamarre-Condon’s friend told police","publishedAt":"2026-10-07T03:09:52.000Z","leaningSide":"left","leaningRating":"leanLeft","factualityRating":"veryHigh","angle":null,"isOpinion":false,"country":"North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia","repostedFrom":null},{"name":"The Age","url":"https://theage.com.au/national/nsw/the-white-van-and-the-angle-grinder-what-lamarre-condon-s-friend-told-police-20261007-p613i0.html","headline":"The white van and the angle grinder: What Lamarre-Condon’s friend told police","publishedAt":"2026-10-07T03:09:52.000Z","leaningSide":"left","leaningRating":"leanLeft","factualityRating":"high","angle":null,"isOpinion":false,"country":"Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Australia","repostedFrom":"Sydney Morning Herald"},{"name":"Brisbane Times","url":"https://brisbanetimes.com.au/national/nsw/the-white-van-and-the-angle-grinder-what-lamarre-condon-s-friend-told-police-20261007-p613i0.html","headline":"The white van and the angle grinder: What Lamarre-Condon’s friend told police","publishedAt":"2026-10-07T03:09:52.000Z","leaningSide":"left","leaningRating":"leanLeft","factualityRating":"high","angle":null,"isOpinion":false,"country":"Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia","repostedFrom":"Sydney Morning Herald"},{"name":"WA today","url":"https://watoday.com.au/national/nsw/the-white-van-and-the-angle-grinder-what-lamarre-condon-s-friend-told-police-20261007-p613i0.html","headline":"The white van and the angle grinder: What Lamarre-Condon’s friend told police","publishedAt":"2026-10-07T03:09:52.000Z","leaningSide":"centre","leaningRating":"center","factualityRating":"high","angle":null,"isOpinion":false,"country":"City of Perth, Western Australia, Australia","repostedFrom":"Sydney Morning Herald"},{"name":"ABC Australia","url":"https://abc.net.au/news/2026-10-07/police-officer-discovers-bodies-beau-lamarre-condon-trial/107237650","headline":"Detective describes finding bodies to Lamarre-Condon trial","publishedAt":"2026-10-07T03:17:48.000Z","leaningSide":"left","leaningRating":"leanLeft","factualityRating":"veryHigh","angle":null,"isOpinion":false,"country":"Ultimo, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia","repostedFrom":null},{"name":"INTELLINEWS","url":"https://intelli.news/2026/10/07/beau-lamarre-condon-didnt-talk-about-jesse-baird-to-friend-in-lead-up-to-alleged-murders-court-hears","headline":"Beau Lamarre-Condon Didn-T Talk About Jesse Baird to Friend in Lead-up to Alleged Wallers, Short Ears","publishedAt":"2026-10-07T03:34:23.000Z","leaningSide":"centre","leaningRating":"center","factualityRating":"mixed","angle":null,"isOpinion":false,"country":null,"repostedFrom":null}]},"assessment":{"type":"coverage-and-source-reporting-analysis","factCheck":{"status":"not-performed","note":"Media Bias News compares coverage and scores the source reporting. 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