An 83-year-old man accused of murdering his wife broke down crying as a crime scene video was played to a Sydney jury. Aaron Govendir has pleaded not guilty to murdering Denise Govendir at their Dover Heights home in 1998. Prosecutors allege he staged a fake home invasion after she asked for a divorce. His defence lawyer urged jurors to keep open minds and weigh all the evidence. The six-week trial is being heard in the NSW Supreme Court.
An 83-year-old man accused of murdering his wife in their Dover Heights home nearly three decades ago broke down crying as crime scene video was played to a jury. Aaron Govendir has pleaded not guilty to murdering Denise Govendir, who was found dead in 1998. He is accused of staging a fake home invasion to cover up the killing after she asked for a divorce. His defence lawyer urged jurors to weigh all the evidence, saying the case is a criminal trial, not a whodunnit. The six-week trial is being heard in the NSW Supreme Court.
Beau Lamarre-Condon has told his murder trial that a friend urged him to dispose of two men's bodies straight away, although he wanted to report the deaths to police. Lamarre-Condon, a former police officer, has pleaded not guilty to the murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies. His statement alleges the friend, known to the court as Elizabeth Kennedy, helped carry and weigh down the bodies, which she denies. Kennedy has told the court she knew nothing about the bodies. The trial before Justice Natalie Adams continues.
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A jury has heard a phone call in which Beau Lamarre-Condon claimed he suffered trauma from bullying by NSW Police Force members. The call was made on February 23, 2024, while he was on his way to hand himself in. He is accused of murdering Jesse Baird and Luke Davies at Baird's Paddington home on February 19, 2024. He has pleaded not guilty and is arguing self-defence. In his statement to police, Lamarre-Condon said a friend encouraged him to hide the bodies. She denies this and says she never saw the bodies.
A Brisbane jury has heard the prosecution allege that Robert John Crawford staged the scene where his wife, Frances Elizabeth Crawford, was found dead in July 2024, to cover up her murder. Crawford has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors allege the couple's marriage was over, and that he stood to gain financially from his wife's death through a large property, life insurance and her will. Defence counsel described the case as circumstantial. The trial before Justice Lincoln Crowley is set to run for about three weeks and resumes on Thursday.
Blood evidence on a rock wall and a trail of blood from a ride-on mower were shown to a Brisbane Supreme Court jury, the defence says. Robert John Crawford is on trial, accused of murdering his wife, Frances Elizabeth Crawford. Prosecutors allege he strangled her in July 2024, then staged the scene with the mower and faked text messages. The defence argues her head injury came from an accident. The jury also heard the couple's marriage was troubled and that Crawford stood to gain financially from her death.
Former RAAF pilot Robert John Crawford, 49, has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife, Frances Elizabeth Crawford, at Upper Lockyer, west of Toowoomba, in July 2024. Prosecutor Chris Cook told the Brisbane Supreme Court jury that the scene, with her body beside a ride-on mower, was staged to hide her strangulation. Cook alleges Crawford was motivated by a looming divorce settlement and had affairs. Crawford's barrister, Saul Holt KC, argued the prosecution's evidence was incomplete. The jury will visit the site on Wednesday, and up to 47 witnesses are expected over three weeks.
A jury has been told that an alleged murder victim may have died from a broken heart after learning she would move to a nursing home. Raelene Polymiadis, 66, is on trial in South Australia's Supreme Court, pleading not guilty to murdering her parents by injecting them with her own insulin in 2022 and 2023. Prosecutor Michael Foundas said she poisoned them to death. In her final address, defence barrister Marie Shaw KC argued the prosecution had not excluded that the couple chose to end their lives, and that Brenda Anderson may have died from heart failure.
A former RAAF pilot, Robert John Crawford, 49, has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife, Frances Elizabeth Crawford, in July 2024. The Brisbane Supreme Court jury heard prosecutor Chris Cook allege that Crawford staged her death to look like an accident. Her body was found near a ride-on lawnmower below a retaining wall on their rural property west of Toowoomba. Cook said Crawford was motivated by the financial cost of a divorce, and four women allegedly involved with him are expected to give evidence. The jury will visit the site on Wednesday.
Prosecutors have told a Brisbane Supreme Court jury that a woman found dead beside a ride-on mower was the victim of a staged scene covering up her strangulation by her husband. Robert John Crawford, 49, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Frances Elizabeth Crawford at Upper Lockyer on July 29, 2024. Prosecutor Chris Cook alleges that bruising on the victim's neck was inconsistent with being crushed by a mower. Crawford's barrister, Saul Holt KC, told jurors they had been given an incomplete version of the evidence.
A jury has heard a police recording in which Beau Lamarre-Condon, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering Jesse Baird and Luke Davies, tells a friend that things went wrong and that it was his fault. The recording was made after Mr Lamarre-Condon was charged. The 31-year-old is arguing self-defence at a trial before the NSW Supreme Court. The killings are alleged to have taken place on February 19, 2024, at Mr Davies's Paddington home. In the recording, Mr Lamarre-Condon says he went to the house to collect his belongings and thought no one was home.
Prosecutors have told a Brisbane Supreme Court jury that former RAAF pilot Robert John Crawford murdered his wife, Frances Crawford, in July 2024. Crown prosecutor Chris Cook alleges Mr Crawford staged her body to appear as if she had fallen from a ride-on lawnmower. Mr Crawford has pleaded not guilty and has always denied the charge. The Crown alleges a breakdown in the marriage, including affairs, and that Mr Crawford was motivated by his home and financial interests. The trial is expected to run for several weeks.
A friend of former Sydney police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon has told the Supreme Court trial that Mr Lamarre-Condon said he had shot two people. The witness said the accused asked him to help clean up a mess and later said he did not realise bodies would be heavy. Mr Lamarre-Condon, 31, has pleaded not guilty to the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies and is arguing self-defence. The Crown alleges he killed Mr Baird after an obsessive infatuation. The trial is in its fifth week.
A friend of former senior constable Beau Lamarre-Condon has told a NSW Supreme Court jury that he allegedly confessed to killing two men. Lamarre-Condon, 31, has pleaded not guilty to the February 2024 murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies. He says he killed the men in self-defence and then panicked while disposing of their bodies. The friend said the accused allegedly joked about the killings and asked for help cleaning up. Footage shown to the jury includes a visit to a sports store and a purchase of a second bag hours after the killings.
A friend of former police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon has told a jury that he fired his police gun in a national park weeks before the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies. The witness says Mr Lamarre-Condon asked whether the shots could be heard from a house, and that he fired with a paper bag over the barrel. Mr Lamarre-Condon, 31, has pleaded not guilty to murder and is arguing self-defence in the NSW Supreme Court. The couple were allegedly killed at Mr Davies's Paddington home on February 19, 2024.
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Newly released CCTV has been shown to a jury in the murder trial of Beau Lamarre-Condon. He is accused of fatally shooting Jesse Baird and Luke Davies at Baird's Paddington home in February 2024. He has pleaded not guilty. The footage captures him at a drive-thru in a van allegedly used to dispose of the bodies, along with purchases at hardware stores. The defence claims the men were accidentally shot in self-defence. The trial before Justice Natalie Adams continues.
A witness has told a Sydney Supreme Court jury about a drive with Beau Lamarre-Condon, who is on trial over the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in February 2024. The witness, known as Elizabeth Kennedy, said he asked her to pay for an angle grinder and to cover number plates, and that he told her, I don't want to involve you. The accused has pleaded not guilty and his lawyers will argue self-defence. The Crown alleges he tried to sink the bodies in a dam at Bungonia, where they were later found.
Beau Lamarre-Condon, a former police officer, is on trial for the alleged murder of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in Sydney. His friend, Elizabeth Kennedy, testified that he showed no remorse and tried to dispose of the bodies at Cella Farm in Bungonia. Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty, arguing self-defence in the NSW Supreme Court. Kennedy also denied claims that she suggested hiding the bodies or knew about the alleged crimes beforehand.
Jurors have been shown CCTV footage of accused police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon. The footage allegedly shows him enlisting the help of several friends after he murdered his ex-partner.
