Police have informed the families of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies that they have found their bodies on a second property near where searches have been conducted for the past two days at Bungonia, southwest of Sydney.
The accused was interviewed by homicide detectives on Tuesday morning and he provided assistance to help police find the bodies.
NSW Commissioner Karen Webb headed a press conference on Tuesday afternoon to confirm that the bodies of the missing Sydney couple have been found in surf bags at a property about 20 minutes away from where they had been searching.
“Today, this afternoon, detectives attached to Strike Force Ashfordby have located a second crime scene in Bungonia, which is a separate location to the scene that they had been searching yesterday and earlier, and at that location, we believe we have located two bodies,” Commissioner Webb started.
“The families have been informed and crime scene detectives have just arrived on scene at that location now where a specialist forensic investigation will take place.
“On behalf of the New South Wales Police Force, I’d like to pass on my condolences to the Davies and Baird families, their friends and the LGBTQI+ communities in not just New South Wales but across Australia where they were based and have many friendships.”
The lead police in the investigation Detective Sergeant Pinazza attended the press conference and had been working on this non-stop for the past week.
“I’d like to thank all the detectives that have worked hard on this investigation tirelessly around the clock, not just the detectives and the OIC detective who’s here today and credit much of the success of the case to her.”
Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty spoke about where they found the bodies and that the accused was of assistance.
“Homicide squad detectives attended Silverwater Jail this morning, spoke to the accused and as a result of that, he provided assistance to the investigation,” Detective Doherty said.
“We were able to provide a location of where Luke and Jessie were and as a result of that, about one o’clock today, homicide squad detectives attended a location off Jerrara Road at Bungonia. It’s about 20 minutes from the original search location where they have located what they believe are the remains of Luke and Jessie. There are two surf bags that have been found, which have been covered with some debris.
“At that stage, it was declared a crime scene and immediately the family were informed of the development in this case and obviously, as the Commissioner said, a crime scene examination will be ongoing for some time. However, more importantly, arrangements have been made for the family to travel down to the Goulburn area and we’ll provide that ongoing support as we need to.”
The accused policeman had not spoken since he was charged last Friday but this morning finally obtained legal counsel which allowed detectives to visit jail and ask him for assistance.
“Detective Sergeant Pinazza had obviously interviewed him or attempted to interview him [before] and charged him but this is the first time that he has willingly told us information,” explained Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald.
“Once again it was a friend of people in this room from the media and an officer who’s used a police pistol to take two innocent people’s lives.
“I spoke to the Commissioner earlier, it’s probably attracted the world’s attention let alone Australia’s. It’s been a horrendous and horrific murders and once again we pass on our sympathies to the families.
“The first phone call was to the families to let them know, they’ve had support from a family liaison officer who’s another detective on the investigation who’s been providing that support and they were informed straight away and again it’s probably mixed emotions for them and you can understand how they may have felt but at least they’ve had an answer and they want to travel down to the Goulburn area and we’ll provide as much support as we can and accommodate them.
Detective Sergeant Pinazza, who has been in charge of the investigation, spoke about hoe frustrated they were to come up with nothing from searches yesterday.
“We went home last night extremely deflated but it’s not in our nature to give up so we rallied again this morning and have come upon a wonderful result for the families,” Detective Pinazza said.
“What I understand is that they’re found upon a fence line near the entrance to the property. The property that we were searching was about 20 minutes away.”
More to come.
An off-duty Constable was charged on Friday and was refused bail after attending court for allegedly killing former TV presenter Jesse Baird, 26, and Qantas flight attendant Luke Davies, 29.
He will next appear in court in April.
Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Last Updated on Feb 28, 2024
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