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Bodies of missing Australian TV presenter, boyfriend found

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Police in Australia found the bodies of a TV presenter and his flight attendant boyfriend on Tuesday, ending a week-long search.
Police in Australia found the bodies of a TV presenter and his flight attendant boyfriend on Tuesday, ending a week-long search.
Andrew Leeson / AFP
  • Australian police found the bodies of a TV presenter and his flight attendant boyfriend in a rural area outside Sydney on Tuesday.
  • The discovery ends an almost week-long search for journalist Jesse Baird and Qantas flight attendant Luke Davies.
  • A 28-year-old serving police constable who had been in a relationship with Baird has been charged with two counts of murder.


Australian police found the bodies of a TV presenter and his flight attendant boyfriend in a rural area outside Sydney on Tuesday, acting on information from a police officer charged with their murder.

"We are very confident we have located Luke and Jesse," said the head of New South Wales police Karen Webb, noting the families of the two victims had received the news with relief and sadness.

The discovery ends an almost week-long high-profile search for the remains of entertainment journalist Jesse Baird, 26, and Qantas flight attendant Luke Davies, 29.

A 28-year-old serving police constable who had been in a relationship with Baird has been charged with two counts of murder.

"This information did come with the assistance of the accused," said Webb.

Police believe the pair were shot at a home in central Sydney before being loaded into surfboard bags and transported to a rural property about two hours' drive from the city.

READ | Australian police officer charged with double murder of his TV presenter ex-lover, and his boyfriend

Ballistics tests showed a projectile found at the apartment matched that of a police-issue firearm. The weapon was later found inside a police station safe.

Police allege the killings were "of a domestic nature" and not a "gay hate crime."

The suspect had been a celebrity chaser and blogger before joining the police force.

He had been photographed with scores of stars including Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga and Ben Stiller.

He was previously investigated over the aggressive tasering of an Aboriginal man in 2020 after a video of the incident emerged online.

News reports from 2014 indicate that he came out publicly as gay by throwing a letter onstage at a Lady Gaga concert, which the star read out to a crowd that included his sister.

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