Jesse Baird (right) is a TV presenter and his boyfriend Luke Davis is a flight attendant
Sydney:
Australian police on Friday charged an officer with the double murder of a TV presenter and her flight attendant boyfriend, but their bodies have not yet been found.
Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said a 28-year-old serving police officer had been charged with two counts of murder following a high-profile three-day raid in Sydney.
Detectives arrived at the home of former red carpet host and entertainment journalist Jesse Baird, 26, earlier this week after they stumbled upon blood-stained clothing in a suburban bin.
Detectives found “significant amounts of blood” when they searched Baird’s city center apartment and expressed “serious concerns” for him and his boyfriend, 29-year-old Qantas flight attendant Luke Davis.
Both are presumed dead.
A pellet found inside the apartment matched a police-issued firearm.
The weapon was later found in a police station safe.
The accused officer is said to have been in a relationship with Baird until recently, which ended badly.
Baird was a former presenter on Australia’s Ten Network.
The officer handed himself over to Bondi police station near the country’s famous beach on Friday.
Video of the arrest shows him being escorted into the building in handcuffs, a dark baseball cap and sneakers.
He remains in custody and police will oppose bail.
Australian media reported that the suspect was a celebrity chaser and blogger before joining the police force, and had been photographed with Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Ben Stiller, etc. Dozens of people took photos.
He had previously been investigated for a Taser attack on an Aboriginal man in 2020 after a video of the incident surfaced online.
News reports in 2014 indicated that he publicly acknowledged being gay by throwing a letter on stage at a Lady Gaga concert, which the star read to a crowd that included his sister.
“Two counts of murder have been laid,” Doherty said, adding that police were now focused on finding the bodies of the two missing men.
The bodies of the two men were transported and disposed of in a white van, police said.
A forensic examination of the van is underway.
“It’s important to find the body, not only to determine the cause of death, but also to provide answers to the grieving family,” Doherty said.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
