Australian flag carrier Qantas has unveiled an emotional tribute on its official Mardi Gras float to a murdered flight attendant who was allegedly slain with his boyfriend by a serving police officer who then hid their bodies in surfboard bags.
Luke Davies, 29, was murdered alongside his new TV presenter boyfriend Jesse Baird, 26, on February 19 by the serving police officer who was Baird’s ex-lover at an address in Sydney.
Senior Constable Beau Lamarre-Condon, 29, has been charged with gunning the men down and is currently being held in prison while investigators continue their investigation.
In memory of Luke and in consultation with his family, Qantas decided to pay tribute to the flight attendant by naming its official Mardi Gras parade float after him.
The float is in the shape of an airplane, and Luke’s name will appear at the front just like any other named aircraft would look like.
The parade is taking place on Saturday, March 2, as the culmination of a two-week LGBTQI+ Mardi Gras celebration in Syndey every year.
Qantas has taken part in Mardi Gras activities and the iconic annual parade for many years and it’s believed that Luke would have been walking alongside Qantas’ float if his life hadn’t been so tragically cut short.
Luke had only been working for Qantas for around four months. He previously flew as a member of cabin crew for Virgin Australia’s budget subsidiary Tiger Air before landing his dream job as an international flight attendant for Australia’s flag carrier.
The latest police theory surrounding the murder is that Luke was not Lamarre-Condon’s intended target. Two weeks prior to the murder, Lamarre-Condon was caught on CCTV cameras walking into a sports shop and purchasing one surfboard bag.
But following the murders, Lamarre-Condon revisited the same shop to buy a second surfboard bag. Several days after allegedly murdering the couple, Lamarre-Condon rented a van and moved the bodies to a remote location, where they remained for more than a week before being discovered.
The murders have rocked Australia’s LGBTQI+ community and the role of the police in Saturday’s Mardi Gras parade have overshadowed what is normally a celebatory occasion.
