Newsreader Sandra Sully fought back tears on live television as Network 10 broadcast a heartbreaking tribute to her former colleague Jesse Baird after his body was found.
Alleged murder cop Beau Lamarre-Condon is accused of murdering the former television presenter and Luke Davies on Mr Baird’s patio in inner-city Paddington last Monday before dumping their bodies in a shallow grave in the NSW Southern Tablelands.
The remains of Mr Baird and his new friend Mr Davies were finally recovered by police on Tuesday afternoon, ending a five-day extensive search for the missing couple, which stretched from Newcastle in the north to Goulburn in the south.
A day later, Ten News broadcast a special tribute celebrating Mr Baird’s life and his six-year stint with the network in various roles in first Brisbane and then Sydney.
An emotional Sully struggled to maintain composure as she introduced the segment and urged viewers to remember Jesse as a talented, loving young man.
An emotional Sandra Sully fought back tears as she introduced the segment
Network 10 aired a powerful tribute to former host Jesse Baird on Wednesday evening
“We would like to pay tribute to our friend and former colleague Jesse Baird. His murder and that of his partner Luke Davies have rocked Network 10. Our thoughts go out to their family and friends,” Sully began as he fought back tears.
‘We want to remember Jesse as the man he was, and not as how he died.
“Incredibly talented, funny, beautiful inside and out – and forever loved and missed.”
The segment, narrated by former Studio 10 colleague Angela Bishop, featured a video montage of Mr Baird in various roles, including interviewing stars on the red carpet, driving around the race track in a V8 Supercar and bungy jumping.
He also gamely interviewed Collingwood Magpies fans while wearing a Brisbane Lions scarf and shirt in the lead-up to last year’s AFL grand final.
Mr Baird was also a top-level AFL goal referee and confirmed last year’s goal kicked by his beloved Lions.
‘It was a video that he didn’t mind showing us more than once. But we didn’t mind,” Bishop explained.
“Because it was special to be around Jesse.”
‘A brilliant colleague, a loyal friend, a beloved son and brother and the life of every party.’
Sully and Bishop are among a host of Network 10 stars to have paid tribute in recent days, including Hugh Riminton, Lachlan Kennedy and Josh Holt.
Jesse Baird was a roving reporter and fill-in for Studio Ten until the show was axed
Newsreader Narelda Jacobs also fell flat last Friday evening when she reported on Lamarre-Condon’s arrest and charged with the murder of Mr Baird and his new friend.
Mr. Baird was a young teenager when he scored his first television appearance on the children’s show Totally Wild.
He was a long-time roving reporter at Studio 10, sometimes acting as co-host before the weekday morning show was recently discontinued.
The remains of Mr Baird and Mr Davies were exhumed on Tuesday after being found behind a mound of earth near Bungonia in the NSW Southern Tablelands.
The two men’s bloodied clothes were reportedly thrown into a bin in Cronulla, almost 20 miles away, before their bodies were hidden in surfboard bags.
Police allege Mr Lamarre-Condon then rented a white Toyota HiAce van from Sydney Airport and took the bodies about 180km south-west of Sydney, before placing them in a shallow grave on a fence on Jerrara Road to bury.
The temporary grave site was more of a gravel niche next to the entrance to the Greek Orthodox Holy Monastery of St. Fanourios Church.
The police are said to have unknowingly driven past the bodies several times earlier this week during a search of another building, about 20 minutes to the south.
However, officers were only finally able to find the couple’s bodies after their Lamarre-Condon allegedly told them where they were.
A team of police officers searched the bushland surrounding the site for evidence on Wednesday, with the help of a sniffer dog, picks and rakes.
Lamarre-Condon handed himself in at Bondi police station last Thursday before being charged with two counts of murder on Friday.
Police found the remains at 1pm on Tuesday and contacted the families of Baird and Davies shortly afterwards.
Lamarre-Condon’s case is before the judge.