father had chilling final demands for his daughter’s fiancé before killing him in cold blood. Credit: Ftwitty / Getty

Damien Conlon, 38, was just months away from marrying his partner, Linda Simon, when he was allegedly lured into his future father-in-law’s home in Oberon, regional New South Wales, in February 2023.

Once inside, 60-year-old Luke Samouel Simon ordered Damien to kneel before saying, “bye-bye Damien”, and fatally shooting him in the head.

The chilling details were revealed in the NSW Supreme Court, where the army veteran faced a hearing ahead of his sentencing, now scheduled for April.

Prosecutors told the court that the suspect had vowed to kill Damien just two days before the incident.

CCTV footage presented in court showed Luke accessing his gun safe several times on the day of the murder, with the prosecution arguing that this demonstrated an “enduring intent” to kill.

However, Judge Sarah McNaughton described the footage as “complicated and partly problematic evidence,” and argued that it was unclear whether Luke was retrieving the pistol itself or just its cover. Despite this, he has pleaded guilty to the murder.

In a powerful victim impact statement, Luke’s daughter, Linda Simon, did not hold back in condemning her father’s actions.

She called him a “coward” for ambushing Damien instead of confronting him directly and added: “You only had one intention in mind when you lured him into your home and that was that Damien would not be alive after he entered your house.”

Damien Conlon was just months away from marrying his partner, Linda Simon, when he was killed. Credit: GoFundMe

Linda and Damien had met on a dating app in 2019 after Conlon had moved from Ireland to Australia in 2011. Their relationship blossomed, and the couple had been planning to marry at the end of 2023.

The couple shared two young children, and the victim was also a stepfather to two sons from her previous relationship.

The heartbroken fiancée described her father’s “senseless and violent” crime as something that robbed her family of a future and said Damien’s injuries from the shooting were so horrific that they were unable to have an open-casket funeral.

She urged the judge to “give us peace of mind that we do not have to live in fear of Luke walking the streets and having to see him”.

Luke Samouel Simon will appear in court for sentencing on April 3. Credit: Nigel Killeen / Getty

In an interview with the Irish Mirror, cited by News.com.au, Linda recalled how the couple had already paid deposits for the venue and the church, only for their dreams to be shattered.

“We had deposits paid on the venue, the church and everything, but unfortunately that will never be,” she said. “That is the hardest part, all the plans we had for the future and watching our children growing up without him. We just take it day by day now, that is all we can do.”

She also shared how her young son still struggles to comprehend the loss. “He still walks around the house looking for him,” she revealed. “There are memories of happiness and joy when we remember the good times, but then it just hits you that that’s all gone now.”

Luke will appear in court for sentencing on April 3.

Our thoughts are with Conlon’s loved ones.