A former Royal Australian Air Force pilot allegedly strangled his wife before staging her death as a lawnmower accident, a court has heard.
Robert John Crawford, 49, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Frances Elizabeth Crawford at the couple’s rural property in Upper Lockyer, west of Toowoomba, on 29 July 2024.
Prosecutor Chris Cook told Brisbane Supreme Court jurors that Mrs Crawford’s body was placed beside a ride-on mower at the bottom of a stone retaining wall as part of an elaborate attempt to disguise the alleged killing.
The jury was shown photographs of the scene, including extensive bruising around Mrs Crawford’s neck and blood coming from her nose. Mr Cook said the injuries were inconsistent with her being crushed by the mower.
An injury to one of her fingernails was also presented to the court. Mr Cook said it indicated that she had tried to fight off her husband.
He questioned why Mrs Crawford would have been mowing in her pyjamas on a freezing July night, particularly as Mr Crawford had told police she had ridden the machine only twice and found it difficult to operate.
“It was Mr Crawford who caused Mrs Crawford’s body to be at the bottom of the retaining wall of the property and it was Mr Crawford who also moved the lawnmower over the retaining wall,” Mr Cook said.
Alleged double life
The prosecution alleges the killing took place against the backdrop of a deteriorating marriage. Mr Cook described Mr Crawford as a “love rat” and “master manipulator”, and said four women with whom he had affairs were due to give evidence.
“He made out to be a man with good Christian values,” Mr Cook told the jury. “However, his story did not match his behaviour. He was a man who lived a double life for a long time.”
The court heard the couple had undergone extensive counselling and that their marriage had been described by the prosecution as “toxic”. Mrs Crawford had drawn up boundaries, or “dealbreakers”, including sexual or emotional infidelity, pornography and masturbation, which she said would lead to divorce.
Mr Cook said Mr Crawford was motivated by the prospect of losing money in a divorce settlement, which would have affected his plans for early retirement.
Mrs Crawford had alternated between considering divorce and giving her husband an opportunity to prove himself to her and their three children, the jury heard.
At one point, she allegedly told her sister: “I wish Bob was in a car accident in a tree and died, because I’m tired of dealing with infidelity and emotional abuse”.
Defence challenges prosecution case
Saul Holt KC, defending Mr Crawford, told jurors they had been shown only an incomplete version of the circumstantial evidence and should not assume the prosecution’s account was correct.
“It’s like a thousand-piece puzzle where he (Cook) has only shown you six pieces and bluntly, they’re the wrong shape,” he said.
Mr Holt said the issue was not whether Mr Crawford had always been a good husband, but whether the evidence established that the lawnmower at the bottom of the wall represented a murder.
He said text messages exchanged by the couple late on the night of Mrs Crawford’s death would be crucial to the case.
The jury is due to visit the alleged murder site on Wednesday, after Justice Lincoln Crowley said the viewing would help them understand the evidence. The trial is expected to hear from up to 47 witnesses over the next three weeks.
