Love rat ex-RAAF pilot denies murdering wife in Queensland
Robert John Crawford pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife, Frances Elizabeth Crawford, whose body was found on their rural property near Toowoomba…
In a case centered on a marriage near collapse, prosecutors told a Brisbane Supreme Court jury that the death of Frances Elizabeth Crawford was staged to look like an accident. Former RAAF pilot Robert John Crawford, 49, pleaded not guilty on Monday to murdering his wife at Upper Lockyer on July 29, 2024.
Prosecutor Chris Cook alleged Crawford killed his wife because he stood to lose financially in a divorce settlement, then pursued a long campaign to disguise the death. The case puts those allegations before a jury; Crawford’s defence barrister had not yet delivered an opening statement, according to Nine.com.au.
Frances Crawford’s body was found near a ride-on lawnmower at the bottom of a retaining wall on the couple’s rural property west of Toowoomba. Justice Lincoln Crowley told jurors the prosecution would allege she died either by strangulation or blunt-force trauma.
Prosecution points to relationship breakdown
Cook told the jury the couple were on the verge of divorce when Frances Crawford died. Prosecutors say Crawford wanted to keep the house and avoid splitting his superannuation in a divorce settlement.
“He was a man who lived a double life for a long time,” Cook said. He also described Crawford as “a cheater, adulterer, love rat, philanderer and womaniser”.
Those descriptions are the prosecution’s allegations, not findings by the jury. Crawford has pleaded not guilty, and the trial has yet to hear the defence’s opening account.
The jury was told Frances Crawford had moved between considering divorce and giving her husband the chance to prove himself to her and their children. She had set out boundaries, including deal-breakers that would lead to divorce, the court heard. They included sexual or emotional infidelities, porn and masturbation.
Cook said Crawford had presented himself as a man with good Christian values, but argued that his behaviour contradicted that image. The prosecution also alleges he made his wife’s death appear accidental after killing her.
Witnesses and a visit to the property
Four women with whom Crawford had affairs are due to be called as witnesses. The trial is expected to hear from up to 47 witnesses over the next three weeks, Nine.com.au reported.
Justice Crowley told jurors they would be taken to the alleged murder site on Wednesday. He said the visit would help them understand the evidence. The property is where Frances Crawford’s body was found, near the lawnmower and retaining wall.
The financial allegation gives the jury one account of the prosecution’s proposed motive: Cook says Crawford wanted to retain the house and not divide his superannuation. The jury must assess that claim alongside the evidence presented at trial, including testimony from the women prosecutors say had affairs with Crawford.
Crawford denies the murder charge. His defence had not yet made its opening statement when Nine.com.au published its report.
Source: nine.com.au
