A former Royal Australian Air Force pilot accused of murder was a “love rat” who lived a double life and killed his wife so he would not lose millions of dollars in a divorce, a court has heard.
Robert John Crawford, 48, pleaded not guilty in the Supreme Court on Monday to the murder of Frances Elizabeth Crawford at their Upper Lockyer Valley home west of Brisbane in July 2024.
The former squadron leader, then based at Amberley, is alleged to have staged the death at the rural property to look like an accident involving a ride-on lawnmower. He is alleged to have killed her through strangulation or blunt force trauma to the head.
In opening the case, Crown Prosecutor Chris Cook showed the jury a photo of Frances Crawford’s body laying beside the mower at the bottom of a retaining wall at the property.
Cook said it was Robert Crawford’s account that he was asleep, “woke up and wandered around for a while and found his beloved wife dead there at the bottom of the wall”.
“Now, apparently she was out in the middle of the night, a very cold night in Upper Lockyer … and she was worried about sprinklers,” he said.
Her death came against the backdrop of her husband’s infidelity, the court heard, with Cook describing the accused as a cheater, adulterer, love rat, womaniser and master manipulator.
“Mr Crawford was interested in other women and not committed to his marriage,” Cook said.
Cook said the pair had separated about a year earlier, after Frances Crawford discovered an affair. She also found he had booked a flight for two people to New Zealand, but could not find out details of the other passenger.
Robert Crawford continued to message his lovers. After he ran a marathon in July 2024, he thanked one woman for being “so encouraging yesterday”, telling her she helped him “dig deeper I was in so much pain”.
The court heard he sent another message that month to a real estate agent he had been in a relationship with.
“I just wanted to say hello,” he wrote. “I have so much to tell you!! I’m overseas atm. Anyways just wanted to catch up and say hi. I hope you are well!”
The court heard that in July 2023, after their separation, Robert Crawford had sent his wife a message that read: “And I say this with love … Simply put, why would you believe for even a fraction of a second that I’d ever agree to leave my own house permanently? I think you know in your heart that I’d never ever do that…”
Cook said: “Robert Crawford. He’s a man of his word. He spent the next eight or nine months getting his way back into the house.”
Cook said he was allowed back into the house in May 2024 for a three-month trial period. His wife wanted any reconciliation to involve him undergoing polygraph testing and counselling.
He boasted to his lovers about his ability to pass the polygraph tests, but texted his wife saying that he passed, making her hopeful, Cook said.
The court heard he told his counsellor at one point: “I feel like I’m just about to lose it, and I want to flee.”
He said his wife struggled with ending the relationship, and wavered at times between divorce and giving her husband another chance.
The pair had agreed to a set of boundaries as part of the reconciliation, the court heard. The conditions, shown to the jury, included Robert Crawford avoiding interactions with females, telling his wife his whereabouts, attending church with her, and not lying.
Severe boundary violations included emotional or sexual affairs, porn and masturbation.
Cook said the accused was motivated to kill his wife because he had a long-term interest in other women, he stood to lose out financially in a divorce settlement, and he stood to benefit financially from his wife’s untimely death.
Cook said the accused wanted to keep their Thomas Road home, which he had built and was valued at up to $2.6 million, and did not want to split his lucrative superannuation of $1.7 million.
“Robert Crawford loves money … loved it so much that he killed for it.”
Cook said while Robert Crawford had been a squadron leader, he was someone who “lived a double life for a long time”.
His wife was a devout Christian, who did everything for her children and had moved around for his career with the RAAF, Cook said.
“She wanted to be loved by her husband,” Cook said. He said she did not feel safe.
The prosecution case relied on a series of messages sent between the Crawfords’ mobiles on the night of her death. In one, the accused wrote: “Hello? Xx Stop watching Korean Netflix and come to bed haha.”
But the prosecution allege that at that time Frances Crawford was likely dead, dying, or unconscious and unable to have sent messages.
The jury was shown a photo of the deceased, with blood on her face, and her shoe on the grass beside her right leg. Another photo of her hand showed a bloody broken fingernail.
Robert Crawford told police he found his wife near the mower, and managed to lift it off her. By the time he called Triple Zero, she had been dead for some time, Cook said.
Crawford was represented by defence barrister Saul Holt KC, who told the jury the defence case was that the death was a tragic accident, and mower rollovers were not uncommon.
Holt said no one had suggested she was out mowing. Rather, she was moving the mower after having repeatedly asked her husband to do it.
“The scene cannot be explained as staged,” Holt said.
Several RAAF pilots and personnel, and women who had relationships with Crawford, are expected to be called in the trial.
The trial, expected to run for up to three weeks before Justice Lincoln Crowley, continues.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service (1800RESPECT) on 1800 737 732.
You have reached your maximum number of saved items.
Remove items from your saved list to add more.
You've used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.
