Latest news with #FrancesCrawford
News.com.au
24-07-2025
- News.com.au
New move in Robert John Crawford's mower murder case
An air force pilot charged with his wife's murder who allegedly staged the scene to make it look like she died in a ride-on mower accident will need to sign a new bail undertaking following changes to a non-contact order in court. Robert John Crawford, 46, is alleged to have murdered his wife Frances Crawford at the couple's Upper Lockyer property, west of Brisbane, on July 30, 2024. Authorities found Ms Crawford's body at the base of a retaining wall, near a ride-on mower. Under his strict bail conditions, Mr Crawford has been reporting to police daily and has not been able to go within 500m of international airport terminals or enter any airfield due to his status as a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) pilot. An additional requirement is not to contact certain people named in a specific non-contact order; however, this was altered on Thursday with consent by the Crown and his legal team. Mr Crawford is accused of strangling his wife in a 'murderous rage' after an argument between the pair the night before. The Crown alleges he spent a 'significant' amount of time manipulating the property to make it look like Ms Crawford had died by misadventure while outside on a ride-on mower. Mr Crawford is yet to enter a plea. Mr Crawford, who has been on bail since May, was not required to attend Brisbane Supreme Court when his matter was briefly mentioned on Thursday morning. The court was told a variation would be made to 'tidy up' a non-contact condition imposed as part of Mr Crawford's bail undertaking. Three relatives of the RAAF pilot no longer wished to be included in the 'carve-out' – or exception – of the non-contact order. Two other people identified as Crown witnesses indicated they were happy with the exceptions to the order. Crown prosecutor Chris Cook said Mr Crawford would need to sign the new bail undertaking. 'I wonder if … (it) could be arranged over the registry to have it returned by the end of tomorrow,' he said. Paris Reeves, representing Mr Crawford, said it would be possible, as her client was due to attend a conference with his legal counsel on Friday. She said it could otherwise be signed at Toowoomba Police Station, where Mr Crawford was required to report daily. Justice Sean Cooper directed the new undertaking be signed by 4pm on Friday, leaving the arrangements for Mr Crawford's lawyer. A committal hearing, which will determine if the Crown case is strong enough for Mr Crawford to be committed to stand trial in a higher court, is set to go ahead in October. A transcript of a triple-0 call, obtained from court documents filed as part of Mr Crawford's bail application, allegedly captures the air force pilot requesting an ambulance after finding his wife near the wall. He allegedly tells the call taker: 'I don't know. I just found her. She's off the (wall) … like the mower's rolled and she's, I … I dunno what she's doing?' The call taker clarifies if the mower had rolled on Ms Crawford, and Mr Crawford allegedly replies: 'Yeah … yeah … I'm just, I'm trying to … I had to pull it off and like … I think she's still OK … I think, but I need an ambulance ASAP.' Paramedics found Ms Crawford at the base of the wall about 4am near a ride-on mower. In messages allegedly exchanged between Mr Crawford and his wife, she asks at 11:21pm: 'Hey are you going to put the mower away soon?' Mr Crawford is alleged to have replied at 11.25pm: 'Just give me a sec' before replying a minute later: 'You can just turn the sprinklers off if easier too xx.' The last alleged text at 12.35pm reads: 'Hey I'm getting really sleepy.' Police allege Mr Crawford's phone data showed 'significant' activity through the night, including thousands of steps allegedly recorded on his Garmin watch. An autopsy concluded Ms Crawford died from neck and head injuries, but an expert biomechanical report prepared for the Crown alleged it was 'most improbable' that an accident with the ride-on mower resulted in the head injury at the top of the retaining wall and Ms Crawford's body coming to rest 1.8m from the wall. But Mr Crawford's defence team has argued the report does not rule out a scenario where Ms Crawford was reversing the vehicle and fell, saying the conclusions are 'at best for the Crown, highly contestable'.
ABC News
18-06-2025
- ABC News
Husband of allegedly murdered woman Frances Crawford charged with breaching bail
A Lockyer Valley man accused of murdering his wife and staging a lawnmower accident as a cover-up has been charged with breaching his strict bail conditions. Robert John Crawford, 47, was granted Supreme Court bail last month with a string of conditions. They included a $250,000 surety, a night-time curfew to remain at his Upper Lockyer home and the requirement to report daily to police. It is understood that the bail breach relates to the night curfew. Mr Crawford, an RAAF pilot, is accused of murdering his wife, Frances Crawford, and interfering with her corpse. He was arrested on Saturday in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, and charged with breach of bail. The matter was briefly mentioned in the Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Monday, where he was bailed to reappear in Toowoomba on August 14. He entered into a new bail undertaking. Ms Crawford, 49, was a psychologist in Toowoomba, and the couple had three adult children. She died at the family's rural property, in the Upper Lockyer region, in the early hours of July 30 last year. Mr Crawford was arrested and charged with his wife's death in October last year. Emergency services were called to the Upper Lockyer property at 3:37am on July 30. Ms Crawford's body was found at the bottom of a retaining wall with a ride-on lawnmower nearby. The court has previously heard that Mr Crawford will contest the charges. During his Supreme Court bail application, Justice Frances Williams said she was satisfied that the bail conditions imposed had lowered the risk to an "acceptable level". "The Crown alleges that following an argument, [Mr Crawford] strangled the deceased and then manipulated the deceased's body so it appeared she had died in an accident," Justice Williams said. The Crown had opposed Mr Crawford's bail application, arguing that he posed an unacceptable risk of interfering with witnesses and that no conditions could be imposed to ameliorate the risk to an appropriate level. A committal hearing is set down for hearing in the Ipswich Magistrates Court in October.
Daily Mail
18-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Why kids of air force pilot accused of 'murdering mum and staging it as a tragic late-night lawnmower incident' have moved out of home
The estranged children of the air force pilot accused of killing their mum and staging it as a lawnmower accident have moved out of the family home as he moves back in. RAAF Squadron Leader Robert Crawford, 47, has been freed on bail awaiting trial and is living at the family farmhouse in the Lockyer Valley in Queensland 's Darling Downs. He allegedly strangled his psychologist wife Frances, 49, before faking her death as a tragic accident where she had been crushed by an overturned ride-on lawnmower. Crawford was allowed out of jail without an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet after police told the court it wouldn't work because of network limitations at his rural home. But after his release, a family friend has revealed the couple's adult children have moved out amid the murder allegations their father faces over their mother's death. According to a close friend of Ms Crawford, the children have now been left penniless by the decision to leave home but feel they still can't return at this time. It is not suggested that they left home because they had any view on the guilt or innocence of their father. Crawford's bail hearing was told the children, aged 23, 20, and 19, accuse their dad of being abusive, explosive and violent, and grew up 'walking on eggshells'. 'The applicant clearly has a bad relationship with his children,' the police prosecutor told the court. 'Given the nature of these charges it cannot be underestimated that he does not present a risk to witnesses.' Crawford admitted to detectives that he had multiple affairs during his 27-year marriage. 'Frances and I have had marital problems in the past, but we have been trying to fix these issues,' Crawford told the police in his first interview after her death, court documents revealed. 'Our problems stem from me being unfaithful during our marriage. I have been unfaithful on numerous occasions over the course of a 10-year period. 'Francis became aware of these incidents in mid 2023 and this resulted in me moving out of the family home.' Crawford lived at a Brisbane address and on his RAAF base between July 2023 and April 2024, but insisted they were 'giving our marriage the best shot at success'. However, the court also heard that during the separation Crawford had set up an account on the e-Harmony dating website. Robert Crawford (pictured) is an squadron leader - a senior role and the equivalent of a Major in the Army - who operates out of the Royal Australian Airforce Amberley Base Police raised concerns that Crawford's return to the family home after both the long separation with his wife and his eight months incarceration could cause issues. 'He proposes to return to the scene of his alleged crimes,' the police prosecutor said. 'He had not lived at that property for a relatively extended period of time prior to April 2024. 'The property is likely to be sought as part of the deceased estate by the applicants' children. At this stage there is no legal impediment of him living there.' The move has outraged friends and family of Ms Crawford, said her close friend Suzanne Duffy. 'To say the family are angry is an understatement,' she said. 'The grandfather of Frances Crawford's children put up $250,000 for her alleged murderer's bail.' In multiple comments online, Ms Duffy slammed the decision to allow Crawford to be released back into the community ahead of his trial. Ms Duffy has now set up a GoFundMe for the Crawfords' children which has raised almost $25,000 to help fund ongoing mental healthcare, living costs and legal fees. 'The plea for your support is desperate and urgent,' she posted in the online fundraiser appeal. 'The laws should be changed; the kids are entitled to that house.' Ms Crawford was found dead at their rural home, 100km west of Brisbane, in the early hours of July 30, 2024. She was discovered by emergency services at the base of a rock wall next to a ride-on lawnmower with fatal head and neck injuries. Crawford was arrested around ten weeks later in October and charged with his wife's murder and interfering with her corpse. Police allege Crawford strangled his wife, then used her phone to send fake messages before staging her fatal accident. During the bail application Crawford's lawyer Saul Holt said there was no conclusive evidence to support the prosecution's claim that his client strangled his wife in a state of 'murderous rage'. But the court was told Crawford posed 'an unacceptable risk of failing to appear, committing an offence, endangering the safety or welfare of witnesses and others and/or interfering with witnesses'. 'There are no conditions which can be imposed to ameliorate those risks to an acceptable level,' the police prosecutor said. Crawford was remanded in custody after he was initially charged but seven months later, Justice Frances Williams granted bail and freed him on May 2. Crawford looked tanned and relaxed as he reported to the Toowoomba Police station around 20km from his Upper Lockyer Valley farm last Monday. On Wednesday, dressed in shorts and a fitted T-shirt, he popped into Bunnings to buy a light bulb. Clearly concerned about being spotted, given the high profile of his case, he chose to slip in and out of the trade entry with his sunglasses firmly kept on.
News.com.au
16-05-2025
- News.com.au
‘Like the mower's rolled': Alleged triple-0 transcript of pilot charged with wife's murder
An air force pilot charged with the murder of his wife – before allegedly staging it to look like she had an accident on their ride-on mower – allegedly claimed in his triple-0 call that the mower had 'rolled' and he had to 'pull it off' his wife while asking for an ambulance 'ASAP'. The bombshell transcript of the emergency call made by Robert John Crawford on the night his wife Frances was found dead at their Upper Lockyer property in July 2024 can be detailed after the release of court documents, which include an alleged timeline of texts between the RAAF pilot and his wife in addition to several affidavits and an expert biomedical engineering report. The release of the documents follows Crawford, 47, successfully applying for bail in the Supreme Court in early May. He will reside at the same property, report daily to police and not go within 500m of international airport terminals or enter any airfield due to his status as an RAAF pilot while his case continues to track through the courts. Police arrested and charged Mr Crawford with one count each of murder and misconduct with a corpse in October last year. His wife's body was found at the base of a retaining wall at their property, located west of Brisbane, on the night of July 30, 2024 near a ride-on mower. It is alleged Mr Crawford flew into a 'murderous rage' and fatally strangled his wife following an argument between the pair on the night of July 29. 'Mr Crawford then spent a significant amount of time manipulating their property so that it appeared that Ms Crawford had died by misadventure while outside on a ride-on mower in her pyjamas in the middle of a cold winter's night,' the Crown alleges in court documents, obtained by NewsWire. 'Once he was done, he called triple-0.' A transcript of that triple-0 call, made at 3.47am on July 30, allegedly details Crawford requesting an ambulance after finding his wife. After being asked what happened, he allegedly tells the call taker: 'I don't know. I just found her. She's off the (wall i/a ledge) … like the mower's rolled and she's, I … I dunno what she's doing?' The call taker clarifies if the mower had rolled on Ms Crawford, and Mr Crawford allegedly replies: 'Yeah … yeah … I'm just, I'm trying to … I had to pull it off and like … I think she's still OK … I think, but I need an ambulance ASAP.' Paramedics attended at and found Ms Crawford at the bottom of a rock retaining wall, with a ride-on mower in proximity, In his own statement to police, Mr Crawford states he arrived home at 6pm the night before his wife's death to find her making a chicken curry for dinner. He claims he last saw her 'sometime around 9.45pm' while they were 'snuggling on the couch, sharing a heated blanket' while watching TV. 'I woke up sometime in the middle of the night and reached over in bed to grab her hand. I realised she was not in bed,' Mr Crawford claims in his statement. He claims he searched the house and went out to the back patio, finding his wife under the mower when he looked over the back rock ledge. Messages allegedly exchanged between the pair on the encrypted messaging app Signal have also been released – with Ms Crawford allegedly sending him a message at 11.21pm: 'Hey are you going to put the mower away soon?' Crawford is alleged to have replied at 11.25pm: 'Just give me a sec', before replying a minute later: 'You can just turn the sprinklers off if easier too xx'. Later that night, Crawford is alleged to have messaged his wife: 'Hey I'm finished with my revision study stuff, I'm brushing teeth and going to bed soon. Are you coming?' He allegedly follows up at 12.30am with: 'Helllloooo? Xx stop watching Korean Netflix and come to bed haha', and again at 12.35am: 'Hey I'm getting really sleepy.' But police have cast doubt on Crawford's version of events – pointing to his phone data allegedly showing 'significant' activity through the night, including thousands of steps allegedly recorded on his Garmin watch. 'Improbable': Alleged major detail in expert's report An autopsy concluded Ms Crawford died from neck and head injuries, but an expert biomechanical report prepared for the Crown alleged it was 'most improbable' that an accident with the ride-on mower resulted in the head injury at the top of the retaining wall and Ms Crawford's body coming to rest 1.8m from the wall. Chips and scraping on the rock wall from the undercarriage of the mower, as well as damage to weeds in the area, allegedly suggest the mower progressed over and down the retaining wall in a 'wheels down' manner, the biomechanical report states. 'The steep gradient of the retaining wall (approximately 60 degrees from horizontal) indicates that sideways or angled travel of the mower down the slope would not have been possible without the mower rolling over, a scenario that appears inconsistent with the scrape marks on the rocks or damage to the mower,' the report states. The report found no evidence supporting Ms Crawford being 'caught' and forcefully carried over the slope by the mower. It continued by saying a fall event was 'conceivable' – possibly from Ms Crawford falling off the mower – but noted the mower's centre of mass was closer to the retaining wall than hers. 'The neck injuries reported at the time of death, including hyoid bone and thyroid cartilage fracture, are very rare as far as traumatic fractures are concerned,' the report states. 'It is unlikely that impact forces associated with the mower could explain the observed neck pathology.' A botanical expert determined Ms Crawford's Ugg boots 'were not worn on the lawn outside the house' on the night of July 29 due to the absence of grass clippings on the tread and in the grooves of the boot. Her left Ugg boot was still on her body, while the right one was found adjacent to her body. A 20cm piece of grass was found on her right sock, between her big and second toe, according to the report. 'It is highly unlikely the deceased would have put her right sock on with a flowering grass inflorescence between her toes or a 20cm piece of grass being present in her sock before she put (it) on,' the report writer determined. The Crown alleges Ms Crawford was not actually walking around in her Ugg boots at the time and a 'reasonable inference open' is that Mr Crawford 'put socks and Ugg boots on his dead or dying wife' after positioning her outside. However, Mr Crawford's defence team says the Crown case is not strong and the conclusions in the biomechanical report 'are, at best for the Crown, highly contestable'. Barrister Saul Holt KC notes the autopsy report does not rule out a scenario 'the deceased was reversing the lawnmower at night and fell from it'. 'The case against the applicant (Crawford) is not overwhelming, and indeed, it is positively contestable. (He) is motivated to defend the allegations against him,' Mr Holt writes in an affidavit. Pilot 'abusive, manipulative', wife felt 'very unsafe' In court documents, police detail the allegedly fraught relationship between Mr Crawford and his wife – marked by alleged infidelity over 10 years and accusations the air force pilot was 'abusive' and 'manipulative'. The pair met at a Maroochydore church camp in 1996 before getting married two years later. A Queensland Police court brief alleges Mr Crawford was 'financially motivated' and 'controlling' of his wife, who allegedly felt 'very unsafe'. According to the brief, the couple's three children are 'estranged' from Mr Crawford and have described him as 'abusive, explosive, unpredictable, aggressive, controlling (and) manipulative' with 'violent outbursts' and that they 'grew up walking on eggshells … fearful of the defendant'. The Crawfords separated for nine months in 2023 after his alleged extramarital relationships came to light. By April 2024, the pair agreed to a three-month trial to try to repair their marriage; however, Ms Crawford was set to leave her husband 'for the final time' as the relationship had not recovered. 'This angered Mr Crawford as he stood to lose financially and would likely be required to leave the family home again,' the Crown alleges in court documents. 'Mr Crawford's frustration at his wife sent him into a murderous rage.' In his statement, Mr Crawford acknowledges he had 'marital problems in the past' and was 'unfaithful on numerous occasions over the course of a 10 year period'. 'I am not proud of these things and embarrassed by my actions,' Mr Crawford states. In the statement, he says he had continued to work on their marriage after moving back in and believed they were 'moving in the right direction … although it seems like we sometimes take two steps forward and one step back'. Mr Crawford's legal team have indicated much of the evidence on the claimed infidelity will be contested. Through an affidavit, a fellow pilot and friend of Mr Crawford says he is not aware of any affairs – noting Mr Crawford had mentioned he had an eHarmony account. 'He said that all the details of everything were discussed as part of his marriage counselling and that Frances was aware of everything,' the affidavit states. 'My experience is that Rob is genuinely a good person and has defined his whole live by his Christian values. If he did something like this, he would already have told someone. It would have destroyed him.'
ABC News
14-05-2025
- ABC News
Alleged domestic violence victims mourned at candlelight vigil in Toowoomba
About 500 residents of Toowoomba and its surrounds have attended a candlelight vigil in the city to call for an end to domestic and family violence. In the last 10 months the community west of Brisbane has been rocked by the loss of of five lives in alleged murders. Psychologist Frances Crawford was found dead at her Upper Lockyer property in July 2024 and her husband Robert Crawford, 47, has been charged with her murder. In April this year, Louise Griffiths was allegedly murdered by her husband Cameron Hunt, 45, at a home in Geham, north of Toowoomba. On Tuesday – the day of the vigil – Ellouisa Patricia Brighton, 36, was charged with murder following a deadly house fire in Toowoomba that killed her three children last week. If you need help immediately call emergency services on triple-0 Members of Ms Crawford's and Ms Griffiths's families attended the emotional event, which was organised by local support group Protea Place. Ms Crawford's family held a photograph of the 49-year-old mother of three and a local college captain read a poem called She is More Than a Memory. Protea Place Women's Support Centre chief executive Amanda Dalton said she felt a responsibility to make sure the deaths were a catalyst for change. "We will raise up and we will continue to fight, educate and make a change," she said "We are seeing more and more cases — the complexity is a lot higher." Ms Dalton said an equally complex response was needed to reduce domestic and family violence. "The housing crisis has added another huge layer — having a safe place for women and children to go to is near-on impossible," she said. Domestic and Family Violence Minister Amanda Camm attended the vigil and said it was heartbreaking speaking with the families about their losses. "To honour all those who have lost their lives to domestic and family violence is truly humbling," she said. "That [impact] will be ongoing for this community, which is why I have spoken with the mayor about how we can support the community." Domestic and family violence offences in the state have increased by 8.3 per cent this financial year. Queensland courts recorded almost 13,000 cases up until March 31. The state government recently introduced new domestic violence laws enabling police to issue long-term orders to perpetrators and to respond to more cases. But Ms Camm said the community could not rely on funding and legislation to prevent domestic violence. "We have to all take accountability, it is a whole-of-government and whole-of-community approach that is needed," she said. "Too many people are taken, are murdered, are lost.
