Latest news with #RobertCrawford
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.'
Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE RAAF Squadron Leader Robert Crawford accused of wife's lawnmower murder breaks cover in Toowooomba
The air force pilot accused of murdering his wife and allegedly staging her death to look like a freak lawnmower accident has been seen for the first time since his release on bail. Father-of-three Robert Crawford, 47, looked tanned and relaxed as he reported to the Toowoomba Police station around 20km from his Upper Lockyer Valley farm on Tuesday. The alleged killer who has been described as a 'master manipulator,' was not wearing an electronic monitoring device, after cops revealed network limitations at his property would render it useless. Psychologist Frances Elizabeth Crawford was found dead at their rural home, 100km west of Brisbane, in the early hours of July 30, 2024. RAAF Squadron Leader Crawford was arrested around 10 weeks later in October and charged with his wife's murder and interfering with her corpse. Ms Crawford was found at the base of a rock wall next to a ride-on lawnmower with fatal head and neck injuries. Police allege Crawford strangled his wife, then used her phone to send fake messages before staging her fatal accident. He was remanded in custody after he was initially charged but seven months later, Justice Frances Williams granted Crawford bail and freed him on May 2. Crawford drove himself to the police station, spending just a few minutes inside the building before hopping back into his Hyundai i30 and heading back to the alleged scene of the crime where he is now living. While the specific details on his bail conditions have not yet been released, Crawford did offer to surrender his passports, avoid airports and wear a tracking device. However, the police prosecution strongly opposed his release asking the court to consider the defendant a flight risk. 'On 5 August 2024 police seized two passports from Mr Crawford,' read the prosecution's submission, seen by Daily Mail Australia. 'Despite this the applicant then applied for a further passport on 24 September 2024.' As part of that application Crawford declared he was reporting the 'loss, theft or damage,' of his passport and provided an expired passport. Prosecution also raised concerns about his access to aircraft. 'He is actually a current member of the Darling Downs Aero Club and has $22,297 in credit,' it said. It was also noted that a tracking device was not an option to monitor Crawford's whereabouts because his property 'does not have the full coverage network which administers monitoring devices'. Crawford asked the court for several allowances including trips to see his mum in a Brisbane care home. 'My mother was diagnosed with early onset dementia in 2019,' Crawford's bail application read. 'I have a close relationship with both my parents. Prior to my arrest I visited my mother on average every fortnight, sometimes every week if I could. 'I am very hopeful of being able to visit my mother again.' The documents also state that he has close family on both the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast who are his support network. 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'. Mr Holt told the court Crawford arrived home from his RAAF Amberley base, played piano and ate dinner with his wife before they 'read the Bible,' and 'played games.' Around 8:30pm, Crawford said they showered together, then watched television when his wife asked him to move the mower before the sprinklers came on. 'I told Frances that I would move it later,' he said in his statement. Crawford says the last time he saw his wife alive was while they were 'snuggling,' on the sofa under a heated blanket. However, prosecutor Chris Cook alleged in court that she was strangled in her home's en suite bathroom, leaving behind her blood and his. Mr Cook told the court Ms Crawford was carried outside and placed along with the lawnmower at the bottom of a retaining wall. He said the forensic report favoured strangulation as the cause of death rather than pressure from the lawnmower's steering wheel. The prosecution allege Ms Crawford's mobile phone sent a message to her husband at 11:21pm on the Signal app, asking: 'Hey, are you going to put the mower away soon?' Mr Crawford replied: 'Yea just doing SDO stuff still' He then sent two follow up messages saying, 'Just give me a sec' and 'You can just turn the sprinklers off if easier too xx', according to court documents. At 12:28am, Mr Crawford sent another Signal message to his wife, saying: 'Hey I'm finished with my revision study stuff, I'm brushing teeth and going to bed soon. Are you coming?', according to the documents. He allegedly sent a follow up message at 12:30am saying 'Helllloooo? Xx Stop watching Korean Netflix and come to bed haha'. Mr Cook claimed Crawford sent those messages from her phone to himself. 'This allows him an extended amount of time to manipulate the scene because he doesn't call the police until several hours later,' he told the court. Crawford called Triple-0 at 3.37am, saying he had discovered his wife's body, the court was told. Mr Cook said Crawford's statement about his wife going out to move the lawnmower at such an hour was fanciful. 'This is a middle-aged woman going out in the middle of the night with no jacket in a very cold winter. Her family said she would not do that,' Mr Cook said. Mr Cook said Crawford was a 'master manipulator' who had caused his wife to seek a protective order from police as she 'felt very unsafe'. The court also heard that the pair had a troubled relationship after Crawford's previous infidelity and that his wife was planning to leave him. The case will return to court at a later date.
7NEWS
12-05-2025
- 7NEWS
$250k bail for son accused of staging wife's death as lawnmower accident in Queensland
An Air Force pilot accused of killing his wife and staging her death to look like a lawnmower accident is back at home after his family paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to secure his release. Robert Crawford, 47, was granted bail last week, with his conditions including a curfew and a $250,000 bond. He had spent almost seven months in custody before being granted bail in the Queensland Supreme Court. Crawford was arrested and charged with murder and interfering with a corpse on October 10, 2024. He maintains his innocence and is contesting the charges. His wife, Frances Elizabeth Crawford, was found dead near a ride-on lawnmower on a rural property in Upper Lockyer, about 1.5 hours drive west of Brisbane, in July 2024. Prosecutors accused Crawford of strangling his wife in a 'murderous rage' and then moving her body to make her death look like a late-night accident with the lawnmower. Judge Frances Williams granted bail, ruling that Robert Crawford's risk of fleeing was 'acceptable.' Suzanne Duffy, a close friend of Frances and organiser of the family's GoFundMe campaign, shared an update to the fundraiser, expressing their anger that Crawford was in the family home while the case remains in court. 'The grandfather of Frances' Crawford's children put up $250,000 for her alleged murderer's bail,' she wrote in an update. '$250,000 for his alleged murderous son, who tonight, is sleeping in their formerly shared home in the Upper Lockyer Valley, Queensland.' 'To say the family are angry is an understatement.' Crawford's murder charge is next due to be heard at Ipswich Magistrates Court on October 8 for committal proceedings. He has been suspended from the Royal Australian Air Force and banned from defence bases. If you need help in a crisis, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Daily Mail
10-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Read the text messages of Air Force pilot Robert Crawford accused of murdering his mum-of three wife and then faking lawnmower horror - as family friend breaks her silence to slam Queensland court's decision to FREE him on bail
A friend of the mother-of-three allegedly murdered by her air force pilot husband - who is then accused of staging her death as a lawnmower accident - has broken her silence on behalf of the victim's children after he was freed on bail. Psychologist Frances Elizabeth Crawford was found dead at their rural Upper Lockyer home, 100km west of Brisbane, in the early hours of July 30, 2024. Squadron Leader Robert John Crawford, 47, was arrested around 10 weeks later in October and charged with his wife's murder and interfering with her corpse. Ms Crawford was found at the base of a rock wall next to a ride-on lawnmower with fatal head and neck injuries. Police allege Crawford strangled his wife, then used her phone to send fake messages before staging her fatal accident. He was remanded in custody after he was initially charged but seven months later, Justice Frances Williams granted Crawford bail and freed hi on May 2. The move that 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. 'The Supreme Court judge found for the defendant, granting him bail, having spent time behind bars since October last year waiting for court proceedings to take place,' she added. 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'. Mr Holt told the court Crawford arrived home from his RAAF Amberley base, played piano and ate dinner with his wife before they 'read the Bible,' and 'played games.' Around 8:30pm, Crawford said they showered together, then watched television when his wife asked him to move the mower before the sprinklers came on. 'I told Frances that I would move it later,' he said in his statement. Crawford says the last time he saw his wife alive was while they were 'snuggling,' on the sofa under a heated blanket. However, prosecutor Chris Cook alleged in court that she was strangled in her home's en suite bathroom, leaving behind her blood and that of her husband. Mr Cook told the court Ms Crawford was carried outside and placed at the scene of a ride-on lawnmower accident at the bottom of a retaining wall. He said the forensic report favoured strangulation as the cause of death rather than pressure from the lawnmower's steering wheel. The prosecution allege Ms Crawford's mobile phone sent a message to her husband at 11:21pm on the Signal app, asking: 'Hey, are you going to put the mower away soon?' Mr Crawford replied: 'Yea just doing SDO stuff still' He then sent two follow up messages saying, 'Just give me a sec' and 'You can just turn the sprinklers off if easier too xx', according to court documents. At 12:28am, Mr Crawford sent another Signal message to his wife, saying: 'Hey I'm finished with my revision study stuff, I'm brushing teeth and going to bed soon. Are you coming?', according to the documents. He allegedly sent a follow up message at 12:30am saying 'Helllloooo? Xx Stop watching Korean Netflix and come to bed haha'. Mr Cook claimed Crawford sent those messages from her phone to himself. 'This allows him an extended amount of time to manipulate the scene because he doesn't call the police until several hours later,' he told the court. Crawford called Triple-0 at 3.37am, saying he had discovered his wife's body, the court was told. Mr Cook said Crawford's statement about his wife going out to move the lawnmower at such an hour was fanciful. 'This is a middle-aged woman going out in the middle of the night with no jacket in a very cold winter. Her family said she would not do that,' Mr Cook said. Mr Cook said Crawford was a 'master manipulator' who had caused his wife to seek a protective order from police as she 'felt very unsafe'. The court also heard that the pair had a troubled relationship after Crawford's previous infidelity and that his wife was planning to leave him. The court was told the couple's three adult children are estranged from Crawford who they accuse of being abusive, explosive and violent, and they grew up walking on eggshells. Ms Duffy has now set up a GoFundMe for the Crawfords' children which has raised $24,447 towards its target of $100,000. 'The children of Frances are pleading for the public to help them by supporting their GoFundMe with ongoing support for mental healthcare, and other costs to help them re-establishing their young lives, she said. 'The plea for your support is desperate and urgent.'
