Robert John Crawford denies wife's murder as Brisbane trial opens

Prosecutor alleges staged death and financial motive after relationship breakdown

Robert John Crawford entered the Brisbane supreme court on Monday and pleaded not guilty to the murder of his wife, Frances Elizabeth Crawford. The 49-year-old former RAAF pilot faces allegations that he killed her at Upper Lockyer on July 29, 2024, and then worked to make her death appear accidental.

Frances Elizabeth 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.

Prosecutor Chris Cook told the jury that the alleged killing occurred in the context of a long relationship breakdown. He alleged that Crawford then embarked on a long campaign to make Frances Elizabeth Crawford’s death appear to be an accident.

The jury was told that Crawford was not committed to the marriage and that the couple was on the verge of divorce when Frances Elizabeth Crawford died. Cook said Crawford was motivated to kill her because he stood to lose financially in a divorce settlement. Crawford wanted to retain possession of the couple’s house and did not want to split his superannuation, the prosecutor told the jury.

The jury was told the victim had wavered between divorcing her husband and giving him the chance to prove himself to her and their children. Frances Elizabeth Crawford had set her husband a detailed list of boundaries, including deal breakers that would lead to divorce. The deal breakers included sexual or emotional infidelities, pornography and masturbation, the court was told.

“He made out to be a man with good Christian values,” Cook said. “However, his story did not match his behaviour. He was a man who lived a double life for a long time.”

Cook described Crawford as “a cheater, adulterer, love rat, philanderer and womaniser”. Four women with whom Crawford allegedly had affairs were due to be called as witnesses.

Justice Lincoln Crowley told the jury that prosecutors would allege Crawford caused his wife’s death either by strangulation or blunt-force trauma.

The jury was scheduled to be taken to the site of the alleged murder on Wednesday. Crowley said the viewing would help jurors understand the evidence.

The trial was expected to hear from up to 47 witnesses over the next three weeks. Crawford’s defence barrister had not yet delivered an opening statement.