Pilot 'manipulated' wife's lawnmower death scene, judge told

A pilot with a claimed reputation as a “master manipulator” allegedly strangled his wife and used her phone to send messages before faking a lawnmower accident, a judge has heard.

His wife Frances Elizabeth Crawford was found dead at a rural Upper Lockyer property, west of Brisbane, in the early hours of July 30, 2024.

Robert Crawford applied for bail today in Queensland Supreme Court, with his defence barrister Saul Holt telling Justice Frances Williams the prosecution’s case was “very weak”.

Holt said there was no conclusive evidence to support the prosecution’s claim Robert Crawford strangled Frances Crawford in a state of “murderous rage”.

The prosecution had claimed Ms Crawford was strangled in her home’s ensuite bathroom, leaving behind her blood and that of her husband.

Crown prosecutor Chris Cook said Ms Crawford was carried outside and placed at the scene of a lawnmower accident at the bottom of a retaining wall.

Cook said the forensic report favoured strangulation as the cause of death rather than pressure from the ride-on’s steering wheel.

“She was conscious and actively resisting, not falling off the back of a lawnmower,” Cook said.

He said Mr Crawford was a master manipulator who had caused his wife to seek a protective order from police as she “felt very unsafe”.

Cook said people close to Mr Crawford had provided statements he was “really good at manipulating people and painting himself as the victim”.

Williams was shown text messages exchanged between the couple’s phones.

Holt said the messages showed Ms Crawford wanted to move the lawnmower away from the water sprinklers but Mr Crawford was unable to do it himself.

A message sent at 11.21pm to Mr Crawford’s phone stated “hey are you going to put the mower away soon?”

Cook said a jury could accept Mr Crawford had already strangled his wife by that stage and was sending 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.”

Mr Crawford called triple zero at 3.37am on the day he said he discovered his wife’s body.

Cook said Mr Crawford’s statement about his wife going out to move the lawnmower at such an early 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,” Cook said.

Holt said his client offered a $250,000 surety and to wear a GPS tracker while on bail.

“He has no criminal record … he is highly motivated to defend the case rather than run away from it,” the barrister said.

Williams said she would reserve her decision on bail to a later date.