Jury hears pilot staged wife's death after 'long campaign'

The jury in Robert John Crawford’s murder trial was told the former pilot spent months trying to disguise his wife’s killing as a mishap.

Crawford, 49, faces charges for the death of Frances Elizabeth Crawford at their rural property in Upper Lockyer, west of Toowoomba. He entered a not guilty plea on Monday. The victim’s body was located near a ride-on lawnmower at the base of a retaining wall.

Prosecutor Chris Cook argued that the murder occurred during a long relationship breakdown. Cook stated that Crawford began a lengthy effort to make the incident look like an accident. The jury heard that Crawford presented himself as a man with strong Christian values, yet his actions suggested a double life.

"He was a man who lived a double life for a long time," Cook said. The prosecutor described the defendant as a cheater, adulterer, and womanizer. Four women with whom Crawford allegedly had affairs are scheduled to testify.

The court heard that the couple was nearing a divorce when Frances died. Crawford was motivated to act because he would have lost money in a settlement. He wanted to keep the family house and avoid splitting his superannuation. Frances had given him a detailed list of boundaries, including deal breakers such as sexual infidelity and pornography.

Justice Lincoln Crowley explained that the prosecution will argue Crawford caused the death through strangulation or blunt-force trauma. The jury is set to visit the crime scene on Wednesday to better understand the evidence. The defense has not yet delivered an opening statement.

The trial is expected to last three weeks. Jurors will hear from up to 47 witnesses during that period.