Man on trial for wife's murder stood to gain $5m, court hears
Robert Crawford stood to inherit more than $5 million and moved to claim his wife's superannuation exactly 30 days after her death.
Robert John Crawford is accused of strangling his wife Frances at their Upper Lockyer home in Queensland on July 29 or 30, 2024, and staging it as a lawnmower accident. The Supreme Court in Brisbane heard the former RAAF pilot stood to gain more than $5 million from her death: more than $870,000 in life insurance, a property valued above $2.6 million, and his wife's superannuation.
Prosecutors allege he took steps to claim her estate exactly 30 days after her death, the day their will stipulated he could inherit everything. The Crown said his phone data shows he was awake that night, not asleep as he claimed.
Messages from his wife's phone at 11:20pm were likely sent by him as a cover-up. Crawford has pleaded not guilty.
His defence argues it was a genuine accident.
- July 29 or 30, 2024
- Date of death
- Frances Crawford, 49
- Wife's age
Why it mattersThe prosecution case relies on financial motive alongside circumstantial evidence, illustrating how modern phone records can challenge a defendant's account of events.
AustraliaThis high-profile Queensland murder trial involves allegations of domestic violence leading to death, a crime Australian courts take with utmost seriousness.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 2 h ago
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