Blood-stained towel and bathmat found in accused pilot’s home, court hears

A blood-splattered towel and a stained bathmat were found by police in the bathroom of a pilot accused of killing his wife and staging her death as an accident, a court has heard.

A forensic expert gave evidence to the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Tuesday, as the murder trial of former Royal Australian Air Force pilot Robert Crawford, 49, continued for a second week.

Crawford is accused of killing his wife, Frances, whose body was found at the bottom of a retaining wall on the couple’s rural south-east Queensland property along with a ride-on mower.

Prosecutors say the pilot, described as a “love-rat” who had a string of extramarital affairs, murdered Frances so he would not lose millions of dollars in a divorce.

Crawford has pleaded not guilty to murder. His defence team told the jury the death was a tragic accident, and he believed his wife moved the mower because the sprinklers were going to come on.

Sergeant Owen Esaias, a forensic scientist with Queensland police, told the court that testing confirmed there was human blood on the towel and bathmat found inside the Crawford bathroom.

Esaias told the court there were 16 stains on the bathmat. He said the most plausible scenario was that the blood had fallen vertically from a blood source.

There were limitations in testing the fabric, he said, so he could not eliminate the alternative explanation that the blood came from other scenarios.

The trial has earlier heard Crawford told a colleague how “horrible” it was to wash blood from his skin in the shower, after police had escorted him to the bathroom and asked him if he wanted to shower.

In analysing the crime scene where Frances was found, he said he considered various scenarios that may have caused blood stains on the rock retaining wall.

He said it was plausible that Frances’ head injury was consistent with her head hitting the rock on the wall, but it was also plausible she had an existing injury that caused the blood to transfer onto the rock.

“The injury may have been in existence, and then that injury has come into contact with the rock at that location,” he said.

Senior Constable Matthew Fender, who was part of the investigating team at the crime scene, explained several photos he took at the property.

In one of them, Frances could be seen with her right ugg boot off, which was lying to her right, but still had a sock on. Photos before the trial showed her left foot still had her boot on.

Fender said investigators removed her socks, and took photos of Frances’ feet.

“On review of the images, it appeared that there was a piece of grass in between the big toe and the second toe of the right foot,” he said.

Holt put to Fender there had been no fingerprinting done on the lawnmower. Fender agreed, but said a swab was taken from the steering wheel.

The jury were shown images of Frances in the body bag, while it was being forensically examined at the morgue.

On Monday, the jury saw photos of Frances’ injuries, which included red markings under her chin and on her neck, bruising to her collarbone, a broken fingernail on her right hand, and an injury to the back of her head.

Photos of the rock retaining wall, which had dried red stains and hair on some sections, were also shown.

The jury last week heard Crawford’s 3.37am call to Triple Zero, where he told the operator he had “no idea” how long his wife – who was “so cold” – had been outside unconscious, and that he “thought she was watching Netflix”.

The jury are expected to visit the Crawford property on Wednesday.

The trial before Justice Lincoln Crowley continues.

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