Jury to visit scene where former RAAF pilot allegedly killed wife

A jury will visit the expansive rural home where a former Royal Australian Air Force pilot allegedly killed his wife and staged it to look like a lawnmower accident, a court has heard.

Robert John Crawford, 48, stands accused of killing Frances Elizabeth Crawford at their Upper Lockyer Valley home in July 2024.

The prosecution has alleged he staged the death and later manipulated the scene by sending messages from his wife’s phone to himself after her death.

He is expected to face trial later this year and has pleaded not guilty to her murder.

When emergency services arrived at the couple’s property on Thomas Road about 3.30am on July 30, Mrs Crawford’s body was found at the bottom of a retaining wall.

On Monday, defence barrister Saul Holt KC said there was no evidence that the scene was staged.

Mrs Crawford was allegedly strangled, according to the prosecution case. However, the prosecution has not specified where exactly on the property that took place.

“We can’t say strangulation was the cause of death. She may have been dead, she may have been dying, she may have been unconscious when her head hit that rock [from the fall near the retaining wall],” Crown prosecutor Chris Cook said.

The jury will visit the scene of the Crawford home as part of the trial later this year, Acting Justice Glenn Martin heard as part of a pre-trial hearing at the Supreme Court on Monday.

The viewing would likely take a few hours, Holt said.

“It’s one of those scenes that it’s not possible to understand unless you’ve stood there, and so the parties are agreed that that [viewing] would be practical,” Holt said.

The prosecution and defence are also expected to make arguments on what the jury should hear about the pair’s relationship before the death.

“He and his wife reconciled after a period of separation caused by his infidelity,” Holt said.

Cook said the relationship had broken down a year earlier, and Crawford had moved back into the house at the beginning of May 2024, but it was not as simple as a reconciliation.

“Indeed, that very day she told one of her friends that she didn’t feel safe,” he said.

The hearing is expected to continue tomorrow before Acting Justice Martin.

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