Former RAAF pilot who allegedly murdered wife was ‘love rat’ and ‘master manipulator’, jury hears

A former RAAF pilot was a “love rat” and “master manipulator” who staged his wife’s death to make it appear like an accident, a jury has heard.

Robert John Crawford, 49, pleaded not guilty on Monday to murdering his wife, Frances Elizabeth Crawford, at Upper Lockyer on 29 July 2024.

Her body was found near a ride-on lawnmower at the bottom of a retaining wall on their sprawling rural property west of Toowoomba.

Crawford murdered his wife in the context of a long relationship breakdown, prosecutor Chris Cook told a Brisbane supreme court jury.

The husband then embarked on a long campaign to make her death appear an accident, Cook alleged.

Four women with whom Crawford allegedly had affairs are due to be called as witnesses.

“He made out to be a man with good Christian values,” Cook said.

“However, his story did not match his behaviour. He was a man who lived a double life for a long time.”

Cook described Crawford as “a cheater, adulterer, love rat, philanderer and womaniser”.

The jury was told Crawford was not committed to the marriage, with the couple on the verge of divorce when the victim died.

The members were told Crawford was motivated to kill his wife because he stood to lose financially in a divorce settlement. He wanted to retain possession of the couple’s house and did not want to split his superannuation.

The jury was told Crawford wavered between divorcing her husband and giving him the chance to prove himself to her and their children. She had set her husband a detailed list of boundaries, including “deal breakers” that would lead to divorce.

The deal breakers included sexual or emotional infidelities, pornography and masturbation, the court was told.

Justice Lincoln Crowley told the jury the prosecution would allege Crawford caused his wife’s death either by strangulation or blunt-force trauma.

The jury will be taken to the site of the alleged murder on Wednesday.

Crowley told the jury the viewing would help them to understand the evidence.

The trial is expected to hear from up to 47 witnesses over the next three weeks.

Crawford’s defence barrister has not yet delivered an opening statement.