Before she was allegedly killed by her pilot husband, Frances Crawford made detailed notes about their relationship, including his excuses for affairs, that were later found by detectives in her home, prosecutors have told a court.
uncertain
prosecutors → kill → court
On Tuesday, the jury in Robert Crawford’s Supreme Court trial were shown pages from a notepad, after a forensic scientist gave evidence about a blood-stained towel and mat found in his bathroom.
asserted
scientist → show → bathroom
Crawford, a former Royal Australian Air Force pilot, 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 in July 2024.
asserted
body → accuse → July
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.
asserted
he → say → divorce
Crawford has pleaded not guilty to murder.
asserted
Crawford → plead → 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.
asserted
sprinklers → tell → mower
A cost benefit analysis for “staying” and “leaving” were also shown.
asserted
analysis → stay → ?
On the “staying” page, the top cost was losing a close relationship with her daughter.
asserted
cost → stay → daughter
She also allegedly wrote: “Rob may cheat.
uncertain
Rob → write → ?
Benefits of staying included: “could do amazing god work together”.
uncertain
Benefits → stay → work
Costs of leaving included financial concerns.
asserted
Costs → leave → concerns
The notes also referred to “exit plans”.
asserted
notes → refer → plans
There was a reference to Frances not enjoying his company, and “no patience for dealing with trauma”.
asserted
Frances → be → trauma
The court earlier heard of a series of boundaries that Crawford had agreed to upon moving back in with Frances after their separation in July 2023.
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Crawford → hear → July
These included no masturbation or porn, avoiding interactions with females and not lying.
asserted
These → include → females
One note read: “Living with Rob is a lot harder than I thought.
asserted
I → read → Rob
I find I have less hope before he moved back in.
asserted
he → find → hope
I feel like giving up most of the time.”
asserted
I → feel → time
In another, Frances allegedly wrote that her husband Crawford “wanted us to be a ‘normal’ couple one day, and be able to talk about our feelings”.
uncertain
us → write → feelings
She allegedly wrote that he wanted the pair to share all their money, cars, and for her to “not [have] my own bank account for safety”.
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her → write → safety
In other notes, there were questions about other women, including at a marathon Crawford had attended, and references to a “GPS tracker”, and “still single man mindset”.
asserted
Crawford → be → tracker
There were also notes about the pair’s sex life, and intimacy “not making me feel loved”.
asserted
me → be → life
In another note, Frances allegedly wrote: “Have you ever seen a good marriage with this much cheating?”
uncertain
you → write → cheating
Some of the notes referred to Crawford’s affair with a WA woman, who the trial earlier heard he had met on dating website eHarmony in 2023.
asserted
he → refer → 2023
“Organising WA girl to sleep with him while booking [with relationship counsellor],” the note read.
asserted
note → organise → counsellor
“… The day before sex he gave presents to me and the kids ...
asserted
he → give → me
He used excuse that he felt rejected, and he felt bad for the girl and didn’t want to hurt her at the time.
asserted
he → use → time
Didn’t care how it would affect me or his attempt to get back together.”
asserted
it → care → me
“Divorce” was listed as a consequence if the rule “No cheating” was broken.
asserted
rule → list → consequence
Blood found on towel, bathmat
Earlier, Sergeant Owen Esaias, a forensic scientist with Queensland police, told the court that testing confirmed human blood was on the towel and bathmat found inside the Crawford bathroom.
asserted
blood → find → bathroom
Esaias told the court there were 16 stains on the bathmat.
asserted
Esaias → tell → bathmat
He said the most plausible scenario was that the blood had fallen vertically from a blood source.
asserted
blood → say → 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.
uncertain
blood → be → scenarios
The trial 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.
asserted
police → hear → bathroom
In analysing the crime scene where Frances was found, Esaias said he considered various scenarios that may have caused blood stains on the rock retaining wall.
uncertain
that → analyse → wall
He said it was plausible that Frances’ head injury came from her head hitting the rock, but it was also plausible she had an existing injury that caused the blood to transfer onto the rock.
asserted
blood → say → rock
“The injury may have been in existence, and then that injury has come into contact with the rock at that location,” he said.
uncertain
he → come → location
Senior Constable Matthew Fender, who was part of the investigating team at the crime scene, explained several photos he took at the property.
asserted
he → investigate → property
In one, Frances could be seen with her right ugg boot off, which was lying to her right, but still had a sock on.
uncertain
sock → see → right
Photos before the trial showed her left foot still had her boot on.
asserted
boot → show → trial
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
