Ron Crawford, a respected pharmacist, hired a professional hitman to murder his wife Anne Louise Crawford in 1988. The case initially appeared as an accidental death but was later revealed to be a staged crime scene intended to look like a car maintenance accident gone wrong. Ben Crawford, Ron’s son and a qualified lawyer, discovered the truth years later through investigations and revelations from family members. Ron paid $10,000 for the hit, yet managed to avoid legal consequences despite evidence pointing towards murder rather than an accident.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-18,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
When Ben Crawford was told his father was dying and he should fly home from Japan to say goodbye, he refused.
asserted
he → tell → goodbye
”What was I going to do, strangle him?”
asserted
I → go → him
Ben had idolised his dad.
asserted
Ben → idolise → dad
Ron Crawford, a respected pharmacist, hired a professional underworld hitman to kill his wife, Anne Louise Crawford, and got away with it.
asserted
Crawford → hire → it
For 18 years Ben “grew up believing my mother was killed in a tragic accident and my father was being blackmailed”.
asserted
father → grow → accident
By the time he became a parent, and as a qualified lawyer, he began asking questions his father couldn’t answer.
asserted
father → become → questions
As an adult, he read all he could about the case.
uncertain
he → read → case
Then his grandmother (Anne’s mother) told him of Ron’s links to criminal activity.
asserted
grandmother → tell → activity
“She was a smart, caring person, and he [Ron] said she was losing her marbles.
asserted
she → say → marbles
He could never give an explanation as there wasn’t one,” Ben said.
uncertain
Ben → give → explanation
“He always had trouble with the truth.”
asserted
He → have → truth
Ben was seven when on May 6, 1988, his mother was found dead under her 1983 brown Ford Fairlane in the driveway of their home in De Havilland Avenue, Strathmore Heights.
uncertain
mother → find → Avenue
The scene was constructed to appear as if the car had slipped off the jack as she was trying to change the driver’s-side front tyre.
asserted
she → construct → tyre
Fire and ambulance officers first at the scene had their doubts, but the police were less curious.
asserted
police → have → doubts
The spare tyre was resting against the carport wall clearly flat, meaning it was pointless to try and change one deflated tyre for another.
asserted
it → rest → another
Brian Thompson had been a firefighter for 22 years when he was called to the driveway.
asserted
he → call → driveway
“I later handled both these tyres and they were both obviously flat.
asserted
they → handle → tyres
This was the subject of discussion between myself and other people,” he would tell a coronial inquest.
asserted
he → tell → inquest
There were four bruises on her left biceps as if she had been roughly grabbed, there were signs of a struggle inside the house and a false finger nail was missing.
asserted
nail → be → house
She was supposed to be crawling under the car to grab a wheel nut but was found on her back.
asserted
She → suppose → back
Ron had promised to return before midday to change the tyre and Anne had no pressing appointments requiring the car.
asserted
Anne → promise → car
One of the first police on the scene told us they didn’t declare a crime scene because, “It was just so weird, we thought it had to be an accident.”
asserted
it → tell → scene
On the morning of her death, Anne Crawford woke, dressed in a tracksuit for her regular walk with a friend.
asserted
Crawford → wake → friend
When she returned, she passed the driver’s side of her car, centimetres from the flat tyre.
asserted
she → return → tyre
She rang her friend to say she wouldn’t be able to take her child to kindergarten because of the puncture.
asserted
she → ring → puncture
When Anne was found under the car she had changed from her tracksuit and was wearing caramel slacks and a white shirt with no towel or rug to protect her clothing from the concrete floor.
asserted
she → find → floor
This was out of character, as Ben recalls his mother would make him change into “outdoor clothes” for playtime.
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him → recall → playtime
What we now know is Crawford paid $10,000 to a hitman to kill his wife, having recently increased her life insurance policy.
asserted
Crawford → know → policy
He would receive $79,029 when his wife died – making a profit on the murder deal.
asserted
wife → receive → deal
The car was already on the jack when the hitman, known in court as PS, arrived.
asserted
hitman → know → PS
The career criminal entered the house, attacked Anne, placed a pillow case over her head, sat her in a chair, punched her in the face rendering her unconscious, dragged her under the car and rocked the vehicle until it slipped off the jack, crushing her skull and killing her instantly.
asserted
it → enter → her
Her body was found under the car next to the front door with one leg on the front step.
asserted
body → find → step
To complete his alibi, Crawford needed an innocent witness to find the body.
asserted
Crawford → complete → body
He chose his daughter, then aged four.
asserted
He → choose → daughter
He knew what time she was dropped at home from kindergarten.
asserted
she → know → kindergarten
She found the body along with a little boy and the woman who picked them up.
asserted
who → find → them
A neighbour used a hydraulic jack to lift the car, but it was too late.
asserted
it → use → car
On cue Crawford arrived home – telling police he was there to change the tyre, implying his wife was too impatient to wait.
asserted
wife → arrive → tyre
His original version went like this.
asserted
version → go → this
Anne was reversing out of their long drive with their two children about 8.10am when he noticed the car scraping on the ground due to the flat tyre.
asserted
car → reverse → tyre
…and 100 more, not listed.
The Aporia
