Australia - Frances Crawford 49, found dead after suspicious lawn mower accident in Queensland.

[Marg944]

According to The Chronicle, that is similar to what the initial report said. That Frances suffered injuries when a lawnmower she was moving rolled down an embankment at about 3am.

But (according to the article) investigators are puzzled why Frances would be using a lawnmower at that time, and her family is asking questions.

The police are questioning nearby neighbours, and have requested any possible CCTV.

Upon further investigations, the police deemed the circumstances suspicious. They spent two days gathering evidence.

(paraphrased from Police declare Upper Lockyer lawnmower rollover death of Frances Crawford as suspicious )

I am wondering if maybe Frances suffered a fatal blow to the head ... from "falling off a tumbling lawnmower".

The terrain looks pretty rugged, bits of branches in the way….

 

[Gemmie]

I wonder if they have children, no mention of any so far.

I believe she had 3 children.

'This is a tragic incident.. Our hearts go out to the family, particularly the woman's three children, the community, her workplace, and also first responders that go to these types of jobs.'

Cops reveal bombshell new details over mum killed in lawnmower tragedy

Frances Crawford, 49, was found dead on her rural property in Upper Lockyer, southeast Queensland, at 3.40am on Tuesday.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Tweet57]

Perhaps lawn mower was being used as a ‘quad bike’, to improve the speed of going from A to B compared to walking.

 

[Warshawski]

The terrain looks pretty rugged, bits of branches in the way….

View attachment 522411

It’s hard to see accurately from here but it does look to me as if there may be a cleared, lawned area around the house. I can’t make out what that is on Left, in from the front of police 4WD. .. it could be a timber edging / retaining wall, or perhaps a garden bed.

Just because the alarm was raised around 3.00am, that doesn’t mean she was using the mower at that late / early hour. She may’ve been lying / injured since around 5.30 pm ( would be getting dark by then ), and only found around. 3.00 am.
Conflicting reports as to whether she was deceased when paramedics arrived, or passed after their arrival.. which in itself could point to the time of the ‘incident’.

I come from the bush & its not uncommon for country houses to be built on a hill top / raised area of the land, so there could be drop offs on the outer edges of the house plot. … but surely, even if inexperienced, one wouldn’t drive a ride-on mower to the edge !
If the embankment gave away, and machine & driver fell with it, I would think that would be obvious to investigators. But perhaps she wasn’t mowing in that area, she may perhaps have been trying to nuture a lawn in another area… too many variables & too many questions, and another tragedy for people to have to deal with.

I just hope it was an accident.

Just my thoughts. ..

 

[Marg944]

I’ve looked up the weather for Upper Lockyer area on both the Monday and the Tuesday, as we don’t know if Frances was out on the ride-on mower on the Monday and perhaps not found until the Tuesday. It did get pretty damn cold I assume overnight. No rain to make the grass slippery, but I have no idea about the dew!

Upper Lockyer Weather | Elders Weather

Daily readings of temperature and rainfall over the past three months from all Australian Bureau of Meteorology weather stations

www.eldersweather.com.au

 

[SouthAussie]

Just because the alarm was raised around 3.00am, that doesn’t mean she was using the mower at that late / early hour. She may’ve been lying / injured since around 5.30 pm ( would be getting dark by then ), and only found around. 3.00 am.

I think this could be why the police are asking for any possible CCTV. To see if stories line up. And maybe to see if anyone left and returned to the property before calling emergency services. Things like that.

I think they will be lucky to find any CCTV though, because the area properties look sparse and set back from the road.

 

[Protože]

Thanks Marg. How bizarre. She dies in a freak "incident" the week he comes back after being gone for a month.

Sunset in Lockyer, Queensland is now 5:25 PM. So, it would just had been a tad earlier than that a week ago.

And, that's a huge house! The "property" sounds like "hers"? Or owned by a relative?

The police do sound rather aggressive towards him in some of these statements.

 

[Marg944]

I find it extremely odd that the husband told emergency services that his wife was “injured”, yet when the emergency services arrived, Frances was already dead. When you ring emergency services, they will instruct you to attempt to do CPR if you are able to reach the patient, and they will stay with you on the telephone until they arrive. I would assume the husband would know basic first aid in his role as a pilot, and should have been able to deduce if Frances was alive…..


“Queensland Police on Friday revealed her husband Robert Crawford, an Airforce Squadron Leader, called emergency services to report his wife had been injured by a lawnmower, with paramedics arriving to find her already dead.”

Cops reveal bombshell new details over mum killed in lawnmower tragedy

Frances Crawford, 49, was found dead on her rural property in Upper Lockyer, southeast Queensland, at 3.40am on Tuesday.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Andieinsyd]

I find it extremely odd that the husband told emergency services that his wife was “injured”, yet when the emergency services arrived, Frances was already dead. When you ring emergency services, they will instruct you to attempt to do CPR if you are able to reach the patient, and they will stay with you on the telephone until they arrive. I would assume the husband would know basic first aid in his role as a pilot, and should have been able to deduce if Frances was alive…..


“Queensland Police on Friday revealed her husband Robert Crawford, an Airforce Squadron Leader, called emergency services to report his wife had been injured by a lawnmower, with paramedics arriving to find her already dead.”

Cops reveal bombshell new details over mum killed in lawnmower tragedy

Frances Crawford, 49, was found dead on her rural property in Upper Lockyer, southeast Queensland, at 3.40am on Tuesday.

www.dailymail.co.uk

The photo of her proudly displaying the pot she made - Rest in Peace Frances

 

[GRT]

That's a tough death to stage, I'd think.

DailyMail has several accounts and in one they mention LE was called out a year or so ago and "some action" was taken.

Maybe they had a volatile marriage? MOO

Those mowers can tip if they're ridden sideways on a slope. JMOO, but maybe they'd been arguing and she took off, careening about on the mower and tipped it.

I can imagine several scenarios but I think it'd be challenging to stage that sort of scene.

 

[deanmir]

Good point—however, I believe the article in the Daily Mail posted here notes that this safety mechanism on Husqvarna garden tractors (like the one the victim owned) can be easily overridden/disabled, so that’s worth considering.

I am wondering if perhaps it rolled over on her, which could happen if she was riding it over very uneven/steep terrain, or (purely hypothetically) perhaps it was pushed over on her if she was already on the ground. Surely the tractor is heavy enough that it could crush someone’s chest if they were trapped underneath, suffocating them.

Eerie details emerge after mum's death in late-night mowing incident

Frances Crawford, 49, was found dead at her home on Thomas Road at Upper Lockyer, southeast Queensland, at 3.40am on Tuesday following reports she had been crushed by a ride-on lawnmower.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I have the same mower , as soon as you are off the seat the engine shuts down .

 

[nhmemorymaker]

most riding lawn mowers have headlights on them
also some people have floodlights over their property
but I still don't believe she was cutting the grass at that time

I don't think so either.
I don't believe we have seen any "time of death", but hope the ME will state something.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Just a simple question to you in Australia. Isnt this winter??
I live in a very warm climate, but I never have to use my tractor to mow in the winter months.
Just curious.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

In most of Australia the winters aren't cold enough to actually stop grass from growing.

Says me whose grass badly needs cutting.
And I live in one of the colder places in Australia.

The only time the grass stops growing where I live is when we have a particularly hot summer.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Did I say a rude word or something ???

 

[*LD*]

It will be interesting to learn the cause of death. I think it's possible she was killed elsewhere and the accident was staged.

 

[Rosydecember]

Did I say a rude word or something ???

Oh my apologies! I didn’t mean to offend or imply you said anything incorrect. For some reason, I found it funny how you mentioned how your grass needs to be cut. It’s really not funny, but I was thinking the same about my lawn too. I tend to be slap happy and/or try to find humor in random things, otherwise this world is just too gloomy.

 

[SMK777]

Talk about being blunt:-

“Police have called for anyone with information on the husband and wife’s relationship to contact police.”

Bombshell revelations over woman’s death in purported mower incident

Toowoomba psychologist and mum of three Frances Crawford was found dead in the early hours of Tuesday.

7news.com.au

Yes, it sure is. They are assuming that it could well have been homicide by husband. I believe one article said police had been called to the home in the past, but that there are no current domestic violence charges.

 

[SouthAussie]

Yes, it sure is. They are assuming that it could well have been homicide by husband. I believe one article said police had been called to the home in the past, but that there are no current domestic violence charges.

Detective Superintendent Marchesini also said .... "police are not looking for anyone else in relation to the investigation".

Husband assisting police after woman found dead in lawn mower incident west of Brisbane

A man is assisting police with their inquiries after a woman was found dead in an apparent lawn mower incid...

www.9news.com.au

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Yes, it sure is. They are assuming that it could well have been homicide by husband. I believe one article said police had been called to the home in the past, but that there are no current domestic violence charges.

and again....the word "current" seems so specific.