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

[Marg944]

Police did have the house to themselves in the investigation. They asked the alleged murderer to vacate the premises for the day whilst they investigated.


“Ten police cars were seen arriving at the property, which is located in bushland at the end of a 1km-long driveway.

The vehicles included two forensics vans, detectives in a four-wheel drive, a ute filled with forensics supplies, two patrol vehicles, and uniformed officers in an unmarked car.

The Pilons said police have been poring over the home, which remains a crime scene, with Mr Crawford asked to temporarily vacate the property amid the investigation.”

Bombshell twist as cops give update over mum's 3am lawnmower death

Frances Crawford, aged in her 40s, was found dead at her home on Thomas Road at Upper Lockyer, southeast Queensland, at 3.40am on Tuesday.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Charlot123]

The convoluted intricacies of murder.. .. you kill your wife to gain control of the shared property, and assets you then have to sell off the assets and property to pay for your defence at your trial for murder.


Make it make sense.

RC was in a middle-age group. I suspect that he didn't mind the divorce himself. But I have yet to see the situation when a man is divorcing, or maybe killing with the divorce in mind, without having someone already lined up. And as someone had said, between kids grown up, and several properties, his decent salary and benefits, he could have been OK. But it would not be enough if he planned to start a new family.

I expect that his financial situation is complicated, with money possibly being channeled off somewhere, and everything being non-transparent. And - I don't think he was smirking when arrested. In the car, he looked taut. I wonder if he is now afraid of messing up up someone else's life and leaving a horrible legacy.

A philanderer, a liar, currently accused of murder, but also, an experienced military pilot, a disciplined organized man. I don't think he is a coward, and I think he'll fight for his freedom. I wish Australian police to find his Achilles heel.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I did see what could have been a smirk on one of the photos posted.

I had a good look at it with my big Sherlock Holmes magnifying glass and it def looked like it could have been a smirk.

 

[Charlot123]

I did see what could have been a smirk on one of the photos posted.

I had a good look at it with my big Sherlock Holmes magnifying glass and it def looked like it could have been a smirk.

Yes, I saw what you saw, but I don’t know how to explain it yet. Either “what bitter irony”, or simply “neurotic smirk”, if such a thing exists. He does have the sense of humor; maybe the humor of the situation (being arrested by strong, young, confident women; I suspect they were also chosen according to a certain principle that he noticed) didn’t escape him yet. But in the car, he was suddenly hit by the wave of reality, and it did not look good. Being a military pilot, he must be trained to see the reality. Maybe this is when it all hit him.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Maybe the look was "they won't find anything" I' ve covered it all up.

Or, to be fair, it could be the look of someone who is innocent, and is kind of bemused at being arrested.

 

[brissygirl2019]

Could have been the look of "the only evidence they have is circumstantial evidence, no way a jury will find me guilty".

IMO

 

[Trooper]

Could have been the look of "the only evidence they have is circumstantial evidence, no way a jury will find me guilty".

IMO

Could have been the look that says ..' dang, I rang too soon, why the hell did I rope in the motor mower??' dang'.......

 

[brissygirl2019]

Could have been the look that says ..' dang, I rang too soon, why the hell did I rope in the motor mower??' dang'.......

Yes, good old hindsight, it's a wonderful thing isn't it. Can you imagine how much overtime his brain is doing now, now that he has nothing but free time with nothing else to do but live with his thoughts every hour of the day .... yuk, I wouldn't want to be in his brain!

 

[whitelilac]

RC was in a middle-age group. I suspect that he didn't mind the divorce himself. But I have yet to see the situation when a man is divorcing, or maybe killing with the divorce in mind, without having someone already lined up. And as someone had said, between kids grown up, and several properties, his decent salary and benefits, he could have been OK. But it would not be enough if he planned to start a new family.

I expect that his financial situation is complicated, with money possibly being channeled off somewhere, and everything being non-transparent. And - I don't think he was smirking when arrested. In the car, he looked taut. I wonder if he is now afraid of messing up up someone else's life and leaving a horrible legacy.

A philanderer, a liar, currently accused of murder, but also, an experienced military pilot, a disciplined organized man. I don't think he is a coward, and I think he'll fight for his freedom. I wish Australian police to find his Achilles heel.

Personally at this point at least I'm not so sure he might have someone else lined up, with whom he wants to start and new life and family.

I think with all those girlfriends all over the place, he fancies himself an attractive playboy who wants to live that lifestyle having women fall for him everywhere. He's a fighter pilot, probably has a grandiose image of himself, an international hotshot with fawning women in every port. That's my impression for now.

And who knows, maybe his wife was on to him and they had a big fight about it, her being fed up. She was a therapist, likely astute and observant with regards subtle behaviors and red flags.

eta>> just noticed "divorce"...where they divorced or in the process? I missed that.

 

[Trooper]

Personally at this point at least I'm not so sure he might have someone else lined up, with whom he wants to start and new life and family.

I think with all those girlfriends all over the place, he fancies himself an attractive playboy who wants to live that lifestyle having women fall for him everywhere. He's a fighter pilot, probably has a grandiose image of himself, an international hotshot with fawning women in every port. That's my impression for now.

And who knows, maybe his wife was on to him and they had a big fight about it, her being fed up. She was a therapist, likely astute and observant with regards subtle behaviors and red flags.

eta>> just noticed "divorce"...where they divorced or in the process? I missed that.

I suspect he was looking forward to spreading himself, somewhat thinly perhaps, all around the world, wot larks....

What surprises me, about this bloke in particular, is.... he is 49 and at the top of his chosen career. One that places a special and never ending priority on Solving Problems, in a systematic, regulated manner, pilots by definition are problem solvers. In their environment, it's a matter of life, or death so there is an incentive to be a detail man, an observer of problems, a header off at the pass of problems, that is his profession.

They spend 3/4 of their working life learning how to solve problems. The flying is only a small part of their lives...

There are no old bold pilots.... they get to be old by being observant, and able to recognise a problem and go thru a detailed process of solving that problem. Pilots generally are not cowboys, or risk takers, or careless, as a rule.

And yet here it is, a reckless , careless, idiotic , amateur stupid murder by the one person who had a motive. At the place where he lives. .. it just defies rationale.

 

[whitelilac]

^ Perhaps it wasn't premeditated. Perhaps something spontaneous happened, a bad argument, he attacked her, she was killed as a result. It happened at home, inside or outside, he panicked (which can happen to the most controlled sensible problem solvers too). Lashing out was unexpected. Police did go to the home due to an "incident" previously. Maybe he's super macho, competent and controlled in his field and with colleagues, but not so with women.

However, the lawn mower thing at 3 in the morning was badly thought out, very badly, stupid. Irrational. So yes, that's a head scratcher.

 

[Kemug]

Greg Lynn also had a smirk. Maybe they're just "cracking hardy".

 

[Trooper]

Greg Lynn also had a smirk. Maybe they're just "cracking hardy".

Greg was a pilot, too... JetStar

 

[Kemug]

I really cannot understand why he didn't flee, or at least hide. Surely he's known for weeks that LE were probably going to come knocking, after all we did. I suppose that like most murderers (oops, alleged) he is very conceited and confident, ie "cocky".

 

[Bear13]

^ Perhaps it wasn't premeditated. Perhaps something spontaneous happened, a bad argument, he attacked her, she was killed as a result. It happened at home, inside or outside, he panicked (which can happen to the most controlled sensible problem solvers too). Lashing out was unexpected. Police did go to the home due to an "incident" previously. Maybe he's super macho, competent and controlled in his field and with colleagues, but not so with women.

However, the lawn mower thing at 3 in the morning was badly thought out, very badly, stupid. Irrational. So yes, that's a head scratcher.

I agree it possibly wasn’t premeditated. I wonder if RC will go down the same track as Baden Clay.

Halfway through Gerard’s trial, his defence team asked for a closed court and proposed to the Judge that it was an accident, he ‘possibly’ hit her, she fell and ‘possibly’ hit her head. He then panicked and disposed of her. They argued to the Judge it should be downgraded to manslaughter. The judge was furious, he said, the lies, why didn’t he call an ambulance? Absolutely ‘Murder’ still stands! Thank goodness.

I can feel this possibly going the same way. What else has he got?

 

[brissygirl2019]

I really cannot understand why he didn't flee, or at least hide. Surely he's known for weeks that LE were probably going to come knocking, after all we did. I suppose that like most murderers (oops, alleged) he is very conceited and confident, ie "cocky".

I’ve been pondering the reasons why he didn’t flee also, as you say it was only a matter of time before that knock on the door came.

But in reality, fleeing, not that I’ve ever needed to do it, but it’s probably quite hard to do unless you have some “colourful” friends that could help you. We are all so traceable now, cctv cameras everywhere, digital footprints everywhere we go and besides that, running for the hills makes you look … just plain G U I L T Y.

Stay and face the inevitable music and RC will be able to plead his innocence to his children, family, friends, lawyer and the Court till the day he dies. Textbook arrogant, probably narcissistic behaviour.

 

[Charlot123]

I suspect he was looking forward to spreading himself, somewhat thinly perhaps, all around the world, wot larks....

What surprises me, about this bloke in particular, is.... he is 49 and at the top of his chosen career. One that places a special and never ending priority on Solving Problems, in a systematic, regulated manner, pilots by definition are problem solvers. In their environment, it's a matter of life, or death so there is an incentive to be a detail man, an observer of problems, a header off at the pass of problems, that is his profession.

They spend 3/4 of their working life learning how to solve problems. The flying is only a small part of their lives...

There are no old bold pilots.... they get to be old by being observant, and able to recognise a problem and go thru a detailed process of solving that problem. Pilots generally are not cowboys, or risk takers, or careless, as a rule.

And yet here it is, a reckless , careless, idiotic , amateur stupid murder by the one person who had a motive. At the place where he lives. .. it just defies rationale.

The fact that he is a pilot makes it more sad. Kind of, waste of a talent. For many pilots, having superior IQ and feeling calm in a cabin filled with complex devices appears a common trait. And many commercial pilots used to come from military aviation. When I hear “military pilots” the first thing popping into my mind are these pranks contrails images they once drew in the skies of Okanogan County, Washington state. However, I understand that the same guys would have likely made it to the top in aviation engineering, plus, they also have excellent hand-eye-vestibular apparatus coordination.

JMO, a good pilot is expected to fall into “obsessive-analytical” domain. RC’s behavior, though, belongs to “emotional-impulsive” cluster. If he didn’t stage the scene, could he use “murder of passion” defense line? Now it is a moot point, although “why such flawed thinking?” is an interesting question. Perhaps one day it will contribute into the statistics for sleep doctors or such. All JMO.

Anyhow, as a squadron commander, he was probably in the top 2% in many skills. Top 2%, while very successful, comes with own risks, so maybe this is one of such cases.

 

[Charlot123]

I suspect he was looking forward to spreading himself, somewhat thinly perhaps, all around the world, wot larks....

What surprises me, about this bloke in particular, is.... he is 49 and at the top of his chosen career. One that places a special and never ending priority on Solving Problems, in a systematic, regulated manner, pilots by definition are problem solvers. In their environment, it's a matter of life, or death so there is an incentive to be a detail man, an observer of problems, a header off at the pass of problems, that is his profession.

They spend 3/4 of their working life learning how to solve problems. The flying is only a small part of their lives...

There are no old bold pilots.... they get to be old by being observant, and able to recognise a problem and go thru a detailed process of solving that problem. Pilots generally are not cowboys, or risk takers, or careless, as a rule.

And yet here it is, a reckless , careless, idiotic , amateur stupid murder by the one person who had a motive. At the place where he lives. .. it just defies rationale.

RC seems to have lived his life by compartmentalizing. “A gifted pilot and natural leader” at work, “a Renaissance lover” during his trips and “a solid member of the community” at home. For some reason, he could not compartmentalize any more. His Airbnb testifies to it. It is a mix of a Renaissance lover living on 150 acres of wilderness. The reason for it is, undoubtedly is very interesting, and I suspect, JMO, there was a real basis, but he can’t use it for defense after the murder of this lovely woman was staged as an accident. I suspect that as the case drags on, he will lose any shreds of public sympathy.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Was he a solid member of the community.
I've only seen those kind of words in relation to Frances.

 

[SouthAussie]

Maybe it is just another case of his wife was going to leave him. Frances was approaching 50 years old, the kids had left home and were independent. Maybe Frances was tired of his shenanigans and wanted to live her life in peace, and without him in it.

There are too many deaths and acts of violence when a wife is trying to leave her spouse.

imo