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

[Warshawski]

This is the lawyer who represented him today .....​

Andrew McGinness - Accredited Criminal Law Specialist​

In 2006 Andrew was awarded first place in the Inaugural Queensland Law Society Criminal Law Accreditation Course.

Andrew’s experience and reputation is such that he is consistently referred work from a number of top tier commercial based firms, other professional firms and individuals.

Andrew has over 40 years experience working in the area of criminal and quasi criminal (including traffic law) defence.
Andrew has experience representing clients charged with the full spectrum of criminal offences ranging from traffic matters through to murder.
Andrew is a well known and respected figure amongst his legal peers. He has presented many papers at Queensland Law Society Seminars and Continuing Legal Education conferences attended by other lawyers practising in criminal law.

Andrew McGinness / Criminal Law Specialist / McGinness & Associates

Accredited Criminal Law Specialist Andrew McGinness has experience representing clients charged with the full spectrum of criminal offences ranging from traffic matters through to murder.

www.mcginnesslawyers.com.au

If I was RC, I’d be most interested in lawyer Andrew’s record with attaining Not Guilty verdicts !

Of course everyone is Innocent until Proven Guilty - however imo there’s some cases that are straight out no-brainers with indisputable evidence right from the outset, yet people still hire these exorbitantly expensive legal aids. I can’t fathom, if you’re prepared to do the crime, be prepared to do the time when your actions are uncovered.

All just my thoughts & opinions.

 

[Warshawski]

It really ticks me off that he can use his deceased wife's assets (or portion thereof) to pay for his own defence for allegedly murdering her!!

Not to mention, their children's inheritance. They lose their mum, and her assets.

I wonder if QldPol can slap a restraint on the property, as was done in the case of the Greg Lynn trial in Vic.

Me too SA.

I presume he was beneficiary of her will, unless they were separated and she changed it ( he wouldn’t necessarily have to know )

I heard today a Go Fund Me has been set up for the children. I thought they were adults but maybe not all that old.

The only written msm report I can find is this (sorry)

No Cookies | The Cairns Post

No Cookies | The Cairns Post

www.cairnspost.com.au

 

[acehard]

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.

Now I'm picturing a smirkin' dumbo and a mower with a large mustache

 

[Bear13]

Now I'm picturing a smirkin' dumbo and a mower with a large mustache

I watched the footage again on the news last night of RC in the back of the car. My first instinct was he looked to be possibly meditating.

RC would be trained in how to remain calm. Controlled breathing, visualisation and mental rehearsal to keep calm and focussed in high-stress combat situations. Heading for the lock-up, IMO would classify as a high-stress scenario. I wonder if GBC will be there to welcome him for his orientation.

 

[Charlot123]

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

I think it is not difficult to pretend during one’s episodic travels home.

 

[SouthAussie]

Me too SA.

I presume he was beneficiary of her will, unless they were separated and she changed it ( he wouldn’t necessarily have to know )

I heard today a Go Fund Me has been set up for the children. I thought they were adults but maybe not all that old.

The only written msm report I can find is this (sorry)

No Cookies | The Cairns Post

No Cookies | The Cairns Post

www.cairnspost.com.au

Yes, it is possible the children are all adults but still need some help. With Frances being 49 years old she may have a child/ren studying at university but not living at home. And there will have been costs associated with Frances' death (funeral costs, for one).

 

[Marg944]

Yes, it is possible the children are all adults but still need some help. With Frances being 49 years old she may have a child/ren studying at university but not living at home. And there will have been costs associated with Frances' death (funeral costs, for one).

One of the children have shared the link for the Go Fund Me page on their social media page.

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

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.

Well stated @Trooper …^! and to top it, let’s add in the Husqvarna mower and make it such that ‘the mower did it’. SMH. Will be interested once details of how this was staged (not well it seems) are released. MOO

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I think it is not difficult to pretend during one’s episodic travels home.

It's just that so far I haven't heard anyone referring to him in those terms.
I may have to go back and read all the articles and the thread again.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I wonder if they made money from the property, and did use if for renting out parts of it.

Maybe some of the children were involved, hence their needing financial support now.

 

[Charlot123]

I wonder if they made money from the property, and did use if for renting out parts of it.

Maybe some of the children were involved, hence their needing financial support now.

It honestly might be a different situation.
The money was the parents', and unless FC left a will bequeathing her portion to children, RC got it. He is using it now for lawyers, and also God knows whose lifestyle he might have been sponsoring.

I hope kids know that no part of the money can be spent on RC's lawyer, or on RC's needs.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I wasn't actually thinking that the children had any claim to the property.

What I was thinking is that maybe the property had been where one or more of the children had been employed or helped out, even in a voluntary way.

And that could be a reason for a Go Fund Me.
Ie someone posted about why there would be a Go Fund Me, and my post was a theory about why it may have been set up.

My post was about the Go Fund Me. Not about who owned the property.

 

[SouthAussie]

The fund is to assist the future needs of the 3 children - including psychological support, legal fees, education and living costs.

imo (anyone can access the write-up)

 

[Charlot123]

A man accused of murdering his wife moved her body before she was found dead near a ride-on lawnmower, police allege.

Air force pilot Robert John Crawford, 46, was not required to appear in person at Ipswich Magistrates Court on Friday for a brief mention of his charges before he was remanded in custody.

He is charged with murder and interfering with a corpse after his wife Frances Elizabeth Crawford was found dead at an Upper Lockyer property, west of Brisbane, in the early hours of July 30.

Murder accused allegedly moved wife's body near mower

www.9news.com.au

 

[Gidz]

One of the children have shared the link for the Go Fund Me page on their social media page.

She looks so much like Frances…so sad

 

[Angelcat13]

I noticed that & thought he was curled up with his blankie, depressed & pinning for his dead wife

I think your thoughts are correct.

I’d like to think he was on the sofa, doing his best to try to sleep (but couldn’t), because she is hauntingly tormenting him.

 

[Whirligig]

Dailymail article out today. AVO was allegedly denied by a court last year. WOW!

"Investigators shortly after her death revealed they will allege officers had attended an incident at the property in July last year.

Police will allege the incident prompted Ms Crawford to apply for an interim protection order while she sought an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO).

However, the AVO was denied in court and the interim order overturned, police will allege.

Police will also allege that following that incident the couple had engaged the services of a marriage counsellor."

New details emerge after RAAF pilot accused of murdering his wife

Robert Crawford, 47, allegedly killed his wife Frances, 49, at their rural property in Upper Lockyer, south-east Queensland , at 3.40am on July 30.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Trooper]

Dailymail article out today. AVO was allegedly denied by a court last year. WOW!

"Investigators shortly after her death revealed they will allege officers had attended an incident at the property in July last year.

Police will allege the incident prompted Ms Crawford to apply for an interim protection order while she sought an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO).

However, the AVO was denied in court and the interim order overturned, police will allege.

Police will also allege that following that incident the couple had engaged the services of a marriage counsellor."

New details emerge after RAAF pilot accused of murdering his wife

Robert Crawford, 47, allegedly killed his wife Frances, 49, at their rural property in Upper Lockyer, south-east Queensland , at 3.40am on July 30.

www.dailymail.co.uk

'The court will dismiss the AVO if it forms the view that on balance, either the applicant has no reasonable basis to fear, and doesn't fear the defendant committing a personal violence offence or intimidation or stalking conduct; and/or if the court forms the view that the AVO orders are not necessary for the protection & safety of the protected person'


This court obviously got it wrong....... he must have engaged a solicitor, or the ADF stumped up with one, to make a case against it, in court, which was persuasive........ fair to say, QLD Court failed Frances , in the worst way... The puzzle to me is, why didn't the police make an AVO application on her behalf.. ohhh, wait. Let me guess... SQ.L. Etc....

 

[Marg944]

Restoration Church lead pastor Peter Sondergeld‘s sermon after murder revelation​

“A Toowoomba pastor of a church where respected psychologist Frances Crawford was a member of gave a passionate sermon about injustice coming “very close” to home.”

https://www.couriermail.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-qld/restoration-church-lead-pastor-peter-sondergelds-sermon-after-murder-revelation/news-story/5b59e4721943c5c8d25f380a8c2f38d7

 

[Charlot123]

For some reason, RC reminded me of an old murder case in Daytona Beach.

Konstantinos Fotopoulos | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers

Murderpedia, the free online encyclopedic dictionary of murderers. The largest database about serial killers, mass murderers and spree killers around the world

murderpedia.org

I don't know why. It is possible that the murderer I am thinking of (Konstantin Fotopoulous) was using and manipulating younger people? Something about the character.