Read the text messages of Air Force pilot Robert Crawford accused of murdering his mum-of three wife and then faking lawnmower horror – as family friend breaks her silence to slam Queensland court’s decision to FREE him on bail

A friend of the mother-of-three allegedly murdered by her air force pilot husband – who is then accused of staging her death as a lawnmower accident – has broken her silence on behalf of the victim’s children after he was freed on bail.

Psychologist Frances Elizabeth Crawford was found dead at their rural Upper Lockyer home, 100km west of Brisbane, in the early hours of July 30, 2024.

Squadron Leader Robert John Crawford, 47, was arrested around 10 weeks later in October and charged with his wife’s murder and interfering with her corpse.

Ms Crawford was found at the base of a rock wall next to a ride-on lawnmower with fatal head and neck injuries.

Police allege Crawford strangled his wife, then used her phone to send fake messages before staging her fatal accident.

He was remanded in custody after he was initially charged but seven months later, Justice Frances Williams granted Crawford bail and freed hi on May 2.

The move that has outraged friends and family of Ms Crawford, said her close friend Suzanne Duffy.

‘To say the family are angry is an understatement,’ she said.

‘The grandfather of Frances Crawford’s children put up $250,000 for her alleged murderer’s bail.’

In multiple comments online, Ms Duffy slammed the decision to allow Crawford to be released back into the community ahead of his trial.

‘The Supreme Court judge found for the defendant, granting him bail, having spent time behind bars since October last year waiting for court proceedings to take place,’ she added.

During the bail application Crawford’s lawyer Saul Holt said there was no conclusive evidence to support the prosecution’s claim that his client strangled his wife in a state of ‘murderous rage’.

Mr Holt told the court Crawford arrived home from his RAAF Amberley base, played piano and ate dinner with his wife before they ‘read the Bible,’ and ‘played games.’

Around 8:30pm, Crawford said they showered together, then watched television when his wife asked him to move the mower before the sprinklers came on.

‘I told Frances that I would move it later,’ he said in his statement.

Crawford says the last time he saw his wife alive was while they were ‘snuggling,’ on the sofa under a heated blanket.

 However, prosecutor Chris Cook alleged in court that she was strangled in her home’s en suite bathroom, leaving behind her blood and that of her husband.

Mr Cook told the court Ms Crawford was carried outside and placed at the scene of a ride-on lawnmower accident at the bottom of a retaining wall.

He said the forensic report favoured strangulation as the cause of death rather than pressure from the lawnmower’s steering wheel.

The prosecution allege Ms Crawford’s mobile phone sent a message to her husband at 11:21pm on the Signal app, asking: ‘Hey, are you going to put the mower away soon?’

Mr Crawford replied: ‘Yea just doing SDO stuff still’

He then sent two follow up messages saying, ‘Just give me a sec’ and ‘You can just turn the sprinklers off if easier too xx’, according to court documents.

At 12:28am, Mr Crawford sent another Signal message to his wife, saying: ‘Hey I’m finished with my revision study stuff, I’m brushing teeth and going to bed soon. Are you coming?’, according to the documents.

He allegedly sent a follow up message at 12:30am saying ‘Helllloooo? Xx Stop watching Korean Netflix and come to bed haha’.

 Mr Cook claimed Crawford sent those messages from her phone to himself.

‘This allows him an extended amount of time to manipulate the scene because he doesn’t call the police until several hours later,’ he told the court.

Crawford called Triple-0 at 3.37am, saying he had discovered his wife’s body, the court was told.

Mr Cook said Crawford’s statement about his wife going out to move the lawnmower at such an hour was fanciful.

‘This is a middle-aged woman going out in the middle of the night with no jacket in a very cold winter. Her family said she would not do that,’ Mr Cook said.

Mr Cook said Crawford was a ‘master manipulator’ who had caused his wife to seek a protective order from police as she ‘felt very unsafe’.

The court also heard that the pair had a troubled relationship after Crawford’s previous infidelity and that his wife was planning to leave him.

The court was told the couple’s three adult children are estranged from Crawford who they accuse of being abusive, explosive and violent, and they grew up walking on eggshells.

Ms Duffy has now set up a GoFundMe for the Crawfords’ children which has raised $24,447 towards its target of $100,000. 

‘The children of Frances are pleading for the public to help them by supporting their GoFundMe with ongoing support for mental healthcare, and other costs to help them re-establishing their young lives, she said.

‘The plea for your support is desperate and urgent.’