Death in lawnmower incident in Upper Lockyer: Mystery deepens as Defence Force attack on squad leader comes to light

EXCLUSIVE

The Australian Defence Force has quietly removed references to a senior RAAF pilot from its social media pages after his wife was killed in a mysterious lawnmower incident last week.

Frances Crawford, 49, was found dead at 3.40am in her Upper Lockyer home in south-east Queensland on Tuesday, July 30, after police received reports that she had been seriously injured by a ride-on lawnmower.

Police are treating Mrs Crawford’s death as suspicious and her husband Robert, who filed a triple-0 report, is assisting detectives with their investigation.

Daily Mail Australia does not allege Crawford was involved in his wife’s death, but does claim he is assisting police.

As detectives continue to investigate the baffling case, the military has quickly removed posts from its official Facebook page about Mr Crawford, 47, a Squadron Leader stationed at Amberley Airforce Base.

Frances Crawford, 49, was found dead at her home in Upper Lockyer, south-east Queensland, at 3.40am on Tuesday, July 30, after police were called to reports she had been seriously injured by a ride-on lawnmower.

Her husband Robert, who made the triple-0 call, has been helping detectives with their investigation.

The social media posts highlighted the efforts of the armed forces, showing photos of Mr Crawford on duty and quotes from him about military projects.

In a report on working with the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, Squadron Leader Crawford was quoted as saying: ‘Exposure to new ways of thinking and sharing skills with the PNGDF [Papua New Guinea Defence Force] is of inestimable value to all of us at No. 35 Squadron.

“We look forward to helping our closest neighbor rebuild their sovereign aviation capabilities and safety systems.

‘In turn, the PNGDF will assist us with our mountain flying training, access to airfield facilities and other training exercises in PNG, working together on future joint humanitarian and disaster relief operations.’

Daily Mail Australia understands Mr Crawford had only returned to Australia from an overseas deployment a week before his wife’s death. The Department of Defence declined to comment.

Daily Mail Australia can also reveal that Mr Crawford was embroiled in legal proceedings in 2012 while he was stationed in Adelaide.

He was charged with abuse of power in the public sector, alleging he manipulated regulations to obtain a position in the Middle East and earn a tax-free bonus.

During the proceedings, Mr Crawford attempted to request confidential documents to prove that he had good reason to be deployed at the time in question.

The Public Prosecution Service later dropped all charges against him.

Police arrive at the Crawford family estate on Thursday.

Detectives collected evidence from the home on Tuesday (including the lawn mower, pictured)

The revelations come as police appeal for the public’s help in investigating the circumstances surrounding Ms Crawford’s death.

Last Thursday, ten police vehicles were spotted entering the estate, including several cars loaded with forensic equipment, as detectives stepped up their investigation.

The next day, Chief Inspector George Marchesini told the media that detectives were still trying to determine how she was seriously injured.

“There are a number of things we need to understand better to determine what the cause was and how this actually happened,” he said.

“We have not yet been able to determine a cause for what was found at that crime scene. That is why we consider this case suspicious.

‘If [you] ‘If they know about the woman and you will of course hear this information coming out this week, then we would like to hear from them what they do know.’