A woman from the Gold Coast accused of murdering her two adult children was released on bail after more than six years in jail. Source: Pexels.
A woman from the Gold Coast accused of murdering her two adult children was released on bail after more than six years in jail.
Maree Mavis Crabtree, 57, was allegedly accused of murdering her 26-year-old son, Jonathon, with a lethal dose of prescription drugs in July 2017.
Crabtree was also committed in 2021 for the alleged murder of her 18-year-old daughter, Erin, but has yet to stand trial.
When the trial for her son opened last week in Brisbane’s Supreme court, Crabtree pleaded not guilty on all accounts, including charges for alleged fraudulent benefit claims.
On Tuesday, Justice Peter Davis discharged the Supreme Court jury, saying new information had surfaced.
“What has since been discovered is that there are hundreds if not thousands of pages of documents which have been provided by the Adult Guardian upon subpoena which may be relevant to the case,” Justice Davis said.
In opening statements, Crown prosecutor Philip McCarthy KC said Tara Crabtree, Jonathon’s sister, had witnessed her mother make a smoothie mixed with prescription opioid drugs, which killed her brother.
Justice Davis questioned the prosecution’s case as he had motive to believe that Tara was “mentally compromised” as a witness and had given various inconsistent accounts of the event.
“The crown case in relation to the charges concerning Jonathan depends upon the acceptance of the evidence of Tara Crabtree. She has quite severe mental issues, she has over the years given different versions of events surrounding Jonathan’s death,” said Justice Davis.
“It is in the interests of justice that these inquiries are made and proper opportunity given to the defence to study the material.”
The prosecution opposed the bail claiming Crabtree would “endanger the safety” of her daughter Tara, but Justice Davis told the court she was not a flight risk, and her “continued detention” was “not justified”.
Justice Davis granted Crabtree bail on the condition she live far away from her daughter and wear an electronic monitoring device.
Her case is due to be mentioned in the Supreme Court on 11 March.
