Sister testifies about mum’s alleged murder plot, court hears

The sister of a man allegedly murdered by his mother has told a court how he became involved in the alleged murder.

Maree Mavis Crabtree has been charged with murder, attempted murder and attempted fraud in the Supreme Court in Brisbane for allegedly using fruit juice laced with a lethal dose of oxycodone to kill her 26-year-old son Jonathan.

It is also alleged that he tried to collect retirement benefits even though he knew he was not entitled to them.

Ms Crabtree denied all charges.

On the last day of the second week of his trial, the jury heard evidence from Tara Crabtree, Ms Crabtree’s surviving daughter and Jonathan’s younger sister.

Tara told the court that after walking her dogs the afternoon before Jonathan’s death, her mother prepared a drink containing several prescription drugs including OxyNorm, Endone, Tramadol, Valium and Seroquel.

The court was previously told OxyNorm was prescribed to Tara and contained oxycodone.

“He told me to watch out in the aisle… and he cut up all the fruit, then put it in the Nutribullet (blender) and crushed the tablets with a hammer,” Tara said.

The court heard Tara gave evidence earlier this week, on Tuesday and Wednesday, in a separate deliberation room where the jury was not present.

Their statements were recorded and heard in court on Friday.

Tara said she saw her mother pouring large 250ml bottles of OxyNorm liquid into the blender.

“I want to say five to 10 bottles,” he said.

“I think it was around six bottles.”

Tara said Jonathan took the drink from his mother and then returned to his room, where he claimed he had previously “passed out” and was “under the influence of drugs.”

“He went straight back to bed,” she said.

“I went to my room and watched TV.”

Tara claimed she heard her brother struggling throughout the night.

“(He) was moaning loudly, moaning, gasping for air… and having trouble breathing,” he claimed.

“It was too loud.”

He told the court Mrs Crabtree had warned him not to help his brother.

“My mom told me not to do it; if I did, she would be arrested and I would be put in a group home or live with my dad and we would lose everything,” she said.

Jonathan’s younger sister said she heard Mrs. Crabtree checking on Jonathan throughout the night; She added that her mother told her the next morning that “Jonathan was dead.”

“I didn’t say a word, I was in so much shock about what was happening,” Tara said.

“He just told me not to talk about them if the police came.

“(He told me to say that) he committed suicide and we found him that morning – he told me to say that.”

Tara claimed that her mother constantly told her that they would lose their home due to Jonathan’s alleged involvement in the armed robbery of a chemist a few months earlier; He added that their lives would have “more peace” and that they would “have a better life” without him.

“He said (he was) violent and that we would be better off without him,” Tara told the court.

“(He) said Jonathan would eventually kill us to keep us safe.”

He also told the court that the night of Jonathan’s alleged murder was not the first time his mother had given him a poisoned drink; He pointed to the milkshake Mrs. Crabtree made the same year as Jonathan’s death.

“It wasn’t true,” he said of his alleged involvement in the other murder attempt.

“He asked me to (pay attention again) but we had an unhealthy relationship at the time where he controlled me a lot.”

According to Tara, her mother didn’t use as much prescription medication the first time she gave Jonathan.

“It wasn’t as much as the last one,” he claimed.

However, Tara claimed Ms Crabtree did not carry out her first alleged attempt to kill Jonathan and she feared she could be caught too easily.

“He was snoring very loudly and moaning very loudly… you could hear it all over the house,” he said.

“My mom called the ambulance because she was making too much noise and was paranoid that the police would show up.”

Tara claimed the first attempt had taken place much earlier in the day and so Mrs Crabtree was concerned neighbors would be alerted to Jonathan’s screams.

He said Ms Crabtree told emergency workers that Jonathan had “accidentally overdosed”.

He also claimed that some time before Jonathan’s death, Mrs Crabtree deliberately broke bottles of OxyNorm and poured the contents into a two-litre milk bottle, and took the tampered bottles back to the pharmacy to avoid suspicion.

The jury will hear from Ms Crabtree’s defense team later today.

The trial continues.

More to come.