Vial of blood and note seized after alleged murder of Jonathan Crabtree by his mother Maree Mavis Crabtree
A vial of blood and a cryptic note were found in the room of a man allegedly murdered by his mother, a jury has heard.
Maree Mavis Crabtree is accused of killing her 26-year-old son Jonathan with a drug-laced smoothie.
The prosecution closed the case on Friday, arguing that Crabtree prepared the smoothie laced with the prescription drug oxycodone at the family’s Gold Coast home in July 2017 and later made a $125,000 insurance claim.
Crabtree, 59, is also accused of attempting to murder Jonathan earlier that year.
He pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, attempted murder and fraud when his trial began in the High Court last month.
Crabtree and his legal team chose not to take the stand Friday morning after the final witness testified.
Earlier in the morning, the jury heard expert opinion about a handwritten note found in the Elmo bin in Jonathan’s room.
A note reviewer compared the writing to examples from Jonathan and his mother. According to him, there was qualified support for the claim that the note was written by Jonathan.
The court previously heard the note was missing and read: “Hi mum, I’m Brian [sic] He keeps telling me to do this. I want Maree to get my share of BH.
As part of admissions before the court, the jury heard police also seized a vial of blood from Jonathan’s bedroom after his death.
The court heard it was forensically tested and contained no alcohol but oxycodone was found.
The court heard the blood matched Jonathan’s but many factors could not be determined, including the time it was taken, the date it was placed on the bedside table and the conditions in which it was stored.
The court heard Jonathan was admitted to Gold Coast University Hospital and Robina Hospital on multiple occasions between 2013 and a few months before his death.
In many of the incidents, Jonathan was transferred from GCUH’s emergency department to Robina Hospital’s mental health ward.
The court also heard that in the months before Jonathan’s death, numerous anonymous reports were made to police about allegations that Jonathan was in possession of various drugs and steroids and had doctor-shopped him before selling prescription drugs on social media.
The jury is expected to hear closing arguments from the prosecution and defense on Tuesday before Judge Martin Burns’ summary statements.
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Cloe Read is the Brisbane Times’ crime and courts reporter.Connect with: X or email.
