Hours after discovering his body lying cold on his bed, a mother described her son’s death as a “shame”, a court has been told.
Maree Mavis Crabtree has been accused of murdering her 26-year-old son Jonathan Crabtree for money.
She is alleged to have fed him a fruit smoothie laced with a lethal dose of prescription oxycodone before trying to access death benefits from his superannuation account.
Ms Crabtree is currently on trial before Brisbane Supreme Court charged with murder, attempted murder and attempted fraud.
The Gold Coast mother-of-three has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
In a recorded, informal police interview played to the court on Thursday, Ms Crabtree spoke of Jonathan’s death just hours after his body was discovered.
“It’s such a shame,” she said to detectives, speaking further of the time the family had travelled to America on a cruise.
In the recording, played to the jury, Ms Crabtree told detectives Jonathan had suffered severe mental health problems since the death of his sister Erin years earlier.
“He just got very, very depressed after Erin died,” Ms Crabtree explained.
When recounting her eldest daughter’s death to police, Ms Crabtree could not remember the year it occurred.
She told detectives Jonathan had attempted to end his life on multiple occasions before crashing his car in 2015, but said he had not been suicidal since.
“Today what happened has shocked me – more than my daughter dying more than anything in my life,” she said.
“There were no more suicide attempts in two years since the (crash).
“I didn’t see this coming.
“He didn’t seem suicidal, I would have picked it.
“(Before the accident) I could pick to the minute when a suicide attempt was going to happen.”
Ms Crabtree explained, in the past, Jonathan would play “sad music” and would appear to be slurring his words, signalling a mental health downward spiral.
Ms Crabtree said Jonathan suffered a severe brain injury due to the crash which sometimes caused him to be violent, adding he had not been violent for some time leading up to his death.
Ms Crabtree told detectives Jonathan had been assessed to have the capacity of a six to eight year-old child; however explained he could still confidently seek out prescription medication.
“It is so strange how he had this drug addiction and drug problem but that never went,” she said.
Detailing the extent of what she believed was his addiction, Ms Crabtree said in the recording that Jonathan had even injected food substances like coffee and Vegemite, and over the counter medication for period pain.
Ms Crabtree told detectives she contacted pharmacies and medical centres in the area to stop prescribing Jonathan medication and asked police to intervene numerous times but claimed no one took action.
“I’ve done my best for Jonathan to help,” she said.
She told detectives he was “quiet” the night before his body was discovered which she claimed was unusual as he would usually “annoy” her all night.
Pointing to a psychological assessment Jonathan had completed the day before he died, Ms Crabtree suggested to police in the recorded interview that an interaction with a doctor caused Jonathan distress.
“I think it was the doctor appointment yesterday, I think that really upset him,” she told the detectives.
“(The doctor) said a few I think really, really wrong things to say to someone with a brain injury.
“He told Jonathan that soon he was going to end up in a geriatric nursing home … (or) a locked down psychiatric ward.”
Despite this, Ms Crabtree expressed gratitude for what she claimed was the doctor’s assessment.
“He was interested in helping me and Tara with Jonathan by placing Jonathan somewhere in the near future,” she said.
“He was a good doctor.”
In her opening statement at the start of the trial, Crown prosecutor Caroline Marco said the doctor would later testify he was not the one to bring up alternative living arrangements, but rather Ms Crabtree.
He has not yet spoken to the court.
In the police interview played to the court, Ms Crabtree said Jonathan was elated on the drive home as he believed he would be receiving an insurance payout.
“Yesterday, he said to me it was the best day he’s ever had,” Ms Crabtree told detectives.
Ms Crabtree further postulated Jonathan could have died of a heart attack, claiming doctors had previously flagged concerns for his heart health.
“He looked like he’d been struggling to breathe,” she told officers
“He looked so peaceful; I wonder if he had a heart attack.”
The trial continues.
