# Husband denies murdering wife found beside ride-on mower in staged accident case

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/wife-made-her-cheating-husband-take-lie-detector-tests-now-hes-accused-of-murdering-her-and-staging-a-mower-accident/
- Published: 2026-10-28T01:30:16+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-28T01:48:27+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16244305/robert-crawford-murder-trial-frances-lawnmower-affair.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Europe, World

## Key points

- Crawford denies murdering his wife.
- Prosecutors allege he staged a mower accident.
- The jury heard about infidelity and regular polygraph tests.

## Summary

Robert Crawford is on trial for the alleged murder of his wife, Frances, who was found dead beside a ride-on mower at their property in July 2024. Prosecutors say he strangled her, staged the scene to look like an accident and falsified text messages; Crawford denies the allegations.

At the trial, a former affair partner testified that Crawford described his marriage as unhappy and said Frances was emotionally abusive. The jury has also heard that Frances monitored his finances and communications and required regular lie detector tests as part of their reconciliation. Witnesses described Crawford’s reluctance to leave because of their children, finances and church community; the trial is continuing.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.