Mathew Dunbar mystery death: Police arrest widow Natasha Beth Crossman
UPDATE: Police have charged the widow of Mathew Dunbar with his murder on the sheep farm where he was found dead in August.
NSW
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TWO weeks ago, Natasha Crossman sprinkled glitter over the grave of Walcha grazier Mathew Dunbar and left a handwritten card saying: “Happy Birthday in heaven my darling man — I miss you every day.”
But yesterday the 42-year-old was arrested at Mr Dunbar’s property, bundled into the back of a police car and driven to Tamworth police station, where she was charged with his murder.
This week it was revealed Ms Crossman had recently been made the sole beneficiary of Mr Dunbar’s multimillion-dollar estate.
Ms Crossman has been writing extensively about suicide prevention on social media after telling police, family and friends Mr Dunbar had killed himself in the early hours of August 2 this year.
But it seems police do not believe her story of what unfolded on the night Mr Dunbar died at his Merino sheep farm “Pandora”, a few minutes’ drive out of town on the Thunderbolts Way.
The grazier and the widow of Walcha
Walcha farmer Mathew Dunbar’s mother reveals her grief and disbelief
On that night, her former husband Colin Crossman was the first paramedic who arrived at the property.
Yesterday, Mr Crossman was also quickly on the scene, speeding down the 800m dirt driveway within minutes of police arriving at the property just after 9.30am.
He left quickly with Ms Crossman’s three children in the back of his red Pajero.
There is no suggestion Mr Crossman had anything to do with Mr Dunbar’s death.
When approached this week, Ms Crossman said her “kind and sweet” partner had killed himself after previous suicide attempts.
She has told police she stayed up late talking to Mr Dunbar and was shocked to later find him with a plastic bag that was connected to a canister of helium gas.
“I was there; I know he killed himself,” she said.
“But I mean [the police] have to investigate,”
“I’m dealing with post-traumatic stress because I was the one that found him.”
The day after his death Ms Crossman posted 10 photos of Mr Dunbar on Facebook and wrote: “Yesterday we lost the sweetest man in the world. He was gentle, kind and the best stepfather any mother could want for her kids. My heart aches for you Mathew Dunbar but the pain is worth having had you in my life.”
Everyone in Walcha — population 1500 — knew Mathew, 42, as a man who would “give you the shirt off his back”.
Mr Dunbar’s closest friend and the executor of his will, Lance Partridge, described him as a simple man who always dreamt of having a family. “Everybody that knew Mathew liked Mathew because he would never hurt anybody, he would always help someone out and he was just giving, giving fellow,” Mr Partridge said.