Mum exaggerated her daughter’s health problems before murdering her, court hears
A mum charged with the murder of her adult children claimed they were much sicker than they actually were, a court has heard.
A Gold Coast mum charged with the murder of her adult children allegedly claimed her kids were much sicker than they actually were, a court has been told.
A medical expert gave evidence on Thursday of the alleged “disconnect” between Maree Mavis Crabtree’s descriptions of her children’s medical issues and what doctors could actually see in their behaviours.
One doctor claimed during sessions with Erin, Ms Crabtree’s daughter, that the mother would speak on her behalf and used a diagnosis of autism to hamper independent assessments.
Ms Crabtree is alleged to have murdered her children Erin, 18, and Jonathan, 26, on separate dates in 2012 and 2016.
Police allege Erin and Jonathan were plied with prescription medication for years, causing an array of health problems, until their deaths.
The charge of torture relates to allegations Ms Crabtree tortured another woman for years in the same manner.
On Thursday, Dr Jan Connors gave evidence that Ms Crabtree claimed Erin had multiple health issues like autism and cerebral palsy but there were no references to back it up.
She said the first sign that Erin appeared to be intellectually impaired was in August 2008 after a poor performance in an IQ test.
Prior to that, she had not exhibited any problems.
“It was actually quite striking how low that score was, it couldn’t have gotten much lower,” Dr Connors said.
“That was quite unusual, given what we knew about her up until that point.”
Dr Connors said it could have been possible that she was just not being engaged when she was doing the test.
The court was told Erin was hospitalised in 2011 suffering from respiratory arrest.
Her urine also tested positive for opioids.
A day later, she appeared alert, casting doubt on claims of a “significant acquired brain injury”.
Dr Connors said Erin appeared to be “selectively mute” – not speaking to people in the hospital but conversing normally with children her own age in the playground.
She said there appeared to be a “disconnect” between Ms Crabtree’s descriptions of Erin’s problems and what was actually observed.
“There’s a bit of a pattern of acute expressions of desperate need,” Dr Connors said.
“And when different things are offered … the concern is then downplayed to say ‘We don’t need to do that.’”
The court was told Erin was again admitted to hospital and appeared able to look after herself, despite Ms Crabtree claiming weeks later that her daughter had lost speech, required bathing and feeding and was “incontinent”.
Jonathan was described by Dr Connors as having low self-esteem.
She said he reported hearing “voices” telling him he was worthless.
The court was told he refused a drug and alcohol treatment referral and exhibited signs of “drug-dependent” behaviour.
Pharmacist Scott Caller, who worked at the Maudsland Pharmacy, said Jonathan ended up being banned from the store due to his confrontational behaviour towards staff.
The court was told on one occasion, Jonathan came in seeking nine boxes of tramadol.
“It’s an unusual amount a doctor would prescribe to a customer all at once, I was concerned about that quantity, Mr Caller said.
Ms Crabtree is facing a raft of charges, including murder, attempted murder, fraud, torture, attempted fraud and multiple counts of obtaining a financial benefit by deception.
The hearing continues.