A Gold Coast mother accused of fatally drugging her son for financial gain told police after his death he was a drug addict who would inject “anything he could get his hands on”, including Vegemite, a jury has heard.
Maree Mavis Crabtree is on trial in Brisbane, charged with the murder of Jonathan Crabtree in July 2017 and his earlier attempted murder.
She is also charged with attempted fraud in relation to a claim on the 26-year-old’s superannuation insurance policy.
The 59-year-old has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
A Supreme Court jury has already heard the prosecution allege Ms Crabtree gave her son a blended drink laced with a lethal dose of the prescription pain medication Oxycodone at their Maudsland home.
During opening addresses, the jury heard that in the years prior, Mr Crabtree had suffered injuries in a traffic crash.
Before his death, Mr Crabtree had himself abused prescription drugs and had previously been charged with robbing a chemist, the jury heard.
Jonathan Crabtree was allegedly killed by his mother Maree Crabtree in July 2017. (Twitter: Maree Crabtree)
On Thursday, the jury was played recordings of Ms Crabtree speaking with police who attended her home shortly after she discovered her son dead in his room.
In the first interview, she said she was “shocked” by his death and spoke about him previously attempting to self-harm.
“It’s just devastated me, I can’t believe it,” she said.
If you or anyone you know needs help:
However, Ms Crabtree said she “did not see a suicide coming” this time, as usually it was obvious.
She said her son would often appear “drugged out” and that was when she knew “something was going on”.
“I would have picked it,” she said.
Instead, Ms Crabtree told the officers he seemed “peaceful” when she found him and speculated whether he may have had a heart attack instead of an overdose, because he was overweight.
At other points in the interview, she said Mr Crabtree may have been upset because a doctor had just told him he would likely need to be placed into care at a “geriatric” facility.
However, she also said her son had just told her he had “the best day I’ve had in years”.
Mother ‘horrified’ by discovery in son’s roomÂ
The jury has already heard that, following Mr Crabtree’s death, a large quantity of prescription drug packets, some empty and others containing some medication, had been found inside his room, including in a backpack.
Oxycodone was not found inside his room, but it was found in other parts of the house, the jury has already heard.
In the interview, Ms Crabtree said she was “horrified” by the discovery in her son’s room and “mortified” by the quantity, and claimed she was not aware he had access to some of the medications.
Woman pleads not guilty to murdering son with drug cocktail
However, she later said she knew her son was a drug addict, who would “inject anything”, including his sister’s pain medication and that he “would shoot up Vegemite”.
“Whatever he can get his hands on,” she said.
She told the officers he would go from doctor to doctor and had “tricked” one into giving him prescription pain medication, and that multiple chemists had “banned him”.
Ms Crabtree also told the officers her son previously bought illicit drugs from a “bikie”, including “black tarry stuff”, which she believed was methylamphetamine and said she had made reports about it to Crime Stoppers.
When asked about her son’s cognitive capacity, Ms Crabtree said separate reports after the accident placed him within an age range of six to eight years old.
She accepted it was “strange” that despite this, his drug addiction “never went” away.
In another interview, which was played to the jury, Ms Crabtree told an officer her son would bury drugs and put them inside drains.Â
The jury was also played body worn camera footage, which showed police attending the family home before Mr Crabtree’s death.
In the vision, officers speak to him and Ms Crabtree about reports he had been posting on social media about selling drugs.
At one point, he told the officers, “I need all the pills I can get”.
Various CCTV footage was also played to the jury, showing what is alleged to be Ms Crabtree and her daughter’s movements after Mr Crabtree had already died.
The footage showed the pair leaving their home on foot, before returning, then leaving in a car.
They were then depicted inside a bank and at two shops, before returning home.
The trial before Justice Martin Burns continues.