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'Lookout' daughter says mum gave brother fatal smoothie

Prosecutors say Maree Mavis Crabtree used painkillers and liquid oxycodone in the drink, and jurors heard evidence of a $125,000 insurance claim.

  • On Friday, the Brisbane Supreme Court began viewing video testimony from Tara Crabtree, who alleged her mother, Maree Mavis Crabtree, murdered her brother Jonathan by spiking his fruit smoothie with a fatal dose of crushed painkillers.
  • Maree Crabtree allegedly feared she would lose the family home and be arrested if Jonathan survived, later telling Tara that killing him would ensure they could "live a better life without him."
  • Tara testified her mother asked her to "keep lookout" while crushing tablets with a hammer, then mixed the powder into a fruit smoothie alongside six bottles of liquid oxycodone.
  • Under cross-examination by defense barrister Angus Edwards, Tara admitted she had previously told "half truth, half lies" about the incident, claiming her mother instructed her to fabricate a story.
  • Facing murder and fraud charges, Maree Crabtree has pleaded not guilty and allegedly sought a $125,000 insurance payout following Jonathan's death at the family's Gold Coast home in 2017.
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16 Articles

Sydney Morning HeraldSydney Morning Herald
+7 Reposted by 7 other sources
Lean Left

‘Lookout’ daughter says mum gave brother fatal smoothie

A mother asked her daughter to “keep lookout” while she crushed up a fatal dose of drugs and put them in her brother’s smoothie, a jury has heard.

·Sydney, Australia
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  • 42% of the sources lean Left, 42% of the sources lean Right
42% Right

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Herald Sun broke the news in Melbourne, Australia on Friday, April 17, 2026.
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