A former RAAF pilot was a “love rat” and “master manipulator” who staged his wife’s death to make it appear like an accident, a jury has heard.

Robert John Crawford, 49, pleaded not guilty on Monday to murdering his wife, Frances Elizabeth Crawford, at Upper Lockyer on 29 July 2024.

Her body was found near a ride-on lawnmower at the bottom of a retaining wall on their sprawling rural property west of Toowoomba.

Crawford murdered his wife in the context of a long relationship breakdown, prosecutor Chris Cook told a Brisbane supreme court jury.

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The husband then embarked on a long campaign to make her death appear an accident, Cook alleged.

Four women with whom Crawford allegedly had affairs are due to be called as witnesses.

“He made out to be a man with good Christian values,” Cook said.

“However, his story did not match his behaviour.…