In the cold night air outside his home, Robert Crawford looks up from the bottom of a retaining wall, the glow of a police officer’s torch illuminating his face.

His wife, Frances, lies lifeless in her floral pyjamas on the grass. Her hand rests on her chest, and her right ugg boot is close to her leg. Blood runs from her nose across her face.

An orange ride-on mower is next to her, overturned on its left side, its wheel turned hard to the right and stuck in reverse.

Footage from responding officers, filmed in the early hours of July 30, 2024 and played to a Supreme Court jury this week, shows the former Royal Australian Air Force pilot explaining the lead-up to his wife’s death.

He has pleaded not guilty to murder.…