An alleged twist has emerged in the case against a mum accused of murdering her adult son with a lethal overdose of prescription drugs after a forensic analysis allegedly revealed traces of drugs in a blender.
Just weeks after Maree Mavis Crabtree’s Supreme Court trial for the murder of her son Jonathan was aborted, Crown prosecutor Mark McCarthy revealed a statement indicating the alleged discovery during Ms Crabtree’s latest trial review on Monday.
During the last trial, the court was told police did not find any fruit remnants allegedly used to make the smoothie and evidence from the Crown’s star witness, Tara Crabtree, about the types of drugs allegedly used to poison Jonathan was contradicted by scientific evidence.
Mr McCarthy said police had decided to test the blender after a “prolonged” period.
He said traces of prescription drugs, including oxycodone, diazepam and quetiapine, had allegedly been detected, tendering a statement from a forensic officer.
“The presence of those items are relevant … as to whether there is, in fact, any corroboration, in any sense of Tara Crabtree’s allegations that her mother placed those medications in a blender,” he said.
Mr McCarthy said more time was needed for the Crown to consider its position on Ms Crabtree’s pending trial.
“We were not given notice of the item being tested,” Mr McCarthy said.
“Of course the Crown is going to consider its position very carefully in this case.”
He said the Crown was seeking all continuity statements from the police regarding the blender, along with notes and other analyses conducted.
The 57-year-old was flanked by supporters as she attended court and did not speak when she hurriedly left the building.
Ms Crabtree is charged with the murder of her adult children Erin and Jonathan on separate dates in 2012 and 2017 respectively. Both matters were mentioned in court on Monday.
She is also charged with 11 Commonwealth offences linked to alleged fraud and is facing one count each of attempted murder and attempted fraud.
Ms Crabtree previously pleaded not guilty to Jonathan’s murder, and charges of attempted murder and attempted fraud, on January 29.
During her trial the jury was told she gave her adult son a fruit juice laced with a fatal dose of prescription medication, allegedly claiming thousands of dollars from his life insurance payout afterwards.
But a mistrial was declared days later, with Supreme Court Justice Peter Davis saying a “significant” amount of documents that “might be relevant to the credibility of the main witness (Tara Crabtree)” became available.
“That material indicated that there was further material and other avenues of inquiry that had to be pursued,” he said.
Ms Crabtree, who has spent the past six years in custody on remand, was granted bail after jurors were discharged in February.
She is yet to stand trial for her daughter’s alleged murder.
Ms Crabtree’s legal aid lawyer said it was “prudent” the new material be disclosed to the defence, telling the court an expert’s report would likely be sought.
“That’s a process we can commence to try and avoid any unnecessary delay,” she said.
The matter will return to court on May 13.