A mother accused of murdering two of her children to collect their life insurance inherited her uncle’s house a few months after he changed his will.
Maree Mavis Crabtree was charged with killing her daughter Erin, 18, in 2012 and her son Jonathan, 26, last July and staging them as suicides.
The 51-year-old was also charged with fraud in collecting or trying to collect $1 million in life insurance and other payouts.
Maree Mavis Crabtree, 51, inherited her uncle’s house a few months after he changed his will
She was charged with killing her daughter Erin, 18, (L) in 2012 and her son Jonathan, 26, (R) last July and staging them as suicides
Both children died from fatal overdoses of oxycodone in the family home on the Gold Coast, Erin found dead while the rest of the family was on a cruise.
Their mother allegedly kept them medicated to collect their disability payments, then killed them to get their insurance payouts.
Crabtree inherited her uncle Milne Graham’s house in Sydney when he died in 1990, according to records seen by the Courier Mail.
He left it to her in a new will lodged in March of that year while she was living with him in the property in the southwest suburb of Peakhurst.
Later Crabtree’s mother, who has also since died, moved in and lived in a granny flat out the back of the house.
Mr Graham gave his niece the entire house and its contents, with the rest of his estate used to pay for his funeral and split between four other people.
Crabtree was arrested last month and is facing numerous charges over her children’s deaths and other alleged crimes
The 51-year-old inherited her uncle Milne Graham’s house in Sydney when he died in 1990 after he left it to her in a will lodged in March that year
Crabtree lived with her children in the house until the early 2000s when it burned down while she was in a financial dispute with an ex-boyfriend.
She sold what was left of the property for $570,000 and moved to regional NSW, where she was described as the ‘neighbour from hell’, and then the Gold Coast.
Crabtree was also charged with and torturing and causing grevious bodily harm to a 25-year-old female relative over several years.
When she was five in 1997, a NSW doctor wrote a report suggesting the girl was a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, police told The Australian.
Dr Michael Ryan from Sydney’s Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children said Crabtree had admitted the girl to the hospital with fake illnesses repeatedly since her birth.
He feared she had been subjected to undue testing and medical procedures at the behest of Crabtree.
Munchausen by proxy is a psychological disorder involving a caregiver misleading others into thinking a child has medical problems by fabricating or inducing symptoms.
Crabtree lived with her children in the house until the early 2000s when it burned down while she was in a financial dispute with an ex-boyfriend
Both children died from fatal overdoses of oxycodone in the family home on the Gold Coast
Police alleged the girl had a tube inserted into her stomach because of an allergic condition of the oesophagus, and Crabtree allegedly convincing physicians to prescribe the girl oxycodone.
Officers said the pain medication and feeding tube were not necessary and the girl, now 25, has been able to eat normally since Crabtree was arrested.
Police allege Crabtree gave her son the fatal overdose in a drink they bought from McDonald’s on the way home from the psychologist appointment.
Court documents show she allegedly dishonestly received an insurance payout of $567,863, a total permanent disability claim for $238,800 and had attempted to fraudulently obtain a superannuation death benefit of $125,000.
Crabtree’s lawyer said she vehemently denied the charges and planned to apply for bail.
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