Robert John Crawford, 49, sent his wife Frances love messages while also texting a mistress in the months leading up to her death, Brisbane Supreme Court was told.
Hundreds of texts between the couple were on Thursday shown at the murder trial for Crawford, who has been accused of strangling his wife at their property west of Brisbane in the early hours of July 30, 2024.
Ms Crawford's body was found by paramedics at the bottom of a retaining wall near an overturned ride-on lawnmower with Crawford attempting CPR.
The 49-year-old psychologist and mother-of-three was declared dead at the scene.
In the text exchanges shown on Thursday, Ms Crawford wrote a lengthy "impact statement" to her husband about the physical, sexual, emotional and spiritual toll of his multiple infidelities.
"I was angry that I had wasted my life with this cheating bastard," Ms Crawford said in the statement she sent her husband on June 16, 2024.
Ms Crawford said the one thing she wanted in a relationship was fidelity.
"I got the biggest cheat in the world," she told Crawford via the Signal app.
"I thought I dodged a bullet with one boyfriend but instead I ran into an atomic bomb."
Ms Crawford had separated from her husband after discovering his years of prior infidelities in July 2023, but he later moved back into the family home.
The couple would also frequently exchange messages about their love.
"I'm sorry for calling you all those names. You are trying to be a better man," Ms Crawford said.
"I believe you can be the person God intended you to be."
After returning from an overseas work trip, Crawford texted: "I'm so sorry I hurt you by acting selfishly in the past."
Crawford was sometimes sending texts to one of his mistresses at the same time as his wife, the jury heard.
On the morning before Ms Crawford died, her husband texted: "Hey Franny guess what? I miss you (love heart emoji)".
Crawford claims his wife died from crushing injuries or traumatic asphyxia from being caught under the lawnmower's steering wheel while moving the vehicle away from automated lawn sprinklers.
Prosecutor Chris Cook has accused Crawford of fabricating text messages that night between his wife and himself to cover his tracks.
Defence barrister Sault Holt has described the messages as crucial evidence.
"Hey are you going to put mower away soon?" Ms Crawford's phone texted to her husband's phone at 11:21pm.
Crawford texted at 11:26pm: "You can just turn sprinklers off if easier too XX".
He would later text that he was finished studying.
"Hellooooo? Xx stop watching Korean Netflix and come to bed" he texted at 12:31am.
He sent a final text at 12:35am that said: "Hey I'm getting really sleepy".
Crawford would call triple zero at 3:35am and say he had found his wife underneath a lawnmower.
He has pleaded not guilty to murder at his trial, which began in October.
The trial continues.
24°C