A MUM made her daughter “keep lookout” while she laced her son’s fruit smoothie with a lethal cocktail of drugs for an insurance pay out, a jury has heard.

Maree Mavis Crabtree is alleged to have secretly blended a deadly dose of painkillers into a drink she then gave to her son Jonathan, 26, before leaving him to die in his bedroom.

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Jonathan, 26, was found dead in his bedroomCredit: ABC
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Maree Mavis Crabtree pleaded not guilty to murdering her sonCredit: X/@MareeCrabtree
The 59-year-old woman is standing trial at Brisbane Supreme Court over the alleged killing at the Australian family home near the Gold Coast in July 2017.

Jonathan’s sister Tara Crabtree – who has been granted immunity from prosecution – told the jury on Friday she helped her mother by keeping lookout while the smoothie was prepared.

“She cut up fruit and put it in the blender to blend it…watermelon, pretty sure mango, pineapple are the main ones I remember,” Tara shared in a pre-recorded video.

Tara, who was just one year younger than Jonathan, said her mother then used a hammer to crush a collection of pills on a chopping board before adding the powder into the smoothie.

Crabtree also allegedly added six bottles of liquid oxycodone opiate painkiller.

Tara said: “She asked me to keep lookout for my brother. He came out and she gave it to him.”

When asked why Crabtree put drugs in her brother’s smoothie, Tara said her mum thought he was a “violent and horrible” person to live with.

“We would have more peace and live a better life without him, that’s what she said,” Tara said.

She then told the jury how her mum told her not to offer help to her brother after she heard him struggling and making noises in his room.

Tara also said her mum told her not say anything to police when they arrived.

“He committed suicide, that’s what she told me to say,” Tara said.

Earlier, jurors heard emergency services were called on the morning of July 19 after Crabtree reported her son was not breathing.

But Crown prosecutor Caroline Marco said she allegedly refused to perform CPR when urged by the triple-0 operator.

“She had a bad back and that she could not stay in the room with him ‘as she thought he was then dead’,” Ms Marco told the court.

When paramedics arrived at the home about 9.55am they found Jonathan lying on his bed with his legs hanging to the floor and a Spider-Man backpack nearby.

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The 59-year-old woman is standing trial at Brisbane Supreme CourtCredit: ABC
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Prosecutors claim Crabtree later made a dishonest claim for a death benefit from Jonathan’s superannuation fundCredit: ABC
The jury heard he was already showing “obvious signs that he had been dead for hours.”

Prosecutors allege the fatal drink was disguised with fruit to mask the smell of the drugs.

Prosecutors claim Crabtree later made a dishonest claim for a death benefit from Jonathan’s superannuation fund.

At the time of his death, Jonathan shared ownership of the Maudsland home with his sister, while their mother lived there but was not listed on the title.

Ms Marco said the household was often tense and that Jonathan had been a “troubled young man” who abused drugs.

He had previously been charged with robbing a chemist and suffered permanent injuries in a serious car crash in 2015 that left him needing physical care.

The court heard Crabtree had told people her son was “difficult and abusive”.

“She told Tara that his involvement in the robbery had put their family’s finances in jeopardy, which was the reason why she needed to kill him,” Ms Marco said.

Investigators later found numerous bottles of liquid oxycodone inside the house and a smoothie blender that tested positive for drugs.

But Crabtree’s defence team says the case hinges entirely on whether jurors believe her daughter’s version of events.

Barrister Angus Edwards told the court Tara had admitted lying to police and only accused her mother more than two years after Jonathan’s death.

“That is the real issue in this trial. Do you believe Tara Crabtree’s story?” he said.

He suggested Jonathan – described as a “violent, suicidal, drug addict” – could have taken the drugs himself.

“Somehow those drugs got into him,” Mr Edwards said.

“There is of course the possibility that Jonathan Crabtree, deliberately or accidentally, had an overdose of drugs to which he had access.”

Mr Edwards also questioned Tara’s motives for speaking out.

“What are her motives when she came out with this story about her mother? Is something sinister going on here?” he asked.

Crabtree has denied murdering her son and attempting to murder her him months earlier.

She also denies attempting to fraudulently claim more than £50,000 ($100,000) after his death.

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The court heard Crabtree had told people her son was “difficult and abusive”Credit: X/@MareeCrabtree