<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A mother gave her adult son a lethal smoothie following disputes over money and the family's intolerable living situation, </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/courts" rel="" target="" title="a jury"><span>a jury</span></a><span> has been told.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Maree Mavis Crabtree has been accused of killing her 26-year-old son, Jonathan, with an overdose of painkillers on July 19, 2017, in the family's home north of the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/gold-coast" rel="" target="" title="Gold Coast"><span>Gold Coast</span></a><span> before making a $125,000 insurance claim.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The 59-year-old has also been accused of attempting to murder her son in January of the same year.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/severe-storms-winter-blast-south-east-australia-weather-this-week/af5772b5-375b-471d-b107-9f50eb8bfff5" target="_blank"><strong><span>Winter blast to leave states reeling before severe storms this week</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Crabtree pleaded not guilty to the murder, attempted murder and fraud charges when her trial began at Brisbane Supreme Court today.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Her son was found dead by paramedics while lying on his bed at 9.55am with his legs hanging down to the floor and a Spider-Man backpack at his feet, Crown prosecutor Caroline Marco told the jury.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"A pathologist determined the cause of his sudden and unexpected death was an excessive amount of the drug oxycodone in his bloodstream," she said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/mum-hid-fatal-painkillers-in-sons-smoothie-jury-told/47c22426-318b-440e-bad0-eb9ac3cf3ff4" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Investigators did not find the prescription painkiller or related packaging in the son's room or among his other drugs in the Spider-Man pack.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The Crown will prove it was his mother who killed him by deliberately giving him a drink in the form of a shake that she prepared with a blender in the kitchen of their home that contained the oxycodone that killed him," Marco said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The jury was told they would hear from Crabtree's daughter Tara, who would testify that she helped her mother by keeping a lookout as she prepared the drink and of later hearing the son struggling and coughing throughout the night.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/australian-virgin-flight-attendant-lucinta-evans-dies-in-fiji/e7e0a8d4-e6b3-477c-b3bc-fe303b0342c3" target="_blank"><strong><span>Australian flight attendant dies after road accident in Fiji</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Tara will tell you the next morning her mother told her Jonathan was dead but it was four hours later that (Crabtree) called Triple Zero," Marco said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Tara says that was not the first time that her mother had given a drink to Jonathan containing oxycodone with the intent of ending his life."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Jonathan was a "troubled man" with abusive behaviours who used drugs and had been charged with robbing a chemist, the jury heard.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A car crash in 2015 had left him with permanent injuries that meant he required physical care.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Crabtree lived in the Maudsland home that was jointly owned by her two children.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>LIVE UPDATES:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-israel-iran-war-live-updates-april-7-donald-trump-latest-world-news-headlines-australian-fuel-price-and-supply/0d1a8d3f-5731-407e-8e1e-443d7ebbc556" target="_blank"><strong><span>Donald Trump says Iran wants him to 'keep bombing'</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"She told Tara that Jonathan's involvement in the robbery had put the family's finances in jeopardy, which was the reason why she needed to kill him," Marco said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Crabtree found her living situation with her son "no longer tolerable" but she did not have the money to buy out his stake of the house, the jury heard.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Investigators found numerous bottles of liquid oxycodone in the family's home and a smoothie blender that tested positive for drugs, Marco said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Defence barrister Angus Edwards was expected to make an opening statement.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The trial is due to run for five weeks before Justice Martin Burns and hear from 60 witnesses.</span></div></div>