Erin Patterson denies intent in triple-murder mushroom poisoning trial.
Erin Patterson denies intent in triple-murder mushroom poisoning trial.
Alleged mushroom poisoner Erin Patterson has been quizzed on why she made a sixth beef wellington when she was hosting four guests for lunch.
The 50-year-old is facing trial after pleading not guilty to the murder of three of her husband’s family members and the attempted murder of a fourth.
Patterson returned to the witness box on Thursday at her Supreme Court trial in Morwell, a town in the Australian state of Victoria, for her eighth and final day of giving evidence.
Under questioning from her barrister, Colin Mandy, Senior Counsel (SC), Patterson was taken to evidence she’d given about making six beef wellington dishes.
Earlier this week, Crown prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers, SC, had grilled Patterson about why she made a sixth dish when there were four lunch guests and herself.
Erin Patterson said her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, was not expected at the lunch. Photo / NewsWire
Mandy took Patterson to her Woolworths rewards data, which the barrister said showed the purchase of five twin packs of beef eye fillet steaks.
“I had five twin packs, I put two in the freezer, and I had six to make,” Patterson said.
“So I did that.”
She said she had enough ingredients to prepare a sixth dish, so she did, thinking she could eat it another day.
Simon Patterson’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and aunt, Heather Wilkinson, died after eating a meal at Erin Patterson’s home on July 29, 2023, in the country Victorian town of Leongatha.
Wilkinson’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, survived after spending about a month and a half in hospital.
Prosecutors allege Patterson deliberately poisoned the guests with death cap mushrooms, while her defence argues it was a tragic accident.
Jury sent home for the day
Jurors have been sent home for the day after they were told they’d reached the end of the evidence they would hear.
Shortly before 1pm, after Mandy completed his re-examination of Patterson, the jury was told the defence had now closed its case.
“Ladies and gentlemen, that’s the completion of the evidence in this case,” Justice Christopher Beale said.
Justice Beale told jurors he was now required to have discussions with the two parties in their absence, “and they could take a while”.
He sent the jury home for the day, suggesting they might not be required to attend court on Friday.
“If you can just check your phone this evening, we will let you know if you get a long weekend or to come in tomorrow,” Justice Beale said.
Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers and Detective Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall are involved in the ongoing mushroom trial. Photo / Getty Images
Defence clarifies Patterson’s evidence
Mandy took Patterson to evidence she’d given last week that she had a pre-surgery appointment booked at the Enrich Clinic in Melbourne for September 2023.
She told the jury she had decided to get gastric bypass surgery, and this was the medical issue she’d mentioned in messages to her husband before the fatal lunch.
On Tuesday, Rogers produced evidence that the clinic had never offered gastric bypass surgery.
Mandy produced a screenshot of a message on the Enrich Clinic’s website saying it would “no longer” be offering liposuction as of June 2024.
Patterson told the court that she had not had an appointment and believed they’d “offered a full range of weight-loss surgery”.
“I was obviously mistaken,” she said.
Prosecution asks three final questions
Shortly after 11.30am, Rogers remarked that the jury would be pleased that she had three final questions for Patterson after a week of cross-examination.
Rogers suggested that Patterson deliberately sourced death cap mushrooms, deliberately included them in the beef wellington and did so intending to kill her four guests.
Patterson responded “disagree” three times to each of the propositions.
“Your Honour, I have no further questions,” Rogers said.
Mandy rose to his feet, telling the court that he had about 30 minutes of re-examination for Patterson before asking for a half-hour break.
The jury then took a mid-morning break.
Erin Patterson's defence team worked to clarify her evidence about booking in at a clinic. Photo / Getty Images
Erin disputes children’s account of leftovers
In her evidence, Patterson said she scraped off the mushrooms and pastry of the lunch leftovers for her son and daughter and served herself a bowl of cereal because she wasn’t feeling well.
In her children’s evidence, both said Patterson had plated herself up some leftovers too.
Her daughter said Patterson “wasn’t very hungry” and her son ate his portion and the remainder of his mother’s.
Asked if her son and daughter were “wrong about what you prepared yourself for dinner that night”, Patterson agreed.
Alleged poisoner grilled on bush poo claim
Rogers took Patterson to evidence she gave last week about stopping to defacate on the side of the road, because of diarrhoea, while driving her son to a flying lesson in Tyabb.
Earlier in the trial, the jury was told Patterson drove her two children an hour and a half to Tyabb for the lesson on the afternoon of July 30, 2023, but it was cancelled shortly before they arrived and she turned around.
Patterson claimed she was suffering nausea and regular diarrhoea that day and stopped 30 minutes into the trip.
Rogers took Patterson to her son’s evidence, where he said that at no stage did his mother stop to use the toilet.
“I suggest he did not recall it because it did not happen?” Rogers asked.
“This is another lie you told to explain how you managed the trip to Tyabb?” the prosecutor continued.
“Disagree,” Patterson said.
Mushroom cook denies ‘wild goose chase’ claim
Facing questions from Rogers on Wednesday, Patterson denied she led health authorities on a “wild goose chase” as they probed the mushroom poisoning of her four lunch guests.
Giving evidence last week, Patterson maintained that she used dried mushrooms in the deadly lunch that she had bought from an Asian grocer in Melbourne’s east in about April 2023.
She told the court she initially planned to use them in a pasta dish but decided they would be too overpowering and stored them in a Tupperware container in her pantry.
