The brother of one of Erin Patterson’s victims questioned if “evil” could be at play after the fateful beef wellington lunch left four people in hospital, before all but one died.
Gail and Don Patterson were killed, with Heather Wilkinson after the lunch at Erin Patterson’s home, while Ian, Heather’s husband, survived.
Patterson, 50, was found guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder last month relating to the lunch she hosted in the county Victorian town of Leongatha more than two years ago.
She is facing a two-day plea hearing where relatives of her victims are facing her for the first time since the conviction.
Among the 28 statements given to the court was one from Donald’s brother Colin. It was read by his daughter.
In it, he said a diary note from July 30, 2023, captured his fears from the day after the lunch.
“Don and Gail are in hospital after a lunch at Erin’s; coincidence or is there evil at play here?” the diary entry read.
Colin described Patterson as the author of the carefully calculated and executed demise of his loved ones.
“I only heard of Don’s passing the next day and wrote that I felt at ease… I wonder if something is broken in me,” he said.
“I find it difficult to comprehend this new world.
“There was a strange sense of peace that came when I learned my worst fears had come to pass.”
Colin said he was left asking why Patterson had turned her hidden wrath towards these selfless people.
Court is now breaking until 2.15pm when the Corrections officer will give evidence.
Erin Patterson is removed from the dock at 11.20am and leaves the court.
Patterson has been handcuffed and returned to the cells on the second level of the building.
The final victim impact statement read to the court came from Patterson’s husband, Simon Patterson.
Simon is not present in court and the short statement is being read by a relative.
In his statement, Simon wrote that he missed his parents and aunt “more than words can express” but was grateful to know they were with God.
Simon said each was physically fit and healthy, noting that if their parents’ lifespans were an indication, they would have lived to 100.
He tells the court he will spend the next three decades aware they would still be alive “had Erin not decided to murder them”.
“Praise God that at least Ian miraculously survived.”
Simon said he was grateful for the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Don, Gail and Heather’s faith.
Patterson’s husband then turns to the impact felt by the two children they share.
He said their lives have been damaged by her crimes, saying that although they lived with him full time, the “grim reality” is that their family is broken.
“They have also been robbed of hope for the kind of relationship with their mother that every child naturally has,” he said.
“The grim reality is they live in an irreparably broken home with a solo parent when almost everybody knows their mother murdered their grandparents.”
Simon then urged the public to leave their family alone to heal, noting there had been some “deplorable behaviour” from members of the media.
He said he’d been filmed in public and had “strangers brandishing notebooks” banging on his home window.
A statement from Donald Patterson’s younger brother, Colin Patterson, was read to the court by his daughter.
He said a diary note from July 30, 2023, captured his fears from the day after the lunch.
“Don and Gail are in hospital after a lunch at Erin’s; coincidence or is there evil at play here?” the diary entry read.
Colin described Patterson as the author of the carefully calculated and executed demise of his loved ones.
“I only heard of Don’s passing the next day and wrote that I felt at ease… I wonder if something is broken in me,” he said.
“I find it difficult to comprehend this new world.
“There was a strange sense of peace that came when I learned my worst fears had come to pass.”
Colin said he was left asking why Patterson had turned her hidden wrath towards these selfless people.
A notable absence from Patterson’s plea hearing is her estranged husband Simon Patterson.
Previously the court was told the pair remain married, however, Simon feared his wife had poisoned him on several occasions in the lead-up to the lunch.
Simon is not present in court alongside his family members.
Tim Patterson, the nephew of Don and Gail and Simon’s cousin, described the death of family members as a “nightmare that became real”.
He questioned how one could measure what is a deep sense of loss.
“What I do know is the week following was the worst of my life,” he said.
“Why would God choose such a violent end for those who gave their lives to him?”
Heather Wilkinson and Gail Patterson’s sister Lynette Young’s statement was read to the court by Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC.
Rogers said Lynette wrote that their father suffered after the lunch.
“... knowing two of his daughters had been poisoned, then his son-in-law, Don died, Dad was watching and waiting as Ian struggled for his life,” she said.
Ian and Heather Wilkinson’s daughter, Ruth Dubois was second to deliver a victim impact statement to the court.
She said the murders had “changed every part of my life”.
“It’s difficult to comprehend how someone could spend months planning this out… but instead at every step of the way she chose to follow through,” Dubois said.
“I’m horrified that our family is even associated, through no fault of our own, with such destructive behaviour towards the community.”
Dubois said her children had been forced to witness first-hand how cruel and unkind the world can be.
“As a mother I could never understand how you willingly chose this for your children,” she said.
Ian Wilkinson has turned to the impact of Patterson’s actions, labelling her efforts a “callous and calculated disregard for my life and those I love”.
“What foolishness thinks murder a solution to their problems,” he said.
The pastor said he offered Patterson forgiveness to the crimes done “to me”.
“In regard to the many harms done to me I make an offer of forgiveness to Erin,” he said.
“I have no power or responsibility to forgive harms done to others… In regard to the murders of Heather, Don and Gail, I am compelled to seek justice.”
Wilkinson said he prayed Patterson would use her time in jail to become a better person.
“No longer am I a victim of Erin Patterson, now she is a victim of my kindness,” he ended.
Korumburra Baptist Church pastor and lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson begins his victim impact statement by detailing his relationship with Heather Wilkinson.
On several occasions his voice began to falter as he stood at the bar table speaking.
Heather was described as “compassionate, brave and witty”, Ian Wilkinson also saying the biggest impact for him was her untimely death.
“It’s a truly horrible thought to live with that someone would decide to take her life – I only feel half alive without her,” he said.
“So much attention is showered on those who do evil and so little on those who do good.”
Ian describes Heather as a wonderful wife, with whom he spent 44 years.
“Heather was always supportive and encouraging to me, she was wise and had skills that made up for my shortcomings,” he said.
“Heather was a great mother to our four children, we decided together she would be a stay-at-home mum.
“I think that the way our children conducted themselves through the crisis of our illness and the subsequent legal proceedings was testament to her mothering skills.”
Justice Beale raises that a video link has been scheduled for 2.15pm.
He says Hoskins, from Corrections, will give evidence on Patterson’s incarceration.
All rise in the courtroom as Justice Christopher Beale enters the courtroom shortly after 10.30am and the matter is called on for hearing.
Patterson is asked to stand as His Honour’s associate takes her particulars; her date of birth, her age, her last occupation and her last known address.
Crown prosecutor Nannette Rogers SC then flags there is an admissibility issue to raise for the victim impact statement of Ian Wilkinson’s daughter Ruth Dubois.
The court is told the first stage would be the reading of seven victim impact statements, beginning with Ian Wilkinson.
Led by two custody officers, Patterson entered the large wood-panelled and pink-walled courtroom 4 about 10.25am.
About 15 minutes earlier, the court opened to members of the Patterson and Wilkinson family, media, police and the general public.
There are about 100 people filling up benches across the two levels of the public gallery.
Patterson wore a paisley top over black pants, pausing briefly as her friend Alison Rose Prior stood to greet her.
The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10.30am.
Her junior barrister Sophie Stafford approached for a brief whispered discussion with Patterson.
At the hearing, lawyers from the prosecution and defence will make submissions they want the judge to consider when deciding Patterson’s sentence.
It will also give members of her victims’ families the opportunity to deliver statements outlining the impact of her crimes.
Earlier this month, prosecutor Jane Warren flagged that it was expected two days would be needed for the hearing because much of the first day would be spent hearing “a lot” of victim impact statements.
These would likely include Patterson’s husband, Simon Patterson, and lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson.
Following a trial that spanned 11 weeks, a jury found Patterson guilty on three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder on July 7.
The charges related to a lunch she hosted with Simon’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian on July 29, 2023.
Patterson also invited Simon, however, he pulled out of the lunch the night before because he feared she had poisoned him previously.
Allegations of attempted murder relating to Simon’s unexplained illnesses in the year before the lunch were withdrawn by prosecutors before the trial.
The trial was told the lunch was out of the ordinary for Patterson, with the killer cook lying to her guests that the reason for the meal was to ask for advice about a non-existent cancer diagnosis.
Hours after the lunch, each of the guests fell ill with vomiting and diarrhoea and they were rushed to hospital the following morning.
Heather and Gail died on August 4, Don died on August 5, while Ian survived after spending about a month and a half in hospital.
At trial, prosecutors argued Patterson deliberately sought out and picked death cap mushrooms for the lunch and feigned her own symptoms.
Her defence, on the other hand, maintained she did not deliberately poison anyone, labelling the case a horrible foraging accident.
Her barrister, Colin Mandy SC, has indicated she intends to appeal.
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