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Erin Patterson’s trial heard she used dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer in a beef Wellington.
Prosecutors allege she deliberately poisoned her in-laws with death cap mushrooms; Patterson claims it was accidental.
Toxicologist Dimitri Gerostamoulos confirmed death cap toxins were found in Don Patterson’s urine sample.
A juror has been discharged from Erin Patterson’s triple-murder trial.
Patterson, 50, is facing trial after pleading not guilty to the murder of three of her estranged husband’s relatives and attempting to kill one more on July 29, 2023.
Prosecutors alleged she deliberately spiked a beef wellington lunch with death cap mushrooms, while Patterson’s defence say it was unintentional and a “tragic accident”.
About 11am on Thursday morning (local time), Justice Christopher Beale brought the remaining 14 members into the courtroom as he told them one of their numbers had been discharged.
Erin Patterson, 50, is facing trial after pleading not guilty to the murder of three of her estranged husband’s relatives and attempting to kill one more on July 29, 2023.
The judge told jurors he’d received information the juror had discussed the case with friends and family contrary to directions given to jurors at the start of the trial.
He said he formed the view the information was “credible”, but did not make a positive finding that the juror did discuss the case, only that there was a reasonable possibility it occurred.
“I remind you to only discuss the case with your fellow jurors, not anyone else,” he said.
“On that unhappy note, we’re now ready to resume the trial.”
Called to give evidence on Thursday afternoon, Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine’s head of forensic sciences and chief toxicologist Dimitri Gerostamoulos told the jury alpha-amanitin and beta-amanitin toxins were detected in the leftovers.
Gerostamoulos said the institute tested meat, pastry and mushroom paste samples from beef Wellington located in Patterson’s bin after the lunch.
In three of four mushroom paste samples no alpha-amanitin or beta-amanitin toxins were found, but in one sample it detected beta-amanitin.
Beta-amanitin toxins were also detected in one meat sample, he said.
In supplied samples of “vegetable matter” located in a dehydrator, Gerostamoulos said alpha-amanitin and beta-amanitin toxins were detected.
Questioned by Justice Christopher Beale on whether those toxins were “exclusively” found in death cap mushrooms, Gerostamoulos said “yes”.
Patterson, 50, is facing trial after pleading not guilty to the murder of three of her estranged husband’s relatives and attempting to kill one more on July 29, 2023.
Prosecutors alleged she deliberately spiked a beef Wellington lunch with death cap mushrooms, while Patterson’s defence says it was unintentional and a “tragic accident”.
Gerostamoulos will face cross-examination when the trial resumes on Friday morning.
‘Nice flavour’: Mushroom cook’s alleged claim
On Thursday morning, child protection worker Katrina Cripps was called to give evidence, telling the jury she interviewed Patterson on August 1 while she was still in hospital.
Patterson described the mushrooms as coming in a bag that was not resealable and had a white label, Cripps said.
She told the court that Patterson claimed she had previously opened the packet, planning to use the mushrooms a few months earlier but decided not to and stored them in a Tupperware container.
“She was going to use them in a carbonara but they had a very strong smell,” Cripps said she was told.
Of the lunch, Cripps said Patterson told her the guests chose their own plates, with the accused woman taking “the one that was left” and saving two plates for her children.
She said she was told Ian and Heather Wilkinson ate a full serve, Don Patterson ate his serve and half of his wife Gail’s, while Patterson ate a half portion.
Later, Cripps confirmed Patterson had told her she consumed “half” her beef Wellington.
“She talked about feeling he was at times controlling and emotionally abusive… would say things that made her doubt herself as a mother,” she said.
“But she did say they had a good relationship until recently.”
She told the jury Patterson said Simon’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, were “like the parents she never had” but their relationship had also changed.
“She felt he was isolating her from the family,” she said.
Cripps said Patterson told her she did not have a support network outside her husband’s family and “became upset” at the prospect of losing this following the lunch.
Cripps told the court Patterson said she started to feel unwell the evening after the lunch, with “loose bowel movements”.
She said the accused woman told her she dropped her son’s friend home and stopped at a supermarket on the way home but remained in the car hoping the seat would “act as a cork”.
Cripps was questioned by Justice Beale whether “cork” was Patterson’s word, responding “yes”.
Forensic scientist called to give evidence
Gerostamoulos also gave further evidence that death cap mushrooms primarily contained three toxins, called alpha-amanitin, beta-amanitin and gamma-amanitin.
“They’re quite toxic in terms of the potency,” he said.
“They progressively get worse, if the toxin isn’t removed they progress to tissue necrosis, organ failure and can lead to death.”
Called to give evidence at the trial on Wednesday, intensive care specialist and Flinders University professor Dr Andrew Bersten said Patterson’s medical records were “consistent” with her having suffered a diarrhoeal illness.
The jury was told Patterson checked herself into Leongatha Hospital on July 31, complaining of abdominal cramps, nausea and diarrhoea since the evening of the lunch.
Later the same day she was transferred to Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne where she spent 21.5 hours before being discharged.
Bersten confirmed the notes indicated she was discharged on August 1 with no evidence of poisoning from death cap mushrooms or any other toxic substance.
Three of her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, died within a day of each other in early August from multiple organ failure due to clinically diagnosed amanita mushroom poisoning.
Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson gradually recovered and he was discharged into the rehabilitation ward on September 11.
At the start of the trial, Patterson’s barrister, Colin Mandy, SC, told the jury that his client did not dispute her guests were poisoned with death cap mushrooms but that she did not deliberately poison anyone.
“The defence case is that she didn’t intend to cause anyone any harm on that day,” he said. “The defence case is that what happened was a tragedy and a terrible accident.”
