Erin Patterson was found guilty of murdering her mother-in-law Gail Patterson and two others, as well as one count of attempted murder. Photo / Supreme Court of Victoria
Erin Patterson was found guilty of murdering her mother-in-law Gail Patterson and two others, as well as one count of attempted murder. Photo / Supreme Court of Victoria
Erin Patterson’s mother-in-law repeatedly questioned “Why?” and mentioned her vomit had a strong taste of mushrooms after she was rushed to hospital.
Details of the comments were not aired during Patterson’s trial and can only be made public after a suppression order barring media from publishing details of the trialjudge’s pre-trial rulings was lifted.
On July 7 this year, Patterson was found guilty of murdering her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, Gail’s husband Don Patterson and her sister Heather Wilkinson, and the attempted murder of Heather Wilkinson’s husband Ian Wilkinson.
Erin Patterson had pleaded not guilty and maintained she did not intentionally poison anyone with a beef wellington lunch that contained death cap mushrooms.
Prosecutors had sought to lead hearsay evidence, or testimony about what another person said, from Gail Patterson’s daughter Anna Terrington about her conversations with her mother when she was admitted into hospital after the deadly meal on July 29, 2023.
Terrington told police that she sat with her mother overnight the next day, July 30, after Patterson had been moved to Dandenong Hospital.
On July 7 this year, Erin Patterson was found guilty of three murders and one attempted murder.
She said she was present as doctors told both her parents they suspected mushroom poisoning and would be undertaking toxicological testing.
Terrington also noted that she was approached by a doctor at one point, in the presence of her mother, who asked her if she believed her brother Simon Patterson had previously been poisoned.
Terrington told the doctor that she did, based on what her brother had previously said.
In her police statement, Terrington said her mother was “awake and conscious” throughout the night, and she helped her to the bathroom several times.
Gail Patterson repeatedly asked "Why?" and mentioned a strong mushroom taste after being hospitalised.
“She was in intense pain with diarrhoea and exhausted. Whilst she was experiencing the pain, she was saying ‘why?’ on repeat,” Terrington said.
“Also, during the night, Mum had told me that when she had been vomiting earlier, there was a strong taste of mushroom in her mouth and it was strange.”
Just a day later, on Monday, July 31, Gail Patterson was moved with her husband to the Austin Hospital in Melbourne, where the pair were placed on life support in an induced coma.
She died in hospital on August 5.
During pre-trial hearings, prosecutors argued Gail Patterson’s comments indicated how much pain she was in and provided a point of comparison to Erin Patterson’s claimed illness.
But Erin Patterson’s defence argued the comments were irrelevant to the trial and could lead to unfair prejudice.
In his ruling, Justice Christopher Beale found the meaning of Gail Patterson repeatedly questioning “why” was a matter of speculation.
“As such, it does not rationally make an ultimate fact in issue more probable and is inadmissible,” he wrote.
Similarly, he found Gail Patterson’s comment about the strange, strong taste of mushroom was also irrelevant and inadmissible at Erin Patterson’s trial.
Erin Patterson will return to court on August 25 for a pre-sentence hearing.
