Expert kept leftovers in home fridge after testing beef Wellington meal, court told
A fungi expert from Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens has told Erin Patterson's murder trial that she kept the leftovers from a beef Wellington meal linked to the illness of four people in her refrigerator at home after testing the food for toxic mushrooms.
Mycologist Camille Truong told the Supreme Court in Morwell that she had been working at the Royal Botanic Gardens when she received a call to help identify mushrooms in the leftovers.
On July 31, 2023, Truong said she received an email from toxicologist Laura Muldoon at Monash Health but was unable to identify the type of mushroom from the pictures, which were also shown to the jury.
'Usually with toxicologists when we discuss the case we ask several questions that can help us identify the mushroom based on where it was found. So I asked her if she knew what the source of the mushroom was, where it was found. If the person who cooked it remembers the colour before it was cooked.
'I then told her that based on this photograph I wouldn't be able to give her an identification.
'[Muldoon] said they had been bought from a supermarket. And a Chinese shop, I believe.
'I did indicate to her if the mushrooms were coming from a shop or supermarket, it's ... impossible to be death cap mushrooms as they only grow in the wild.'
Through a misunderstanding, the court heard that Truong had left work early for the day before receiving a message from a receptionist telling her that a parcel of leftovers had arrived for her at her office.
She then asked a colleague to drop the leftovers at her home.
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Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
As lunch guests sickened, mushroom cook fed her children leftovers, she maintains
She shook her head and denied suggestions that she had cooked individual pastry parcels in an attempt to ensure death cap mushrooms were baked only into her lunch guests' portions and not her own. 'I suggest your only plan for the beef Wellington was to ensure the death cap mushrooms were added?' Rogers asked. 'Incorrect,' Erin Patterson responded. On Wednesday, during her seventh day in the witness box, the accused triple-murderer issued denial after denial – she said she hadn't lied to investigators about what was in the meal as the lunch guests were seriously unwell, and said she hadn't later sent the state's health department on a wild goose chase to find dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer that prosecutors say never existed. She also explained to the prosecution why she had purchased more than double the amount of mushrooms called for in the beef Wellington recipe – and what she did with the additional. The Supreme Court heard the beef Wellington recipe called for 700 grams of sliced mushrooms, but shopping records show Patterson purchased about 1.75 kilograms in the lead-up to the lunch. She says she used 750 grams to make 'special' individual parcels for her lunch guests, adding mushrooms from her pantry that she'd purchased from an Asian grocer. The remaining kilogram, she told a jury, she ate herself over four days before the July 29, 2023 gathering. 'I suggest that is an untruth?' Rogers asked. 'I disagree,' the accused replied. Wearing a pink shirt and black pants, the accused woman did agree that the first time she had mentioned using dried mushrooms in the lunch was during a phone call with her brother-in-law, Matthew Patterson, on July 31, 2023, when he was visiting his father at Dandenong Hospital. At this point, Erin Patterson agreed, a toxicologist there asked the family where the mushrooms in the meal might have come from. 'You knew how important it was to be truthful and accurate?' Rogers asked. 'Yeah, I did,' the accused replied. 'I suggest you knew Don's health was at stake in this phone call with Matthew Patterson?' Rogers asked. 'Yeah I knew the treatment of him was important and the information about the food was important,' Erin Patterson said. Rogers suggested Erin Patterson's employment history working for Monash City Council meant she should have been familiar with the area and could have assisted health authorities to identify the Asian grocer where she said she'd bought dried mushrooms she'd used in the beef Wellington lunch. 'I suggest you were deliberately vague with suburb? That Asian grocer story was a deliberate lie?' Rogers asked. 'Incorrect,' the accused replied to both questions. 'Your story kept changing, I suggest?' Rogers asked. 'I don't think it did,' Patterson replied. During her testimony on Wednesday, Erin Patterson maintained she had never travelled to the areas of Loch and Outtrim to deliberately seek out death cap mushrooms. She was also asked about her medical records and a new statement handed to her today relating to Enrich Clinic, where the court earlier heard Patterson said she had scheduled a pre-operative appointment to get gastric band or bypass-related surgery. But Patterson agreed on Wednesday the clinic, formerly located in Armadale and now South Yarra, does not and has never offered that type of weight-loss surgery or preoperative appointments for it. She accepted Enrich only conducts examinations and procedures relating to skin, hair and nails. When taken through her medical records, Patterson also agreed there was no reference to being referred for gastric-bypass surgery. Patterson is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, by serving them death cap mushrooms in a beef Wellington lunch at her Leongatha home on July 29, 2023. Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson died in the days after the meal from the effects of mushroom poisoning. Heather's husband, Ian, also ate the lunch, but survived after weeks in hospital. Patterson has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one of attempted murder in the Supreme Court at Morwell.
The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
As lunch guests sickened, mushroom cook fed her children leftovers, she maintains
She shook her head and denied suggestions that she had cooked individual pastry parcels in an attempt to ensure death cap mushrooms were baked only into her lunch guests' portions and not her own. 'I suggest your only plan for the beef Wellington was to ensure the death cap mushrooms were added?' Rogers asked. 'Incorrect,' Erin Patterson responded. On Wednesday, during her seventh day in the witness box, the accused triple-murderer issued denial after denial – she said she hadn't lied to investigators about what was in the meal as the lunch guests were seriously unwell, and said she hadn't later sent the state's health department on a wild goose chase to find dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer that prosecutors say never existed. She also explained to the prosecution why she had purchased more than double the amount of mushrooms called for in the beef Wellington recipe – and what she did with the additional. The Supreme Court heard the beef Wellington recipe called for 700 grams of sliced mushrooms, but shopping records show Patterson purchased about 1.75 kilograms in the lead-up to the lunch. She says she used 750 grams to make 'special' individual parcels for her lunch guests, adding mushrooms from her pantry that she'd purchased from an Asian grocer. The remaining kilogram, she told a jury, she ate herself over four days before the July 29, 2023 gathering. 'I suggest that is an untruth?' Rogers asked. 'I disagree,' the accused replied. Wearing a pink shirt and black pants, the accused woman did agree that the first time she had mentioned using dried mushrooms in the lunch was during a phone call with her brother-in-law, Matthew Patterson, on July 31, 2023, when he was visiting his father at Dandenong Hospital. At this point, Erin Patterson agreed, a toxicologist there asked the family where the mushrooms in the meal might have come from. 'You knew how important it was to be truthful and accurate?' Rogers asked. 'Yeah, I did,' the accused replied. 'I suggest you knew Don's health was at stake in this phone call with Matthew Patterson?' Rogers asked. 'Yeah I knew the treatment of him was important and the information about the food was important,' Erin Patterson said. Rogers suggested Erin Patterson's employment history working for Monash City Council meant she should have been familiar with the area and could have assisted health authorities to identify the Asian grocer where she said she'd bought dried mushrooms she'd used in the beef Wellington lunch. 'I suggest you were deliberately vague with suburb? That Asian grocer story was a deliberate lie?' Rogers asked. 'Incorrect,' the accused replied to both questions. 'Your story kept changing, I suggest?' Rogers asked. 'I don't think it did,' Patterson replied. During her testimony on Wednesday, Erin Patterson maintained she had never travelled to the areas of Loch and Outtrim to deliberately seek out death cap mushrooms. She was also asked about her medical records and a new statement handed to her today relating to Enrich Clinic, where the court earlier heard Patterson said she had scheduled a pre-operative appointment to get gastric band or bypass-related surgery. But Patterson agreed on Wednesday the clinic, formerly located in Armadale and now South Yarra, does not and has never offered that type of weight-loss surgery or preoperative appointments for it. She accepted Enrich only conducts examinations and procedures relating to skin, hair and nails. When taken through her medical records, Patterson also agreed there was no reference to being referred for gastric-bypass surgery. Patterson is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, by serving them death cap mushrooms in a beef Wellington lunch at her Leongatha home on July 29, 2023. Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson died in the days after the meal from the effects of mushroom poisoning. Heather's husband, Ian, also ate the lunch, but survived after weeks in hospital. Patterson has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one of attempted murder in the Supreme Court at Morwell.
ABC News
3 hours ago
- ABC News
Inquest into suspected murder of Leisl Smith told sightings were 'red herrings'
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following article contains the name and image of a woman who has died. The family has given permission to use the image and the name. An inquest into the disappearance of a New South Wales woman has heard there have been unconfirmed sightings of her since her alleged killer was found dead before a verdict was reached in his 2022 trial. It has been 13 years since Leisl Smith disappeared at the age of 23. Her car was found abandoned at Tuggerah railway station on the Central Coast in August 2012 and she CCTV footage showed her getting into a white ute that then drove away. Ms Smith's body has never been found but is believed to be buried in bushland in the Upper Hunter Valley. James Scott Church pleaded not guilty to her murder and stood trial before Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Fullerton in 2022. The trial heard Ms Smith had told Mr Church she was pregnant with his child. The court was told he wanted to pursue another woman. A day before verdict the 51-year-old took his own life. As a result Justice Fullerton said she was bound by law to seal her judgement. This week an inquest is being held before Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame into Ms Smith's suspected death. On Wednesday family members were given the chance to deliver statements paying tribute to Ms Smith. Her mother, Sandi Harvey, read out a poem in court. "My heart aches, my tears flow, friends support me, I say, 'why did you go?'" Ms Harvey recited. "Your future was taken, all too fast, and now we all wait for the dye to be cast." Ms Smith's sister, Jerildine Cane, said the lack of a verdict added to her grief. "It has repeatedly crossed my mind what she felt, how terrified she must have been," Ms Cane said. Mick Jones, the police officer in charge of the investigation, told the inquest that searches on the Central Coast and in the Hunter had returned no sign of Ms Smith. He told the inquest Ms Smith's bank account had not been touched. But Detective Sergeant Jones told counsel assisting, Gabrielle Bashir SC, that Crime Stoppers had received reports of several suspected sightings. "Have there been any more reported sightings of Leisl since the trial and have they been investigated?" Ms Bashir asked. "Yes, they have to a degree," he said. "There were a couple of sightings and they came through the form on Crime Stoppers. But Sergeant Jones said the information led nowhere. "Unfortunately we can't investigate something like that," he said. "The information came in as anonymous, so we have no way of testing the veracity of that." Sergeant Jones said the descriptions "were very, very general" and "red herrings". Sergeant Jones told the inquest he had no doubt Ms Smith was dead. "I believe Jim Church collected Leisl and took her up into an area which I believe is in the Goulburn River National Park," he said. The inquest heard about a second person of interest, Craig Elkin, who Ms Smith had reconnected with after his stint in jail, a month before she vanished. Ms Bashir SC said Mr Elkin was subject to an apprehended violence order (AVO) relating to Ms Smith. "He had been arrested on drug-supply charges and a breach [of] AVO related to Leisl," she said. Ms Bashir then went through dozens of telephone and SMS messages sent by Ms Smith to Mr Elkin. Sergeant Jones said she was "a prolific communicator on the phone". He said based on the evidence available Mr Elkin had been ruled out as a potential killer. Mr Elkin's body was found in the Hunter River in 2015. Police did not treat his death as suspicious.
