Erin Patterson says she didn't deliberately source death caps and serve to guests as murder trial evidence concludes

The Guardian

a day ago

Erin Patterson has finished giving evidence in her triple murder trial, bringing an end to eight days of testimony in the Victorian supreme court.
Patterson answered 'disagree' to three final questions from prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC on Thursday morning: that she deliberately sourced death caps in 2023, included them in beef wellingtons served to her lunch guests, and intended to kill them when she did so.
After Patterson disagreed with all three suggestions, Rogers said 'I have no further questions'.
Her evidence concluded soon after when Patterson was re-examined by her lawyer Colin Mandy SC.
Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to poisoning four lunch guests with beef wellington served at her house in Leongatha, Victoria, on 29 July 2023.
She has pleaded not guilty to murdering her estranged husband Simon Patterson's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt Heather Wilkinson, and attempting to murder Ian Wilkinson, Simon's uncle and Heather's husband.
Earlier on Thursday, Patterson said her children were mistaken when they told police in separate interviews that she also ate leftovers of beef wellington the night after the lunch.
Rogers took Patterson to transcripts of her children's interviews with police where they were asked about what she ate for dinner on 30 July.
Patterson had told the court the children ate leftovers of the beef wellington, with the mushrooms and pastry scraped off, and she had a bowl of cereal, but did not eat much of it.
Her children told police she also served herself leftovers of the lunch.
'Do you say [your daughter] is wrong about what you prepared yourself for dinner on the Sunday night?'
'She is,' Patterson responded.
Later, Rogers asked: 'do you say that [your son] is incorrect about what you prepared for dinner on the Sunday night?'
'Yes, he is,' Patterson answered.
Rogers suggested to Patterson that evidence she gave earlier this week about having used her dehydrator to increase the crispness of dried mushrooms she bought from an Asian grocer was 'another lie that you've made up on the spot', given she had not told health authorities about this in the weeks after the lunch, nor mentioned it during the first part of her evidence when questioned by Mandy.
'I suggest that you're hedging your bets, trying to make it seem like there are multiple possible sources for the death cap mushrooms,' Rogers said.
'Incorrect,' Patterson responded.
Patterson also denied that she used a Samsung phone, referred to as phone A during the proceedings, to look up posts about the location of death cap mushrooms on the site iNaturalist.
Patterson denies ever seeing the posts, which related to sightings of the mushrooms in the towns of Outtrim and Loch in May and April, 2023.
It is the prosecution case that Patterson saw the posts, and used this information to travel to the towns and source the mushrooms used in the beef wellingtons.
The phone, which Patterson agreed was the device she used predominantly in the months before the lunch, has never been recovered by police.
'I suggest it's because you deliberately concealed this phone from police,' Rogers said.
'Disagree,' Patterson answered.
During re-examination by Mandy, Patterson agreed she had been mistaken in thinking a clinic that she had booked an appointment for in September 2023 offer gastric bypass surgery, as she had previously told the jury.
But it had offered liposuction at the time she made the appointment, the court heard.
Patterson told the court earlier in her evidence that she had been embarrassed about planned weight loss surgery, and what she described as a pre-assessment for a planned gastric bypass, at the time of the lunch.
Mandy also asked Patterson why she said she disagreed with a suggestion that she was 'very familiar' with the Melbourne suburb Glen Waverley, as she had said under questioning from Rogers earlier this week about the possible source for the dried mushrooms bought from an Asian grocer.
Patterson said her answer was based on the fact her familiarity with the suburb came from working there in the early 2000s, and from occasionally shopping there, but 'I may have been being pedantic, I do do that'.
She also said that she accepted it was most likely her that accessed the iNaturalist website, as shown in data extractions taken from devices seized from her house, after earlier saying in her evidence it was possible either of her children had visited the site.
The extract showed a short visit to an iNaturalist page listing the locations of all death cap mushroom sightings globally.
Patterson became emotional when answering questions about her son and daughter, and about flying and ballet lessons they had proximate to the lunch.
Soon after answering, she was excused, and Justice Christopher Beale told the jury the evidence in the case had concluded.
Legal discussions were expected to occur for the remainder of Thursday, and possibly into Friday.
The trial continues.