Erin Patterson murder trial LIVE: Accused mushroom cook to return to the witness box for seventh day
Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of day 30 of the murder trial of accused mushroom killer Erin Patterson at the Latrobe Valley law courts in Morwell as we delve into week seven of proceedings.
My name is Marta Pascual Juanola, and together with my colleague, court reporter Erin Pearson, we will bring you the latest information from inside courtroom four as it comes to hand throughout the day.
Patterson is accused of murdering her parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, as well as Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, by serving them a lunch of beef Wellington that contained death cap mushrooms at her home in Leongatha on July 29, 2023.
Heather's husband, Baptist pastor Ian Wilkinson, also attended the lunch and ate the meal, but survived after spending several weeks in the hospital, most of those in an induced coma.
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Erin Patterson's final words to the jury
The defence rested its case today after arguing a final point about the Enrich clinic where Erin Patterson claimed she was pursuing weight loss surgery in 2023. In today's episode Rachael Brown and Stephen Stockwell take you through the last of the prosecution's challenges and the defence's clarifications, before the jury was given an early mark. If you've got questions about the case that you'd like Rachael and Stocky to answer in future episodes, send them through to mushroomcasedaily@ - It's the case that's captured the attention of the world. Three people died and a fourth survived an induced coma after eating beef wellington at a family lunch, hosted by Erin Patterson. Police allege the beef wellington contained poisonous mushrooms, but Erin Patterson says she's innocent. Now, the accused triple murderer is fighting the charges in a regional Victorian courthouse. Investigative reporter Rachael Brown and producer Stephen Stockwell are on the ground, bringing you all the key moments from the trial as they unravel in court. From court recaps to behind-the-scenes murder trial explainers, the Mushroom Case Daily podcast is your eyes and ears inside the courtroom. Keep up to date with new episodes of Mushroom Case Daily, now releasing every day on the ABC listen app.
ABC News
2 hours ago
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Erin Patterson finishes marathon eight days in witness box
The cross-examination of alleged mushroom cook Erin Patterson has wrapped up in the Supreme Court. She continues to deny murdering three of her relatives in July 2023 using death cap mushrooms in a beef wellington meal.
ABC News
6 hours ago
- ABC News
Erin Patterson finishes giving evidence as mushroom murder trial enters final stages
Accused triple-murderer Erin Patterson has rejected a prosecution claim she carried out factory resets in a bid to deceive police about her mobile phones, as she came to the end of eight days in the witness box in her Supreme Court trial. Ms Patterson has been charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder after three relatives — her parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson — died from death cap mushroom poisoning following a lunch at her house on July 29, 2023. A fourth lunch guest, Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson, became gravely ill after the meal but survived. The trial of Erin Patterson, who stands accused of using a poisoned meal to murder three relatives, continues. Follow along with Thursday's hearing in our live blog. To stay up to date with this story, subscribe to ABC News. At the close of the prosecution's cross-examination, Ms Patterson reiterated her innocence of all four charges. In rapid fire, crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC put to Ms Patterson the crux of the charges: that she "deliberately sourced death cap mushrooms" and put them in the dish she served to her lunch guests "intending to kill them". "Agree or disagree?" Dr Rogers asked. "Disagree," Ms Patterson responded. The trial has now concluded hearing evidence and will move to closing arguments from the prosecution and defence, before the judge issues final instructions to the jury ahead of their deliberation. Over the course of the past six weeks of the murder trial, the prosecution has alleged Ms Patterson owned and used two phones with two separate SIM cards — Phone A and Phone B. Phone A was never recovered by police, but under cross-examination on Thursday Ms Patterson rejected prosecutors' assertion that that was because she had hidden the phone from police. Dr Rogers showed the court extensive phone records from a SIM card that was in Phone A up until August 5, 2023, a week after the lunch. The records indicated the phone was in regular use up until sometime between 12:01pm and 1:45pm, when the SIM card in Phone A lost connection with the network. At that time, police were conducting a search of Ms Patterson's Leongatha home. Dr Rogers put to Ms Patterson that she removed the SIM card from Phone A when she was "afforded privacy to speak with a lawyer while police were at your home". Ms Patterson disagreed and said her calls to a lawyer occurred at 2pm, after the alleged loss of connection. Ms Patterson also rejected a claim from prosecutors that the reason she had conducted three factory resets on Phone B was so she could deceive police and "pass [it] off" as her regular phone. When police executed a search warrant on Ms Patterson's home on August 5, a week after the deadly lunch, it was Phone B that she gave to police. The prosecution suggested she did so as she knew there was no data on the phone to potentially incriminate her, which Ms Patterson denied. Dr Rogers took Ms Patterson to records of three factory resets made on Phone B. Ms Patterson had previously told the court of the following reasons for factory resetting the phone on these dates in 2023: On Thursday, Dr Rogers suggested to Ms Patterson she had carried out those resets for another reason. "I suggest that you did three factory resets of this phone, Phone B ... to conceal the true contents of Phone B ... so you could then pass off Phone B as your usual mobile phone, without police realising," Dr Rogers says. Ms Patterson agreed she carried out the three resets, but disagreed that she did for the reasons Dr Rogers suggested. Dr Rogers went on to assert that it was "all about hiding the contents of your usual mobile phone, Phone A", which she asserted Ms Patterson had "deliberately concealed" because she knew the data on that device would "incriminate" her. Ms Patterson rejected this assertion too. Throughout several days of cross-examination, Ms Patterson's voice largely remained level as she answered prosecutors' questions. But during re-examination by her barrister, Colin Mandy SC, her voice became choked when asked about the need for her to pack her daughter's bag for a ballet rehearsal on the Monday after the lunch. The prosecution asserted this was in fact never required, but Ms Patterson reaffirmed under re-examination that it was. Ms Patterson's voice again cracked when discussing her son's flying lesson, explaining she did not cancel it following the lunch as he was "really passionate" about flying and "I just didn't want to disappoint him". The defence also asked about contradictions that arose during Ms Patterson's cross-examination, such as her claim she had had an appointment in September 2023 to explore gastric-bypass surgery at a Melbourne clinic that did not in fact offer it. Ms Patterson told the court that in 2023, she had believed the clinic offered gastric-band surgery, but on Thursday said she was "obviously mistaken". She told the court she had also intended to explore liposuction options. Mr Mandy then asked Ms Patterson about the sixth beef Wellington she cooked, which the prosecution has alleged was prepared in case her estranged husband attended the lunch and she could poison him as well. Ms Patterson told the court she simply had an extra steak because of the way the eye fillets she bought were packaged. "I had five twin packs, I put two of the twin packs in the freezer and just decided to use the other six, I had enough ingredients ... so I did that," she said. The trial continues.
