Erin Patterson mushroom trial: Accused triple murderer faces Supreme Court hearing in Morwell

Perth Now

5 hours ago

Welcome to 7NEWS.com.au's live blog of the Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial.
Here is a recap of what the court has heard so far from the trial:
WEEK 1
Day one: It was revealed that three charges of attempted murder against Patterson in relation to her estranged husband had been dropped by the prosecution.
Day two: The prosecution and defence gave their opening addresses to the jury.
The court heard the prosecution will allege Patterson used a fake cancer diagnosis as the pretense for hosting the lunch, that the guests were served on different coloured plates to her, and she travelled to areas where death cap mushrooms were sighted in early 2023.
The prosecution will also allege Patterson dumped a food dehydrator – which was found to contain traces of death cap mushrooms – at a local tip in the days after the lunch, and that she set up two phones in early 2023 but only one was recovered by police during a search of her home.
The defence will argue the deaths were an 'accidental terrible tragedy' and Patterson did not intentionally poison her guests.
The defence say Patterson lied to police because she 'panicked'.
Day three: Erin Patterson's estranged husband, Simon, took the stand as the prosecution's first witness. The court heard about the former couple's relationship, Patterson's inheritance, and were shown texts the pair exchanged about the lunch and child support.
Day four: Simon Patterson returned to the stand for cross-examination. He became emotional as he described the court process as 'very difficult'. The court heard Patterson suffered from mental illness, that she was 'very hurt' after an 'afterthought invite' to Gail's birthday party, and was shown more heated texts about child support payments.
WEEK 2
Day five: Three friends Patterson made in a true crime Facebook group took the stand. They said Patterson shared photos of her food dehydrator online and that she consulted the group for advice on beef wellington recipes around July 2023.
Day six: Ian Wilkinson, who was the only guest to survive the lunch, took the witness stand. He described his relationship with Patterson, what happened at the lunch, and the symptoms he and his late wife, Heather, later suffered.
Day seven: The court heard evidence from the children of the four lunch guests as well as doctors who oversaw the two couple's treatment. Don and Gail Patterson's daughter, Anna Terrington, became emotional on the stand while recalling conversations with her parents about the lunch. The court was also shown CCTV of Patterson leaving the hospital against medical staff's advice and heard a triple 0 call a doctor made to police after she discharged herself.
Day eight: The court heard from nurses and paramedics who tended to Patterson at hospital. They said she did not seem 'unwell' and that they did not witness her making frequent trips to the toilet, despite her reportedly suffering from diarrhoea. The court also saw a pre-recorded interview of Patterson's daughter speaking to a detective in August 2023 Her daughter told the officer her mother was sick the day after the lunch and she saw her go to the toilet around 'ten times'.
Day nine: The court was shown a pre-recorded interview of Patterson's son speaking to a detective. During the conversation, the teenage boy spoke about disputes between his parents and said his mother reported having diarrhoea after the lunch.
WEEK 3
Day 10: The court heard evidence from a mushroom expert, mycologist Thomas May, who provided information about the growth and distribution of death cap mushrooms in Australia. The court heard that he shared photos of death cap mushrooms on iNaturalist, a website where citizen scientists share observations of wild mushrooms, in May 2023. His observation was made in Outtrim, in Victoria's Gippsland region. The prosecution will allege Patterson travelled to that area in the days after the sighting.
Day 11: CCTV footage of Patterson allegedly dropping a food dehydrator to a tip in the days after the lunch was shown in court. A mycologist who examined leftovers of beef wellington recovered from Patterson's bin revealed the food remnants only contained field mushrooms. The court also heard from a medical expert who found Patterson's hospital records did suggest she was suffering from a diarrhoeal illness.
Day 12: The court heard from a child protection worker who interviewed Patterson in the days after the lunch. She said Patterson described Simon as 'controlling', spoke about the beef wellington recipe, the lunch, and her bid to prevent a diarrhoea accident. The court also heard from a toxicologist who revealed traces of death cap mushroom toxins were found in the lunch leftovers and a dehydrator recovered from a tip.
Day 13: The court heard from a plant expert who examined the lunch leftovers and food dehydrator. He told the court death cap DNA was found in samples from the dehydrator, but not in the leftovers.
WEEK 4
Day 14: The court heard from a fungi expert who observed death cap mushrooms in Loch in April 2023 then reported the sighting on iNaturalist. The court also heard analysis from a digital forensic expert found Patterson's mobile data showed she visited Loch and Outtrim in the days after death cap sightings were posted online.
Day 15: Under cross-examination, digital forensic expert Matthew Sorell confirmed analysis placing Patterson's mobile phone in Loch and Outtrim in autumn 2023 was not conclusive. The court was also shown CCTV of Patterson making a nine second bathroom trip at a service station the day after the lunch.
Day 16: The court heard from a digital forensic expert who extracted files from Patterson's computer. A report shown in court revealed there were visits to iNaturalist in May 2022, including to a page on the website about a death cap sighting in Melbourne.
Day 17: The court was shown Facebook messages Patterson sent to friends complaining about her frustration with Simon and his family. The court was also shown mobile phone analysis that indicated a number of factory resets were performed on a phone Patterson handed over to police.
Day 18: The court heard from an intensive care doctor who revealed all four lunch guests arrived at Austin Hospital critically ill. He said Don Patterson was given a liver transplant, but Gail and Heather were deemed too ill to receive one. Despite the surgery, Don died. Ian underwent a bowel surgery and later recovered after weeks in intensive care.
WEEK 5
Day 19: The court heard from Sally Ann Atkinson, a public health officer who was tasked with investigating the source of the mushrooms. She said Patterson gave differing accounts of events over separate interviews.
Day 20: Homicide detective Stephen Eppingstall, who oversaw the investigation, took the stand. The jury was shown footage of Patterson's interview with police. During the interview, she denied having ever foraged for mushrooms and said she loved her former parents-in-law.
Day 21: The court was shown Patterson's Woolworths shops in the lead up to the lunch and medical records from 2021, which indicated she had concerns about ovarian cancer. The court also heard phone data records show her primary sim card was removed from a Samsung a23 and put into a Nokia while police were searching her house on 5 August 2023.
Day 22: Detective Eppingstall was cross-examined by Patterson's defence team. The court heard police budgets determined the analysis of Patterson's phone. The court was also shown various receipts - including for cash payments at Koonwarra Transfer Station - as well as messages Patterson sent to Facebook friends and her former parents-in-law.
Day 23: The defence resumed cross-examination of detective Eppingstall. The court was shown messages between Patterson and her former parents-in-law in early and late 2022, in which Don and Gail inquired about Patterson's health and she showed concern about them catching Covid. The court was also shown a Mother's Day message exchange between Gail and Patterson, in which she described her as the 'best mother-in-law' anyone could ask for.
WEEK SIX
Day 24: The defence wrapped up cross-examination of detective Eppingstall. Patterson took the stand and told the court about what her life was like in July 2023. She also explained how she met her estranged husband, Simon, and described key moments from their first few years of marriage. She also said trouble with communication was the root cause of their marital issues.
Day 25: Patterson told the court about her issues with binge eating, child support discussions with her estranged husband, and how she used her inheritance. She explained she was converted to Christianity by Simon and claimed she had never told a Facebook friend that she was an atheist. She also spoke about her issues with hospitals, fondness for mushrooms and dehydrating food, and her history of foraging for wild mushrooms. She told the jury she accepted that death cap mushrooms were in lunch she served at her Leongatha home and that she was 'ashamed' of messages she had sent to her Facebook friends about her former parents-in-law.
Day 26: Patterson spoke about the days after the lunch, claiming she pulled over to got to the toilet in bushland because she had diarrhoea. She said she wiped, put the tissues in a dog poo bag, and CCTV footage of her entering a BP toilet for mere seconds showed her disposing of the tissues.Patterson admitted to carrying out three out of four factory resets on one of her phones. She said she performed the last one, while her phone was in police custody, to see if detectives were 'silly enough' to leave it connected to the internet. She also said she changed her phone number in the days after the lunch because she didn't want Simon to contact her. Patterson said it wasn't until a conversation with Simon in the hospital about the food dehydrator that she began to think her foraged mushrooms may have been responsible for the poisonings. She said she then became 'scared' as child protection workers were now involved and so she lied to public health officers and dumped the dehydrator.
Day 27: The prosecution began cross-examination of Patterson. She denied lying to her lunch guests about having cancer, saying she wasn't 'that specific'. She was also questioned about foraging, child support, photos found on her devices, and conversations she had with Facebook friends.
Day 28: Under cross-examination, Patterson denied sending aggressive messages to Don and Gail as well as the suggestion that she was 'two-faced' about her relationship with her former parents-in-law by sending expletive-filled messages about them to her Facebook friends. She also told the jury she could not remember conducting iNaturalist searches on her computer.
You can catch up on the details from the last blog here: