The REAL reason Simon Patterson didn't go to Erin Patterson's deadly mushroom lunch is finally revealed

Daily Mail​

10 hours ago

One guest invited to dine at Erin Patterson 's lunch table pulled out the night before as he was 'too uncomfortable to attend'.
But when her estranged husband Simon was called to give evidence to her trial - after she poisoned his parents, aunt and uncle - he was legally unable to explain why. Simon believed Patterson had been trying to poison him since 2021.
Media were banned from reporting on pre-trial hearing evidence, to allow Patterson time to appeal, but that order was lifted on Friday.
The jury did hear about how he claimed he was poisoned and that he had told family about it - including his father Don, who would die from Patterson's cooking.
Patterson, 50, was found guilty by a jury on July 7 and convicted of three murders and one attempted murder over a death cap mushroom-laced beef Wellington she served up to Simon's family.
He told a pre-trial hearing in 2024 he believed his estranged wife had tried to poison him four times before the toxic beef Wellington lunch.
Simon informed his father, sister and cousin in 2022, and joked to Patterson about the alleged poisonings, many of which happened on camping trips together.
'Erin was trying to poison him with food in meals that she cooked for him, that only Simon was at risk,' his sister Anna Terrington said about what she was told.
Simon informed Don about eight months before the mushroom lunch, in November 2022, adding his father suggested he not 'tell too many people about that'.
Simon also told his cousin Tim Patterson, which the killer's estranged husband said was a 'turning point', in September of that year.
He claimed he 'joked' with Patterson before a camping trip that month 'she might put something in the food and poison me'.
The day before the fatal meal, Simon's mother Gail - who did not know about the attempted poisonings - asked him why he wasn't going to the lunch.
Simon explained he didn't think it would be wise because of 'all the things that happened in the recent past with Erin'.
He said his father Don then helped him 'move the conversation on from that question'.
Don and Gail, 70, would die in hospital along with Gail's sister Heather, 66, days after eating the meal Patterson cooked.
Simon told pre-trial hearings he believed he was first poisoned the night before a planned camping trip to Wilson's Promontory in November 2021.
He ate penne bolognese made by Patterson and vomited at her home next morning, as well as on the way to the campsite, he said.
Patterson arranged accommodation for them instead of camping and the following day he felt like he was 'going downhill' and needed to go to hospital.
Simon assumed it was gastro and was transferred to Monash Hospital, where he stayed for five days as a doctor was concerned about his kidneys.
The second suspected alleged poisoning happened during another camping trip between May 25 and 27, 2022, when Simon said Patterson supplied all of the food.
He said he became sick at about midnight and they drove to Mansfield Hospital next morning, when he was given anti-nausea drugs and discharged after the vomiting stopped.
However, his condition got worse once they returned home and he called Patterson, who took him to hospital.
Simon fell into a coma and underwent several surgeries, including one in which part of his bowel was removed.
Doctors did not find the cause of the illness, he said.
Simon said he stayed with Patterson and their two kids at her Leongatha home for a month while he recovered.
His wife cared for him during that time, communicating with his family, cleaning his home, paying his bills and getting his car serviced and a tyre fixed, he said.
The jury was shown evidence during the trial that Patterson had accessed a death cap mushroom sighting on the iNaturalist website on May 28, 2022.
Weeks later, in July 2022, Simon said Patterson made him a stew for lunch and he began feeling sick by midnight.
He was transferred to Monash Hospital but his symptoms abated and he went back to Patterson's home again, staying for two weeks until she became upset and he went home.
In September 2022, Patterson wanted to go for a walk with him and she again brought food for the trip, Simon said.
After eating a vegetable wrap and curry lunch, he started feeling 'uneasy' and 'a little unwell'. Patterson had the same meal, he said, but without the wrap she had covered in foil and given to him.
Simon said he became increasingly sick, so they left and drove to his parents' house before an ambulance was called.
He said he began to slur his words on the journey to hospital and lost muscle function. By the time he got to hospital he could only move his neck, tongue and lips. He said those symptoms continued until he was given anaesthetic.
Prosecutor Nanette Rogers alleged Patterson deliberately 'allocated certain foods' to Simon in each suspected poisoning, much like she did in choosing different plates for her beef Wellington lunch guests to her own.
But defence lawyers claimed it was not clear whether Simon assisted in preparing some of the meals and said Patterson had eaten the same food.
Simon told his GP, Christopher Ford, about the alleged poisonings and removed Patterson from his medical power of attorney about five months before she served up the poisonous beef Wellingtons.
'He thought that Erin was trying to poison him,' Dr Ford told pre-trial hearings. When Simon told Dr Ford his family were in hospital on the day after the July 2023 lunch, the GP called and alerted his medical colleagues.
Heather and Ian Wilkinson went to Leongatha Hospital, while Don and Gail Patterson were at Korumburra Hospital.
Dr Ford said he spoke to Leongatha on-call doctor Chris Webster about two people who would be coming to him with food poisoning.
He claimed he warned Dr Webster 'based on previous events that were going on with some of my patients' it was worth keeping an eye on their electrolytes and to 'make sure they're all OK'.
Dr Ford also tried calling Korumburra Hospital but could not get through and instead drove there to speak to the on-call doctor. He told them there was a chance Don and Gail's symptoms would decline and worried they might have been deliberately poisoned by Patterson, the GP said.
Simon started seeing Dr Ford in 2022 and said he told him to compile a spreadsheet of activities and meals before he had fallen ill.
'I couldn't understand why these things kept on happening to him, almost three near-death experiences,' the doctor said. 'It didn't fit into any of the medical models that would account for those things.'
Dr Ford said he investigated Simon for low potassium after his fourth hospital admission and Simon was referred to specialists including a gastroenterologist and a kidney doctor.
Simon was at times told he had gastro, low potassium, hypertension, hyperthyroidism and high cholesterol.
During pre-trial, Patterson's barrister Colin Mandy SC said the claims involving Simon could not be proven on the medical evidence and Patterson denied all attempted murder charges.
Justice Christopher Beale ruled Patterson should face two trials, one for the murders and one for Simon's alleged attempted murder. However, prosecutors discontinued the latter charges and focused their trial on the murderous lunch.