Erin Patterson trial: Alleged mushroom poisoner set to continue giving evidence
Alleged mushroom poisoner Erin Patterson detailed concerns she was being pushed out of her husband's family in the months before the fatal lunch, the jury has been told.
Erin Patterson, 50, took the stand at her triple-murder trial on Monday after Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC closed the prosecution case.
Ms Patterson said she felt her relationship with her estranged husband's family had grown distant in the first few months of 2023, but said her relationship with Simon was 'functional'.
'I had felt for some months that my relationship with the wider Patterson family, and particularly Don and Gail, had perhaps had a bit more distance or space put between us,' she said.
'We saw each other less ... I'd begun to have concerns that Simon was not wanting me to be involved too much with the family any more. Perhaps I wasn't being invited to so many things.'
Ms Patterson is accused of deliberately poisoning a beef wellington lunch she hosted for her estranged husband's parents and aunt and uncle on July 29, 2023.
She was charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, after Don Patterson, his wife Gail Patterson and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson died from organ failure in the week after the meal.
Heather's husband, Korumburra Baptist Church long-serving pastor Ian Wilkinson, fell critically ill but recovered.
Ms Patterson has pleaded not guilty, with her defence arguing that while the lunch did contain poisonous mushrooms, she did not intentionally poison anyone and the case is actually a tragic accident.
Taking the stand shortly about 3.30pm on Monday, Ms Patterson began to answer questions about her relationship, struggles with her weight, religious beliefs, motherhood and the lead up to the fatal lunch.
Her voice started off soft, growing in volume and confidence as the minutes ticked over but faltered once when talking about the 'very traumatic' birth of her son in January 2009.
Frequently, she would pause for a second or two, her eyes closed, before answering a question.
Ms Patterson told the jury she first met her husband Simon Patterson when the pair were working at the Monash City Council in Melbourne in 2004.
She said they first began socialising through friends at the council, but the relationship grew deeper through 'conversations about life, religion and politics' while camping together.
Describing herself then as a 'fundamental atheist', she said she sought to convert her Christian boyfriend before attending a service from Ian.
'I had a religious experience there and it quite overwhelmed me,' she said.
Ms Patterson said she developed a close relationship with Don and Gail and was walked down the aisle by Simon's cousin, David Wilkinson, in June 2007 because her parents were on a train in Russia.
Soon after the couple hit the open road, 'meandering' across the country before settling for a time in Perth.
Here she said she fell pregnant and their son was born, before continuing their road trip across the top end.
After months on the road, Ms Patterson said she'd 'had a gutful' and flew from Townsville back to Perth and the couple separated for the first time.
'What we struggled with over the entire course of our relationship… we just couldn't communicate well when we disagreed about something,' she said.
'So we would just feel hurt and not know how to resolve it.'
Ms Patterson is expected to continue giving evidence when the hearing resumes on Tuesday.
The trial continues.
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