Pheobe's mum hits back at cruel claims
Pheobe Bishop's mother has responded to damaging claims circulating online following a now-deleted Facebook post that accused her of profiting from her daughter's death.
Kylie Johnson, owner and director of Smiley's Support Services, took to Facebook to respond to a now-deleted post, reported by NewsMail, in a community group dedicated to Pheobe's memory. The post accused her of 'using' her daughter's name and claimed she needed carers only to earn more money.
The family reportedly declined to comment directly on the post, which was widely condemned by supporters. Kylie Johnson and her daughter Pheobe Bishop, whose death is the subject of ongoing murder charges against her housemates James Wood and Tanika Bromley. Picture Facebook Credit: Supplied
Pheobe, 17, was reported missing in May 2025. Her remains were believed to have been found three weeks later.
Two people she had been living with at a rented property in Gin Gin, James Wood and Tanika Bromley, have since been charged with her murder.
The case has attracted national media attention and reignited debate over the protection of vulnerable NDIS participants.
Ms Johnson has been vocal about the need for greater transparency in the sector but said the tragedy had also made her a target for online attacks.
'Imagine people from your own industry using this tragedy to benefit themselves?' she wrote in the post.
'After 23 years of working between the disability and aged care sector I'm actually pretty disappointed.' The Gin Gin community gathered for a vigil in Pheobe's honour. NewsWire / Paul Beutel Credit: News Corp Australia
Ms Johnson said she began her career as a carer and cleaner in dementia-specific and aged care units before building her own business.
'My company was established at the same time our NDIS registration was applied for. We were approved for all levels of support that we provide,' she said.
'Our last audit in June 2024 was completed as per the NDIS Guidelines … with beautiful feedback.'
Addressing rumours that Smiley's Support Services was shutting down, she confirmed the business remained operational, with only some services experiencing a waitlist.
'We'd like to assure you all that Smiley's has NO intention of closing,' she wrote.
'Even if we were considering this, our clients would be contacted immediately.' Pheobe was reported missing in May 2025. Her remains were believed to have been found three weeks later. Credit: Supplied
She praised her team's dedication, saying they continued to go 'above and beyond' despite the challenges.
Ms Johnson also thanked members of the community for their ongoing support, including Wade from Smithie's Karaoke and DJ Hire who volunteered his time to help with candlelight vigils held in Pheobe's honour.
'Phee would have loved this because besides Wade lives with his own super powers … he runs numerous business ventures and WOW, he's kicking goals,' she wrote.
Ms Johnson ended her message with a tribute to her daughter's resilience.
'Your disability only defines you if you allow it to, and Phee never let hers define her' she wrote.
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The Age
21 hours ago
- The Age
A garden tour, small talk and an illness confession. The mushroom lunch according to Erin Patterson
Ian Wilkinson told the jury he was in the main body of the church when his wife told him they'd been invited for a meal at Erin Patterson's. 'She was fairly excited,' the pastor recalled. 'We were very happy to be invited. Seemed like maybe our relationship with Erin was going to improve.' Wilkinson said there was no reason given for the lunch and that he wondered aloud to his wife about why suddenly, they were invited. Erin Patterson says she extended the invitation to Simon despite a relationship they both agreed had become less friendly and more formal. By this time, she says, she'd long held an interest in foraging for mushrooms, borne out of pandemic lockdown walks with her children. Years later, Patterson told the jury she bought a dehydrator in April 2023 from the local electrical store as she was eager to learn how to dehydrate wild and store-bought mushrooms to ensure she could eat them, and other foods, year round. It became somewhat of an experiment, she told the Morwell jury, working out how to best dehydrate the fungi, and she said she would later eat them or blend them into a powder to hide in her children's food for added nutrition. It was during this time, she said, that she shared details of her life with a group of Facebook friends, who spoke regularly about everything from recipes to their children, politics and world events. Their conversations were frequent, and the court heard 600 pages of messages were obtained from early to mid-December 2022 alone. In them, Patterson spoke about issues with her separation from Simon, described him as a 'deadbeat' father and complained that her attempts to get her in-laws to intervene were falling on deaf ears. 'This family I swear to f---ing god,' one post read. 'Nobody bloody listens to me, at least I know they're a lost cause,' another read. 'I'm sick of this shit I want nothing to do with them,' a third post read. 'F--- them.' Patterson, the court heard, later told police she loved and had a great relationship with Don and Gail Patterson. 'They got on very well I think,' Simon told the jury. 'She especially got along well with Dad. They shared a love of knowledge and learning and an interest in the world, and I think she loved his gentle nature.' Erin Patterson said by the time she organised the lunch she feared Simon was creating distance between her and his parents. 'They did love me and I did love them,' she said. 'I had felt for some months my relationship with the wider Patterson family, particularly Don and Gail, had a bit more distance and space put between us.' In the days before the lunch, Erin Patterson says she wanted to cook her guests something special, better than the shepherd's pie she'd last served the Pattersons. She said she remembered her mother cooking beef Wellington and used the RecipeTin Eats cookbook to help guide her preparation. Shopping receipts show Erin Patterson made repeat trips to the supermarket to buy pastry, mushrooms and steak. The night before the meal, Simon Patterson sent her a text message and the former couple had a terse exchange. 'I feel too uncomfortable about coming to the lunch with you, Mum, Dad, Heather and Ian tomorrow, but I'm happy to talk about your health and implications of that at another time. If you'd like to discuss on the phone, just let me know,' Simon texted. Erin replied: 'That's really disappointing. I've spent many hours this week preparing lunch for tomorrow, which has been exhausting in light of the issues I'm facing, and spent a small fortune on beef eye fillet to make beef Wellingtons because I wanted it to be a special meal, as I may not be able to host a lunch like this again for some time. It's important to me that you're all there tomorrow, and that I can have the conversations that I need to have. I hope you'll change your mind. Your parents, and Heather and Ian are coming at 12.30. I hope to see you there.' Erin Patterson told the jury she'd been unable to buy a single large piece of steak so decided instead to make individual parcels of beef Wellington for each guest, six in total. She began preparing the meal by making a mushroom duxelle, or paste, using the mushrooms she bought from Woolworths. But when she tasted it, she was worried it was too bland. She says she grabbed a Tupperware container she believed contained 'pungent' dried mushrooms she bought three months earlier from an unidentified Asian grocery store in the City of Monash area of Melbourne. As her guests' arrival drew nearer, Erin Patterson says she dropped her children and their friend off in town to eat McDonald's and watch a movie. When the Wilkinsons and her in-laws arrived, Gail carrying an orange cake and Heather a fruit platter, the group toured her garden and the women Erin Patterson's new pantry. They then gathered in the open-plan kitchen and dining area where the host plated up mashed potatoes, green beans and individual beef Wellingtons about 12.30pm. Erin Patterson told the jury that when she turned her back on the group to heat pre-made gravy satchels, the women began carrying the plates to the table. One, Erin Patterson says, remained on the kitchen bench and that's the one she took to eat from. The accused says the group chatted as they ate, and she talked so much she ended up eating little of her meal. She says they spoke about politics and current affairs before she led them to believe she had an illness, but never used the word 'cancer'. Her guests left in time for Ian Wilkinson to attend a 3pm appointment. Erin was left home on her own until Simon picked the children up from their movie and dropped them home. The following morning, the accused says, she learnt from her estranged husband that his parents were unwell. She says she too was suffering from diarrhoea but took imodium so she could take her son to a flying lesson. The trip was interrupted, she says, when she had to stop to defecate on the side of the road, and she cleaned herself and placed tissues in a doggy bag until she could dispose of them in a bathroom toilet at the Caldermeade BP service station. Loading Patterson says that on the Sunday evening – July 30, 2023 – she scraped the mushroom paste and pastry off the leftovers and fed her two children what remained. She says as her diarrhoea worsened, she felt too unwell to eat the dinner and instead unsuccessfully attempted to eat cereal. In the following days, she says, she took herself to hospital for what she believed was gastro, and left at one point to take care of her animals and children, before returning to be admitted and transferred to a Melbourne hospital for investigation of possible death cap mushroom poisoning. She says that while in hospital, Simon said to her, 'Is that how you poisoned my parents, using that dehydrator?' She denied the allegation. The jury heard that sent her into panic as it dawned on her that there may have also been foraged mushrooms in the Tupperware container. She returned home, grabbed the dehydrator and dumped it at the local tip. The mother of two says she later factory reset her mobile phone because she did not want police to find the images she had of her drying mushrooms, and lied to police about ever foraging. She denies ever deliberately poisoning anyone, or deliberately lying to police to cover her tracks. That is how Patterson says she came to be wrongly accused of murdering Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson, and attempting to murder Ian Wilkinson. Prosecutors spent five days cross-examining her about her version of events as evidence in the seven-week-long trial drew to a close. They claim the accused saw online posts about death cap mushrooms located in her area, and that mobile phone tracking shows she travelled to the sites, including Loch and Outtrim, to purposely pick death caps. Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC, told the jury Patterson's version of events are a lie and that she lured the lunch guests to her home with a fake cancer diagnosis and fed them the death caps. And, prosecutors allege, if Simon Patterson had attended lunch, his estranged wife would have also fed him a poisoned pastry parcel. The prosecution alleges that in the aftermath of the fatal lunch, the accused took steps to conceal her involvement, was never unwell and lied to police in her record of interview. 'I suggest that you deliberately sourced death cap mushrooms in 2023. I suggest you deliberately included them in the beef Wellington you served to [your four guests]. You did so intending to kill them,' Rogers asked the accused this week. 'Disagree,' Erin Patterson replied three times, after each accusation.
Sydney Morning Herald
21 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
A garden tour, small talk and an illness confession. The mushroom lunch according to Erin Patterson
Ian Wilkinson told the jury he was in the main body of the church when his wife told him they'd been invited for a meal at Erin Patterson's. 'She was fairly excited,' the pastor recalled. 'We were very happy to be invited. Seemed like maybe our relationship with Erin was going to improve.' Wilkinson said there was no reason given for the lunch and that he wondered aloud to his wife about why suddenly, they were invited. Erin Patterson says she extended the invitation to Simon despite a relationship they both agreed had become less friendly and more formal. By this time, she says, she'd long held an interest in foraging for mushrooms, borne out of pandemic lockdown walks with her children. Years later, Patterson told the jury she bought a dehydrator in April 2023 from the local electrical store as she was eager to learn how to dehydrate wild and store-bought mushrooms to ensure she could eat them, and other foods, year round. It became somewhat of an experiment, she told the Morwell jury, working out how to best dehydrate the fungi, and she said she would later eat them or blend them into a powder to hide in her children's food for added nutrition. It was during this time, she said, that she shared details of her life with a group of Facebook friends, who spoke regularly about everything from recipes to their children, politics and world events. Their conversations were frequent, and the court heard 600 pages of messages were obtained from early to mid-December 2022 alone. In them, Patterson spoke about issues with her separation from Simon, described him as a 'deadbeat' father and complained that her attempts to get her in-laws to intervene were falling on deaf ears. 'This family I swear to f---ing god,' one post read. 'Nobody bloody listens to me, at least I know they're a lost cause,' another read. 'I'm sick of this shit I want nothing to do with them,' a third post read. 'F--- them.' Patterson, the court heard, later told police she loved and had a great relationship with Don and Gail Patterson. 'They got on very well I think,' Simon told the jury. 'She especially got along well with Dad. They shared a love of knowledge and learning and an interest in the world, and I think she loved his gentle nature.' Erin Patterson said by the time she organised the lunch she feared Simon was creating distance between her and his parents. 'They did love me and I did love them,' she said. 'I had felt for some months my relationship with the wider Patterson family, particularly Don and Gail, had a bit more distance and space put between us.' In the days before the lunch, Erin Patterson says she wanted to cook her guests something special, better than the shepherd's pie she'd last served the Pattersons. She said she remembered her mother cooking beef Wellington and used the RecipeTin Eats cookbook to help guide her preparation. Shopping receipts show Erin Patterson made repeat trips to the supermarket to buy pastry, mushrooms and steak. The night before the meal, Simon Patterson sent her a text message and the former couple had a terse exchange. 'I feel too uncomfortable about coming to the lunch with you, Mum, Dad, Heather and Ian tomorrow, but I'm happy to talk about your health and implications of that at another time. If you'd like to discuss on the phone, just let me know,' Simon texted. Erin replied: 'That's really disappointing. I've spent many hours this week preparing lunch for tomorrow, which has been exhausting in light of the issues I'm facing, and spent a small fortune on beef eye fillet to make beef Wellingtons because I wanted it to be a special meal, as I may not be able to host a lunch like this again for some time. It's important to me that you're all there tomorrow, and that I can have the conversations that I need to have. I hope you'll change your mind. Your parents, and Heather and Ian are coming at 12.30. I hope to see you there.' Erin Patterson told the jury she'd been unable to buy a single large piece of steak so decided instead to make individual parcels of beef Wellington for each guest, six in total. She began preparing the meal by making a mushroom duxelle, or paste, using the mushrooms she bought from Woolworths. But when she tasted it, she was worried it was too bland. She says she grabbed a Tupperware container she believed contained 'pungent' dried mushrooms she bought three months earlier from an unidentified Asian grocery store in the City of Monash area of Melbourne. As her guests' arrival drew nearer, Erin Patterson says she dropped her children and their friend off in town to eat McDonald's and watch a movie. When the Wilkinsons and her in-laws arrived, Gail carrying an orange cake and Heather a fruit platter, the group toured her garden and the women Erin Patterson's new pantry. They then gathered in the open-plan kitchen and dining area where the host plated up mashed potatoes, green beans and individual beef Wellingtons about 12.30pm. Erin Patterson told the jury that when she turned her back on the group to heat pre-made gravy satchels, the women began carrying the plates to the table. One, Erin Patterson says, remained on the kitchen bench and that's the one she took to eat from. The accused says the group chatted as they ate, and she talked so much she ended up eating little of her meal. She says they spoke about politics and current affairs before she led them to believe she had an illness, but never used the word 'cancer'. Her guests left in time for Ian Wilkinson to attend a 3pm appointment. Erin was left home on her own until Simon picked the children up from their movie and dropped them home. The following morning, the accused says, she learnt from her estranged husband that his parents were unwell. She says she too was suffering from diarrhoea but took imodium so she could take her son to a flying lesson. The trip was interrupted, she says, when she had to stop to defecate on the side of the road, and she cleaned herself and placed tissues in a doggy bag until she could dispose of them in a bathroom toilet at the Caldermeade BP service station. Loading Patterson says that on the Sunday evening – July 30, 2023 – she scraped the mushroom paste and pastry off the leftovers and fed her two children what remained. She says as her diarrhoea worsened, she felt too unwell to eat the dinner and instead unsuccessfully attempted to eat cereal. In the following days, she says, she took herself to hospital for what she believed was gastro, and left at one point to take care of her animals and children, before returning to be admitted and transferred to a Melbourne hospital for investigation of possible death cap mushroom poisoning. She says that while in hospital, Simon said to her, 'Is that how you poisoned my parents, using that dehydrator?' She denied the allegation. The jury heard that sent her into panic as it dawned on her that there may have also been foraged mushrooms in the Tupperware container. She returned home, grabbed the dehydrator and dumped it at the local tip. The mother of two says she later factory reset her mobile phone because she did not want police to find the images she had of her drying mushrooms, and lied to police about ever foraging. She denies ever deliberately poisoning anyone, or deliberately lying to police to cover her tracks. That is how Patterson says she came to be wrongly accused of murdering Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson, and attempting to murder Ian Wilkinson. Prosecutors spent five days cross-examining her about her version of events as evidence in the seven-week-long trial drew to a close. They claim the accused saw online posts about death cap mushrooms located in her area, and that mobile phone tracking shows she travelled to the sites, including Loch and Outtrim, to purposely pick death caps. Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC, told the jury Patterson's version of events are a lie and that she lured the lunch guests to her home with a fake cancer diagnosis and fed them the death caps. And, prosecutors allege, if Simon Patterson had attended lunch, his estranged wife would have also fed him a poisoned pastry parcel. The prosecution alleges that in the aftermath of the fatal lunch, the accused took steps to conceal her involvement, was never unwell and lied to police in her record of interview. 'I suggest that you deliberately sourced death cap mushrooms in 2023. I suggest you deliberately included them in the beef Wellington you served to [your four guests]. You did so intending to kill them,' Rogers asked the accused this week. 'Disagree,' Erin Patterson replied three times, after each accusation.
West Australian
a day ago
- West Australian
Travis Decker: Police close in on dad accused of murdering young daughters
Police say they are closing in on a man wanted over the gruesome murders of his three young daughters. And, in a direct message to Travis Decker, who is on the run in Washington State forest, they told him he is just one mistake away from being caught. Mr Decker collected daughters Paityn, 9, Evelyn, 8, and Olivia, 5, for a custody visit but failed to return them at an agreed time on May 30. Three days later they were found dead at a campground with plastic bags on their heads and zip ties around their wrists. It is believed the girls died of asphyxiation. 'Every single day that Travis is out there he is going to have to aim for perfection, he is not going to be able to make a mistake because all we need is one mistake and one day to go in our favour, and he's going to be in our custody. So I hope he's watching and I hope he knows we haven't given up,' Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison said. 'You have to be perfect every single day, Travis, we only have to be perfect one day.' A recent tip-off led search teams to a lone hiker who appeared to be avoiding others and was 'ill prepared for trail and weather conditions', an update from Chelan County Sheriff's office read. Tracking teams then spotted an off-trail hiker in the Colchuk Lake area who fled when a helicopter passed over the area. It's understood authorities have recovered possible evidence tied to the case. People who live or have cabins in the area have been urged to remain 'highly vigilant' and report any suspicious activity. Meanwhile, a GoFundMe set up to help Whitney Decker, the devastated mother of the three girls has so far raised an extraordinary US$1.2 million ($1.9m) from more than 27,000 donations. In an update on the fundraiser's page, organiser Amy Edwards thanked people for their ongoing support as the family prepares for a memorial for the girls. 'To everyone who has donated, thank you for your generosity and compassion. Your support continues to lift Whitney and her family during an unimaginably difficult time. 'To the countless people who have sent messages of love and encouragement, your words are a powerful reminder that we are not alone in our grief. 'To those who have shared beautiful memories of Paityn, Evelyn, and Olivia in the Facebook group, your reflections have brought light and comfort to so many.' The memorial will be held on June 20 and attendees have been asked to wear 'what makes you feel beautiful'. Organisers have suggested wearing something with the colours purple, pink and green to honour the girls.
