Mushroom murder trial: Death caps reported in area months before deadly lunch
By Kristian Silva for
ABC News
A courtroom sketch of Erin Patterson as she faces trial for murder and attempted murder.
Photo:
AFP / PAUL TYQUIN
Death cap mushrooms were reportedly growing near Erin Patterson's town in the months leading up to the fatal July 2023 lunch at her house, the Supreme Court in Australia has been told.
Patterson has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder, with prosecutors alleging the Victorian woman deliberately poisoned four of her relatives with death cap mushrooms in a beef Wellington.
On Tuesday, internationally recognised mushroom expert Tom May took to the witness stand in Patterson's trial.
May said sightings of death cap mushrooms were recorded in the Loch and Outtrim areas, near Patterson's home in Leongatha, in April and May 2023 respectively.
The posts were made on the iNaturalist.org website, where citizen scientists document observations of animals, plants and fungi.
Prosecutors have previously told the court Patterson's phone records suggest she visited Loch on 28 April and Outtrim on 22 May.
The lunch at the centre of the trial took place on 29 July, 2023.
Amanita phalloides, the 'death cap' mushroom that may have been used in the meal.
Photo:
Archenzo/Wikipedia
May, a mycologist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, said death cap mushrooms varied in colour but always grew around oak tree varieties.
May said the species tended to grow around April and May when there was a reasonable amount of soil moisture and rain.
"There are certainly some mushrooms that occur in Victoria that are quite similar (in appearance) to the death cap," he said.
Death cap mushrooms are also known by their scientific name, Amanita phalloides, and were first reported in Australia in the 1960s.
May said they were believed to have been a European species that now grew in places including Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
He said academic researchers had concluded that Amanita phalloides did not grow in China.
Several doctors who have testified in the trial have said Patterson told them mushrooms in the beef Wellington dish were sourced from Woolworths and from an unspecified Chinese or Asian grocer in Melbourne.
The mushrooms were part of the beef Wellington main course served up to Patterson's in-laws Don and Gail, as well as Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian. Medical experts concluded all four suffered from Amanita phalloides poisoning, with Wilkinson the only lunch guest who survived after a long stint in hospital.
Prosecutors allege Patterson's meal and food she served her children the following night was not contaminated.
Earlier on Tuesday, several doctors who treated Patterson at the Monash Medical Centre after the lunch said she did not appear to be unwell.
Doctor Laura Muldoon, part of the toxicology department, said Patterson was at hospital after reporting symptoms of nausea and diarrhoea.
"I noted she looked clinically well, she had some chapped lips but otherwise very well. She had normal vital signs," Dr Muldoon said.
Dr Muldoon said there was no evidence Patterson had encountered death cap mushroom poisoning or consumed any other toxins.
Another doctor, Varuna Ruggoo, said Patterson's liver functioning tests returned normal results. Also normal was her respiratory rate, blood pressure and temperature, the doctor testified.
"There was no evidence there was any sort of liver toxicity and she was able to be discharged," Dr Ruggoo said.
"She appeared clinically well, in a normal mood and affect."
The trial continues.
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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 Patterson's Leongatha home. Rogers put to 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". Patterson disagreed and said her calls to a lawyer occurred at 2pm, after the alleged loss of connection. 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 Patterson's home on 5 August, 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 Patterson denied. 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By Joseph Dunstan and Judd Boaz , ABC Erin Patterson. Photo: AFP / PAUL TYQUIN Accused death cap mushroom killer Erin Patterson has disputed the testimony of several witnesses in her murder trial, including that of lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson and her own son. The accused triple murderer has given evidence for a sixth day in the Supreme Court trial in the Victorian town of Morwell. She has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and 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. Another relative, Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson, fell seriously ill but survived. Tensions appeared to flare at times between the accused and crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC during cross examination on Tuesday morning. During one line of cross-examination about her online activity, Patterson attempted to direct the questioning, which was firmly shut down by the crown. "I'm the person who asks the questions. If there's something that needs to be clarified in re-examination then your barrister will do so," Dr Rogers responded. "No problem," Patterson said. At several times over the course of Tuesday morning, Patterson disputed evidence given by other witnesses during the trial, including her estranged husband Simon Patterson and the medical professionals who treated her after the lunch. In his testimony, lunch guest Ian Wilkinson told the court that Patterson had served herself on a different-coloured plate to the other guests. The prosecution put to Patterson that she had done this as an "extra precaution" against accidentally consuming one of the deliberately poisoned beef Wellingtons she had fed her guests - an accusation Patterson denied. Previously, Wilkinson told the jury the four guests had eaten from grey plates, while their host ate from an orange-coloured one. "Do you say that Ian Wilkinson has given incorrect evidence around the issue of the plates?" Dr Rogers asked. "Yes, I do," Patterson replied. A police interview with Patterson's son, where he told authorities about his mother's behaviour the day after the lunch, was also raised by the prosecution. Patterson told the jury she had a different recollection of the events, denying that she was drinking coffee the morning after the lunch. The accused killer also disputed some of the testimony of medical staff including doctor Chris Webster and nurse Kylie Ashton, who treated her at Leongatha Hospital after the lunch. Conversations alleged to have happened in the hospital between herself and medical staff regarding her children and the origin of the mushrooms were dismissed by Patterson, who said they did not occur in the way described by other witnesses. Ian Wilkinson (left) was the only guest to survive the lunch. His wife Heather Wilkinson, and Don and Gail Patterson all died from suspected mushroom poisoning. Photo: ABC / Supplied On Friday, Patterson told the court she had booked an appointment at ENRICH cosmetic clinic in Melbourne in early September 2023. The jury heard Patterson say she had planned to undergo gastric-bypass surgery, and that she had used a fabricated cancer diagnosis as a cover for the treatment. This claim was questioned by the prosecution on Tuesday morning, with Dr Rogers saying the surgery was not offered by the clinic at all. "The ENRICH clinic does not offer gastric-bypass surgery or gastric-sleeve surgery. Agree or disagree?" Dr Rogers asked. "I don't know," Patterson said, saying she was "puzzled" as she recalled having an appointment. "It would have been related to weight-loss surgery, perhaps it was a different procedure I was doing with them... I was looking into liposuction as well." Dr Rogers put it to Patterson that she had lied to the court when she had said she had an appointment at the clinic for gastric-band surgery. "No, it wasn't a lie, that's what my memory was," Patterson said. The prosecution also questioned Patterson about possible visits made to the iNaturalist website, where observations of death cap mushrooms had been posted by other users. The court was previously shown evidence from police digital forensic experts that a computer in Erin Patterson's home had accessed the website on May 28, 2022. But Patterson told the jury that she had no memory of ever visiting the site. "I suggest you were familiar with the iNaturalist website before this date, because you entered iNaturalist as the specific search term. Agree or disagree?" Dr Rogers asked. "I would have to disagree," Patterson said. "Did you have an interest in death cap mushrooms on 28 May, 2022?" Dr Rogers asked. "I have no idea. My only interest ever was to find out if they [were] in South Gippsland or not," Patterson said. When asked if it was her who navigated the page that day, Patterson replied: "Well somebody did. And that somebody could've been me." Minutes after the May 28, 2022 visit to the iNaturalist website, computer records also showed a visit to the Korumburra Middle Pub's website to buy a meal online. When asked if it was instead one of her children using the computer, Patterson did not provide an answer. "I'm not suggesting anything … I don't remember if it's me," she told the court. The trial continues. - ABC
