Doctor who gave evidence at Erin Patterson trial now faces the prospect of losing his job
Chris Webster, a doctor at the hospital where Patterson presented two days after serving her lethal lunch of beef wellington in July 2023, was a medical witness at her 10-week trial.
At the trial, Webster recalled a conversation he had with the convicted murderer.
Webster was aware of the poisoning when he first met with Patterson at Leongatha Hospital.
During their conversation, Patterson told him she got the mushrooms at Woolworths.
On Monday, Patterson was found guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder following the deaths of her in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson.
Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, survived the lunch.
Following the verdict, Webster told the Herald Sun, in no uncertain terms, that he knew Patterson lied about buying the mushrooms at Woolworths.
'If she said she picked them (the death caps), it would have been a very different mindset for me because there would have been an instant assumption it was all a tragic accident,' Webster told the publication.
'But once she said that answer (that she bought the mushrooms from Woolworths), my thoughts were, 'holy f**king shit, you f**king did it, you crazy b***h, you poisoned them all.''
'The turning point for me was that moment.'
Using colourful language, Webster also called the convicted murderer a 'sociopathic nutbag'.
'She wasn't freaking out about the safety of her children,' he said.
'Looking into her eyes, I thought 'I don't know what planet you're on but you're not on earth.
'If it was an Agatha Christie novel, this is how one of her characters would have done it.'
Following the interview, Webster has received numerous formal complaints, which could result in him losing his job.
He claimed he was labelled a 'misogynist' in at least one of the complaints.
'I'm not that at all, that's not me,' Webster told Daily Mail Australia.
'I stand by what I've done, this is very important.
'I'm happy to do all the media but it's become all too much now and I have engaged a lawyer and now gagged from any future media (in the short term).
'It's one thing copping these accusations on social media and Instagram but now it's formal complaints.
'I need to get home and back to work and sort this out, and once things are sorted, I will speak again.'
Webster went on to claim one of the complaints saw Patterson referred to as a 'patient' of his, rather than a convicted killer.
An investigation by the medical board over the complaints could result in a suspension or disqualification.
Webster giving evidence
During the trial, Webster in his testimony said he told her she had just been exposed to death cap mushroom poisoning.
Later in the court, the triple zero phone call he made to the police was heard.
'This is Dr Chris Webster calling from Leongatha Hospital and I have a concern regarding a patient that presented here earlier and has left the building and is potentially exposed (to) a toxin from mushroom poisoning and I've tried several times to get hold of her on her mobile phone,' he said on the call.
'The last name is Patterson. Erin.'
In a short conversation that followed, Webster explained to the operator that 'five people ate a meal on Saturday and two of them are in intensive care at Dandenong Hospital.'
'Two have just been transferred from Leongatha Hospital to Dandenong Hospital, and Erin presented this morning with symptoms of poisoning,' he continued.
The operator asked what happened when Patterson presented and then quickly discharged herself.
'It was time for the nurse to begin observations, and I was managing the other critically unwell patients,' he said.
'I had a brief chat to her about where the mushrooms were obtained, and while I was attending (to) the other patients, nurses informed me that she had discharged herself against medical advice.'
Patterson will be sentenced later this year.
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