Erin Patterson trial: Alleged mushroom poisoner called to give evidence by her defence
The woman at the centre of a deadly mushroom lunch in the small Victorian dairy town of Leongatha has taken the stand at her triple-murder trial.
Erin Patterson, 50, is facing trial accused of deliberately poisoning a beef Wellington lunch she hosted for her estranged husband's parents and aunt and uncle on July 29, 2023.
The mother of two 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.
On Monday afternoon, after Crown prosecutor Nannette Rogers SC closed the prosecution case with a series of agreed facts, trial judge Justice Christopher Beale turned to Ms Patterson's defence.
Barrister Colin Mandy SC rose to his feet and informed the court; 'the defence will call Erin Patterson'.
After a short break, jurors returned to the packed Latrobe Valley courtroom, in the town of Morwell, as Ms Patterson began to answer questions about her relationship, struggles with her weight, religious beliefs, motherhood and the lead up to the fatal lunch.
Over the following 45 minutes, before the case was adjourned for the day, Ms Patterson kept her eyes fixed on her lawyer as she answered dozens of personal questions.
Her voice started off soft, growing in volume and confidence as the minutes ticked over but faulted 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 return to the witness box when the hearing resumes on Tuesday.
The trial continues.
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