What Erin Patterson said after deaths: Court
Alleged poisoner Erin Patterson's police interview following the deaths of two of her in-laws has been played publicly for the first time at her trial in the regional Victorian town of Morwell.
The mother-of-two has pleaded not guilty to the murder of three of her husband's relatives and the attempted murder of a fourth.
Prosecutors allege she deliberately laced a beef wellington lunch with death cap mushrooms, while her defence argues Ms Patterson did not intend to poison anyone.
Instead, they argue, the case is a tragic accident. Ms Patterson's lawyers have argued the case is a tragic accident, not murder. Supplied. Credit: Supplied
Her husband Simon Patterson's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt, Heather Wilkinson died from organ failure in the week following the lunch on July 29. 2023.
Heather died on August 4 and 2.50am, Gail died later the same day at 5.55pm and Don died the following day at 11.30pm.
Heather's husband, long-serving Korumburra Baptist Church pastor Ian Wilkinson, also fell ill but recovered after a long stint in hospital. Don and Gail Patterson died a day apart. Supplied Credit: Supplied Pastor Ian Wilkinson survived while his wife Heather Wilkinson died. Supplied Credit: Supplied
This week, in the fifth week of the trial, Ms Patterson's police interview exactly a week after the lunch was played to the jury set to decide the facts of the case.
Prosecutor Jane Warren told the court it lasts for 'just under' 21 minutes.
Earlier in the trial, the jury was told Ms Patterson was not kept in the loop following the mushroom poisoning and was first informed of Heather and Gail's deaths as police executed a search warrant at her home about 11.40am on August 5.
The interview recording, filmed at the Wonthaggi Police Station later the same afternoon, captures Ms Patterson sat across from two homicide squad detectives; Detective leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall and Detective Senior Constable David Martin-Alcaide.
Wearing a brown jumper, she sat slightly hunched over the table with the camera capturing the right-hand side of her face. In court, Ms Patterson watched the interview intently. NewsWire / Paul Tyquin Credit: News Corp Australia
The recording starts with Constable Eppingstall confirming the time as 4.41pm, Ms Patterson's full name and street address.
'All right. Erin, I intend to interview you today in relation to the death of two people, being Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson,' he says.
'Before continuing I must inform you that you do not have to say or do anything but anything you say or do is being recorded and may be used in evidence in court.'
'Okay,' Ms Patterson responds.
Constable Eppingstall takes Ms Patterson for her rights, including to speak with a lawyer at any time, before she confirms she does not wish to exercise any of those rights.
He tells her both Heather and Gail died a day earlier, while Don had undergone a liver transplant but was 'extremely critical' and the prognosis 'wasn't great' for Ian.
'We're trying to understand what has made them so ill,' Constable Eppingstall says.
'Conversely, we're trying to understand why you're not that ill.' Detective Leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall is the last witness the prosecution will call. NewsWire / Diego Fedele Credit: News Corp Australia
Ms Patterson responds confirming she understands why she is being interviewed, before beginning to explain she's 'never been in a situation like this before'.
'I've been very, very helpful with the health department through the week because I wanted to help that side of things… because I do want to know what happened,' she says.
'I've given them as much information as they've asked for and offered up all the food and all the information about where the food came from.' Her estranged husband Simon Patterson gave evidence in the first days of the trial. NewsWire/Ian Currie Credit: News Corp Australia
Detective Eppingstall then points out for the record that Ms Patterson had been 'very helpful' with police at her home earlier that day, pointing out leftovers and the recipe book she used.
He mentions that he did not see a lot of food from Asian or Indian grocers at her home.
'Did you look in my fridge? I've got a lot of Asian cooking stuff in my fridge,' she replies.
The detective then follows up by asking if Ms Patterson has 'more of that kind of stuff' at her second home in the Melbourne suburb of Mount Waverley.
But she tells him no, she cleaned out the pantry and fridge there because she's 'got to sell that place'.
Ms Patterson tells the officer she's thinking of selling it to buy a home on Phillip Island where her children are now going to school.
Constable Eppingstall shifts the topic of conversation to the mushrooms used to prepare the beef wellington lunch.
'Obviously, we've got concerns in relation to these mushrooms and where they've come from,' he says.
The officer asks if Ms Patterson has ever foraged for mushrooms, which she denies, before asking if she had ever preserved foods.
'No,' she replies.
'Have you ever dehydrated food or anything?' he asks.
'No.' The trial is being held in the regional Victorian city of Morwell. NewsWire / Josie Hayden Credit: News Corp Australia
Constable Eppinstall then questions Ms Patterson about why she had her estranged husband's parents and aunt and uncle over for lunch.
'Because I've got no other family, so they're the only support I've got… and I want to maintain those relationships with them in spite of what's happened with Simon,' she said.
Ms Patterson tells the officers Don and Gail had always been good to her and had promised to continue supporting her after her separation.
'They're the only grandparents that my children have and I want them to stay in my kids' life,' she said.
'And I think Simon hated that I still had a relationship with his parents but I love them.' She told the detectives she loved her inlaws. Supplied Credit: Supplied
Questioning moves to Ms Patterson's visit to the local Leongatha Hospital two days after the lunch on July 31 and Constable Eppingstall asks why she left after 5 minutes.
'I just went there thinking I needed a couple of bags of saline 'cause I was really dehydrated,' she responds.
'And they said; 'We want to admit you and send you to Melbourne'.'
Ms Patterson said she 'can't just be told to drop everything' and needed to go home to feed her animals and pack her daughter's ballet bag.
She tells the officers she later returned where a doctor and apologised for the delay and told her; 'we've got a couple of critical patients'.
'I said, 'That's fine, don't worry about me, I'm just a gastro case'… And he said, 'Oh, what's your name?' and I said, 'Erin,' and he said, 'Oh, we've been expecting you',' Ms Patterson said. Ms Patterson told the officers she'd never foraged for mushrooms. Brooke Grebert-Craig. Credit: Supplied
She said she was informed her lunch guests were ill and she needed to be taken to Melbourne because it was suspected they had death cap mushroom poisoning.
Ms Patterson said she was taken in an ambulance and remained in hospital until the afternoon of August 2.
The topic shifts again to Constable Eppingstall promising to give her a list of everything police had seized from her Leongatha home earlier the same day.
He raises the find of a Sunbeam dehydrator instruction manual in a kitchen draw, asking if she owned a dehydrator.
'No,' she said.
'I've got manuals for lots of stuff I've collected over the years. I've had all sorts of appliances and I just keep them all.
' I might've had one years ago.' Stephen Eppingstall is the homicide squad detective that charged Ms Patterson. NewsWire / Diego Fedele Credit: News Corp Australia
When Constable Eppingstall asks what she would have used a dehydrator for, Ms Patterson starts talking about her Thermomix appliance.
'Like, when I first got the Thermomix I got really excited about, scratch and I did a lot of, you know, like, everything from scratch ingredients,' she says.
'I could've had something like that though.'
The officer then continues to list through the items taken from her home, including the Recipetin Eats cookbook, fruit patter, jug of gravy, computers, tablets and phones.
Later he shifts the conversation to the leftovers of the beef Wellington lunch, acknowledging Ms Patterson was helpful when police attended her home on July 31 to obtain it.
'What are those leftovers that you directed them to?' Constable Eppingstall questioned.
'That was the uneaten food from the lunch,' Ms Patterson responded.
'It went straight in the bin. And so when I went to the hospital and they said they were concerned that everyone ate some contaminated food I said, 'Well, there's the leftovers in the bin. You can have it'.' Ms Patterson has pleaded not guilty. NewsWire/ David Crosling Credit: News Corp Australia
Ms Patterson tells the two detectives she initially said 'I'll go and get it' but was told she needed to stay in hospital and instead gave police permission to enter her property.
'So they did that and a bag of food appeared a bit later.'
Ms Patterson is then asked if she had any questions, responding 'no', before Constable Eppingstall confirms the time is 5.30pm and suspends the interview.
After the video concluded, Justice Christopher Beale informed jurors some irrelevant material had been edited out.
'All right, so ladies and gentlemen, you will notice that it had jumped from time to time. Irrelevant material has been edited out,' he said.
The trial continues.
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Religion, self-esteem and tense family relationships have been the topic of questioning in Erin Patterson's murder trial as the accused mushroom cook took the stand on June 3. Ms Patterson was questioned by her lawyer, Colin Mandy SC, at Latrobe Valley Court in Morwell, Gippsland, as the murder trial entered its sixth week. She is facing three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder after hosting a fatal beef Wellington lunch for her parents-in-law and her husbands's aunt and uncle in July 2023. Don and Gail Patterson, her estranged husband Simon Patterson's parents, both died in the days after the lunch from death cap mushroom poisoning. Heather Wilkinson, Simon's aunt, also died from death cap mushrooms while her husband, Ian Wilkinson, survived. Ms Patterson has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has always maintained her innocence. Ms Patterson started dating Simon in July 2005 after meeting through mutual friends at Monash City Council in 2004. 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But Ms Patterson said Don and Gail "never changed" towards her. "They just continued to love me," she said. Ms Patterson said she had felt "left out" of family celebrations when she wasn't invited to Gail Patterson's 70th birthday lunch in 2022. Don Patterson later called and invited her, apologising for the oversight, she said. Ms Patterson and Simon ultimately could not make the relationship work, but attempted to remain civil for the children's benefit. "I didn't want to be separated, but I felt there was no choice," Ms Patteron told the court. "Our primary problem was, if we had a disagreement or any kind of conflict, we didn't seem to be able to talk about it in a way where either or us felt heard or understood," she said. "We just felt hurt, and we didn't really know how to do that well." Ms Patterson said the topic of child support first arose in October 2022 as she was preparing her tax return paperwork. She learnt that Simon had listed himself as single on his tax return but had not given her sufficient warning about the change to their relationship status to submit family tax benefit paperwork. Disputes over child support payments "increased in heat" from then onwards, she said. Ms Patterson said she was "hurt" when Simon said he would not contribute to their child's surgery and anesthesiology bills after he had been "explicitly instructed" not to by the Department of Human Services. While Ms Patterson butted heads with her estranged husband over child support payments, she said she would vent to her friends in a social media group chat. She said the group was a "cheer squad" while she was going through relationship issues. Don and Gail had attempted to mediate child support disputes between the couple but had ultimately suggested that they pray together. This suggestion prompted Ms Patterson to post a message to the group chat saying, "This family, I swear to f--king god". But she told the court that she "regrets" sending the message. "I was really frustrated with Simon, but it wasn't Don and Gail's fault, it wasn't the family's fault, it wasn't even entirely Simon's fault - I played a part too," she said. Ms Patterson identified as an atheist when she met Simon, but converted to the church after having a "spiritual experience" at Mr Wilkinson's Korumburra church. She told the court that she remains a Christian. The court was told that Ms Patterson briefly owned a second-hand bookshop in Pemberton in Western Australia in 2011. "I spent months travelling around south-west and Western Australia collecting books to sell there," she said. She said she collected books at fairs, libraries and estate sales "for quite a while" before buying 30 to 35 bookshelves from Ikea. Ms Patterson told the court that she had been accepted into nursing school at the start of 2023 but had decided to defer for a year, to start in 2024. She wanted to ensure she had enough time to care for her two children before starting the Bachelor of Nursing and Midwifery at Federation University. But money wasn't an issue. She said she was "comfortable financially" and could afford to go to university and without having a full-time job "at the same time". Ms Patterson told the court that she struggled with binge eating and purging throughout her adult life, and said she had "never had a healthy relationship with food". "I tried every diet under the sun," she said. She said the battle with self-esteem and disordered eating started as a child when she was regularly weighed by her mother. She told the court that she had secretly binged and purged around two to three times per week in the lead up to the fatal lunch and had planned to undergo gastric bypass surgery. "I've been [binging and purging] since my 20s... It could be daily, but also weekly or monthly. It varied in intensity." She said nobody knew about it, but that "everybody knows now". Ms Patterson detailed a number of interactions she had with medical professionals that, she said, caused her to "lose faith" in the medical system. She told the court that she and Simon had discharged themselves from the hospital when their first child was born in Perth, after a traumatic birth involving an emergency Caesarean section. She explained that her two children had struggled to receive medical attention for health issues later in life. Ms Patterson told the court that she had presented for medical care with her daughter a number of times after an ovarian growth was discovered. She also said her son had developed knock knees, but that she struggled to get attention from medical professionals. She admitted that she had never been diagnosed with cancer, but that she had a suspicion she was unwell after experiencing "a multitude of symptoms". "I'd been having, for a few months, a multitude of symptoms. I felt very fatigued, I had ongoing abdominal pain, chronic headaches, and I put on a lot of weight in a short period of time," she told the court. "What sent me over the edge to go to the doctor was that my wedding ring wouldn't fit, so I got it resized, and then my hand outgrew it again," she said. She told the court that she had believed she may have an autoimmune disease, such as lupus or multiple sclerosis, after referring to "doctor Google". "I think I wasted a lot of time, not just my time, but medical people's time through all my doctor Googling," she said. "It's hard to justify it, but with the benefit of hindsight, I lost so much faith in [medicine and medical professionals]. "But every headache is not a brain tumour," she said. Support is available for those who may be distressed: Religion, self-esteem and tense family relationships have been the topic of questioning in Erin Patterson's murder trial as the accused mushroom cook took the stand on June 3. Ms Patterson was questioned by her lawyer, Colin Mandy SC, at Latrobe Valley Court in Morwell, Gippsland, as the murder trial entered its sixth week. She is facing three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder after hosting a fatal beef Wellington lunch for her parents-in-law and her husbands's aunt and uncle in July 2023. Don and Gail Patterson, her estranged husband Simon Patterson's parents, both died in the days after the lunch from death cap mushroom poisoning. Heather Wilkinson, Simon's aunt, also died from death cap mushrooms while her husband, Ian Wilkinson, survived. Ms Patterson has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has always maintained her innocence. Ms Patterson started dating Simon in July 2005 after meeting through mutual friends at Monash City Council in 2004. They were engaged in early 2007, and Ms Patterson said her in-laws, Don and Gail, were the first to know. The couple were married at Korumburra Anglican Church in June 2007, with Ian and Heather Wilkinson's son walking Ms Patterson down the aisle while her parents were holidaying in Russia. She said they chose to hold the wedding at the Anglican church rather than Mr Wilkinson's Korumburra Baptist Church so that the aunt and uncle could "relax as guests rather than having jobs for the day". It wasn't long before the newlyweds set off on an adventure around Australia and Africa, using money that Ms Patterson received as an inheritance from her late grandmother's estate. The pair bought a Nissan Patrol and "just hit the open road", she told the court. They "meandered" through outback Australia before reaching Perth in September 2007. The couple then flew to Africa, visiting South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia. This trip, along Western Australia's Gibb River Road towards Queensland, would end in their first period of separation. Ms Patterson said she left her husband and their baby in Queensland and flew back to Perth, while Simon drove back to Western Australia over the course of a week. They remained separated for "two or three months" but reconciled by January 2010, she told the court. The 50-year-old said that Don and Gail Patterson had emotionally supported her through many difficult moments in her life. She told the court that her in-laws had come to Perth to visit the couple shortly after the birth of their first child in January 2009. "I remember being really relieved that Gail was there, I was out of my depth with the baby and she was supportive and gentle," Ms Patterson said. But the relationship became more complex as Ms Patterson and her husband permanently separated, with the in-laws occasionally acting as mediators in their disputes. But Ms Patterson said Don and Gail "never changed" towards her. "They just continued to love me," she said. Ms Patterson said she had felt "left out" of family celebrations when she wasn't invited to Gail Patterson's 70th birthday lunch in 2022. Don Patterson later called and invited her, apologising for the oversight, she said. Ms Patterson and Simon ultimately could not make the relationship work, but attempted to remain civil for the children's benefit. "I didn't want to be separated, but I felt there was no choice," Ms Patteron told the court. "Our primary problem was, if we had a disagreement or any kind of conflict, we didn't seem to be able to talk about it in a way where either or us felt heard or understood," she said. "We just felt hurt, and we didn't really know how to do that well." Ms Patterson said the topic of child support first arose in October 2022 as she was preparing her tax return paperwork. She learnt that Simon had listed himself as single on his tax return but had not given her sufficient warning about the change to their relationship status to submit family tax benefit paperwork. Disputes over child support payments "increased in heat" from then onwards, she said. Ms Patterson said she was "hurt" when Simon said he would not contribute to their child's surgery and anesthesiology bills after he had been "explicitly instructed" not to by the Department of Human Services. While Ms Patterson butted heads with her estranged husband over child support payments, she said she would vent to her friends in a social media group chat. She said the group was a "cheer squad" while she was going through relationship issues. Don and Gail had attempted to mediate child support disputes between the couple but had ultimately suggested that they pray together. This suggestion prompted Ms Patterson to post a message to the group chat saying, "This family, I swear to f--king god". But she told the court that she "regrets" sending the message. "I was really frustrated with Simon, but it wasn't Don and Gail's fault, it wasn't the family's fault, it wasn't even entirely Simon's fault - I played a part too," she said. Ms Patterson identified as an atheist when she met Simon, but converted to the church after having a "spiritual experience" at Mr Wilkinson's Korumburra church. She told the court that she remains a Christian. The court was told that Ms Patterson briefly owned a second-hand bookshop in Pemberton in Western Australia in 2011. "I spent months travelling around south-west and Western Australia collecting books to sell there," she said. She said she collected books at fairs, libraries and estate sales "for quite a while" before buying 30 to 35 bookshelves from Ikea. Ms Patterson told the court that she had been accepted into nursing school at the start of 2023 but had decided to defer for a year, to start in 2024. She wanted to ensure she had enough time to care for her two children before starting the Bachelor of Nursing and Midwifery at Federation University. But money wasn't an issue. She said she was "comfortable financially" and could afford to go to university and without having a full-time job "at the same time". Ms Patterson told the court that she struggled with binge eating and purging throughout her adult life, and said she had "never had a healthy relationship with food". "I tried every diet under the sun," she said. She said the battle with self-esteem and disordered eating started as a child when she was regularly weighed by her mother. She told the court that she had secretly binged and purged around two to three times per week in the lead up to the fatal lunch and had planned to undergo gastric bypass surgery. "I've been [binging and purging] since my 20s... It could be daily, but also weekly or monthly. It varied in intensity." She said nobody knew about it, but that "everybody knows now". Ms Patterson detailed a number of interactions she had with medical professionals that, she said, caused her to "lose faith" in the medical system. She told the court that she and Simon had discharged themselves from the hospital when their first child was born in Perth, after a traumatic birth involving an emergency Caesarean section. She explained that her two children had struggled to receive medical attention for health issues later in life. Ms Patterson told the court that she had presented for medical care with her daughter a number of times after an ovarian growth was discovered. She also said her son had developed knock knees, but that she struggled to get attention from medical professionals. She admitted that she had never been diagnosed with cancer, but that she had a suspicion she was unwell after experiencing "a multitude of symptoms". "I'd been having, for a few months, a multitude of symptoms. I felt very fatigued, I had ongoing abdominal pain, chronic headaches, and I put on a lot of weight in a short period of time," she told the court. "What sent me over the edge to go to the doctor was that my wedding ring wouldn't fit, so I got it resized, and then my hand outgrew it again," she said. She told the court that she had believed she may have an autoimmune disease, such as lupus or multiple sclerosis, after referring to "doctor Google". "I think I wasted a lot of time, not just my time, but medical people's time through all my doctor Googling," she said. "It's hard to justify it, but with the benefit of hindsight, I lost so much faith in [medicine and medical professionals]. "But every headache is not a brain tumour," she said. Support is available for those who may be distressed: Religion, self-esteem and tense family relationships have been the topic of questioning in Erin Patterson's murder trial as the accused mushroom cook took the stand on June 3. Ms Patterson was questioned by her lawyer, Colin Mandy SC, at Latrobe Valley Court in Morwell, Gippsland, as the murder trial entered its sixth week. She is facing three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder after hosting a fatal beef Wellington lunch for her parents-in-law and her husbands's aunt and uncle in July 2023. Don and Gail Patterson, her estranged husband Simon Patterson's parents, both died in the days after the lunch from death cap mushroom poisoning. Heather Wilkinson, Simon's aunt, also died from death cap mushrooms while her husband, Ian Wilkinson, survived. Ms Patterson has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has always maintained her innocence. Ms Patterson started dating Simon in July 2005 after meeting through mutual friends at Monash City Council in 2004. They were engaged in early 2007, and Ms Patterson said her in-laws, Don and Gail, were the first to know. The couple were married at Korumburra Anglican Church in June 2007, with Ian and Heather Wilkinson's son walking Ms Patterson down the aisle while her parents were holidaying in Russia. She said they chose to hold the wedding at the Anglican church rather than Mr Wilkinson's Korumburra Baptist Church so that the aunt and uncle could "relax as guests rather than having jobs for the day". It wasn't long before the newlyweds set off on an adventure around Australia and Africa, using money that Ms Patterson received as an inheritance from her late grandmother's estate. The pair bought a Nissan Patrol and "just hit the open road", she told the court. They "meandered" through outback Australia before reaching Perth in September 2007. The couple then flew to Africa, visiting South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia. This trip, along Western Australia's Gibb River Road towards Queensland, would end in their first period of separation. Ms Patterson said she left her husband and their baby in Queensland and flew back to Perth, while Simon drove back to Western Australia over the course of a week. They remained separated for "two or three months" but reconciled by January 2010, she told the court. The 50-year-old said that Don and Gail Patterson had emotionally supported her through many difficult moments in her life. She told the court that her in-laws had come to Perth to visit the couple shortly after the birth of their first child in January 2009. "I remember being really relieved that Gail was there, I was out of my depth with the baby and she was supportive and gentle," Ms Patterson said. But the relationship became more complex as Ms Patterson and her husband permanently separated, with the in-laws occasionally acting as mediators in their disputes. But Ms Patterson said Don and Gail "never changed" towards her. "They just continued to love me," she said. Ms Patterson said she had felt "left out" of family celebrations when she wasn't invited to Gail Patterson's 70th birthday lunch in 2022. Don Patterson later called and invited her, apologising for the oversight, she said. Ms Patterson and Simon ultimately could not make the relationship work, but attempted to remain civil for the children's benefit. "I didn't want to be separated, but I felt there was no choice," Ms Patteron told the court. "Our primary problem was, if we had a disagreement or any kind of conflict, we didn't seem to be able to talk about it in a way where either or us felt heard or understood," she said. "We just felt hurt, and we didn't really know how to do that well." Ms Patterson said the topic of child support first arose in October 2022 as she was preparing her tax return paperwork. She learnt that Simon had listed himself as single on his tax return but had not given her sufficient warning about the change to their relationship status to submit family tax benefit paperwork. Disputes over child support payments "increased in heat" from then onwards, she said. Ms Patterson said she was "hurt" when Simon said he would not contribute to their child's surgery and anesthesiology bills after he had been "explicitly instructed" not to by the Department of Human Services. While Ms Patterson butted heads with her estranged husband over child support payments, she said she would vent to her friends in a social media group chat. She said the group was a "cheer squad" while she was going through relationship issues. Don and Gail had attempted to mediate child support disputes between the couple but had ultimately suggested that they pray together. This suggestion prompted Ms Patterson to post a message to the group chat saying, "This family, I swear to f--king god". But she told the court that she "regrets" sending the message. "I was really frustrated with Simon, but it wasn't Don and Gail's fault, it wasn't the family's fault, it wasn't even entirely Simon's fault - I played a part too," she said. Ms Patterson identified as an atheist when she met Simon, but converted to the church after having a "spiritual experience" at Mr Wilkinson's Korumburra church. She told the court that she remains a Christian. The court was told that Ms Patterson briefly owned a second-hand bookshop in Pemberton in Western Australia in 2011. "I spent months travelling around south-west and Western Australia collecting books to sell there," she said. She said she collected books at fairs, libraries and estate sales "for quite a while" before buying 30 to 35 bookshelves from Ikea. Ms Patterson told the court that she had been accepted into nursing school at the start of 2023 but had decided to defer for a year, to start in 2024. She wanted to ensure she had enough time to care for her two children before starting the Bachelor of Nursing and Midwifery at Federation University. But money wasn't an issue. She said she was "comfortable financially" and could afford to go to university and without having a full-time job "at the same time". Ms Patterson told the court that she struggled with binge eating and purging throughout her adult life, and said she had "never had a healthy relationship with food". "I tried every diet under the sun," she said. She said the battle with self-esteem and disordered eating started as a child when she was regularly weighed by her mother. She told the court that she had secretly binged and purged around two to three times per week in the lead up to the fatal lunch and had planned to undergo gastric bypass surgery. "I've been [binging and purging] since my 20s... It could be daily, but also weekly or monthly. It varied in intensity." She said nobody knew about it, but that "everybody knows now". Ms Patterson detailed a number of interactions she had with medical professionals that, she said, caused her to "lose faith" in the medical system. She told the court that she and Simon had discharged themselves from the hospital when their first child was born in Perth, after a traumatic birth involving an emergency Caesarean section. She explained that her two children had struggled to receive medical attention for health issues later in life. Ms Patterson told the court that she had presented for medical care with her daughter a number of times after an ovarian growth was discovered. She also said her son had developed knock knees, but that she struggled to get attention from medical professionals. She admitted that she had never been diagnosed with cancer, but that she had a suspicion she was unwell after experiencing "a multitude of symptoms". "I'd been having, for a few months, a multitude of symptoms. I felt very fatigued, I had ongoing abdominal pain, chronic headaches, and I put on a lot of weight in a short period of time," she told the court. "What sent me over the edge to go to the doctor was that my wedding ring wouldn't fit, so I got it resized, and then my hand outgrew it again," she said. She told the court that she had believed she may have an autoimmune disease, such as lupus or multiple sclerosis, after referring to "doctor Google". "I think I wasted a lot of time, not just my time, but medical people's time through all my doctor Googling," she said. "It's hard to justify it, but with the benefit of hindsight, I lost so much faith in [medicine and medical professionals]. "But every headache is not a brain tumour," she said. Support is available for those who may be distressed: Religion, self-esteem and tense family relationships have been the topic of questioning in Erin Patterson's murder trial as the accused mushroom cook took the stand on June 3. Ms Patterson was questioned by her lawyer, Colin Mandy SC, at Latrobe Valley Court in Morwell, Gippsland, as the murder trial entered its sixth week. She is facing three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder after hosting a fatal beef Wellington lunch for her parents-in-law and her husbands's aunt and uncle in July 2023. Don and Gail Patterson, her estranged husband Simon Patterson's parents, both died in the days after the lunch from death cap mushroom poisoning. Heather Wilkinson, Simon's aunt, also died from death cap mushrooms while her husband, Ian Wilkinson, survived. Ms Patterson has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has always maintained her innocence. Ms Patterson started dating Simon in July 2005 after meeting through mutual friends at Monash City Council in 2004. They were engaged in early 2007, and Ms Patterson said her in-laws, Don and Gail, were the first to know. The couple were married at Korumburra Anglican Church in June 2007, with Ian and Heather Wilkinson's son walking Ms Patterson down the aisle while her parents were holidaying in Russia. She said they chose to hold the wedding at the Anglican church rather than Mr Wilkinson's Korumburra Baptist Church so that the aunt and uncle could "relax as guests rather than having jobs for the day". It wasn't long before the newlyweds set off on an adventure around Australia and Africa, using money that Ms Patterson received as an inheritance from her late grandmother's estate. The pair bought a Nissan Patrol and "just hit the open road", she told the court. They "meandered" through outback Australia before reaching Perth in September 2007. The couple then flew to Africa, visiting South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia. This trip, along Western Australia's Gibb River Road towards Queensland, would end in their first period of separation. Ms Patterson said she left her husband and their baby in Queensland and flew back to Perth, while Simon drove back to Western Australia over the course of a week. They remained separated for "two or three months" but reconciled by January 2010, she told the court. The 50-year-old said that Don and Gail Patterson had emotionally supported her through many difficult moments in her life. She told the court that her in-laws had come to Perth to visit the couple shortly after the birth of their first child in January 2009. "I remember being really relieved that Gail was there, I was out of my depth with the baby and she was supportive and gentle," Ms Patterson said. But the relationship became more complex as Ms Patterson and her husband permanently separated, with the in-laws occasionally acting as mediators in their disputes. But Ms Patterson said Don and Gail "never changed" towards her. "They just continued to love me," she said. Ms Patterson said she had felt "left out" of family celebrations when she wasn't invited to Gail Patterson's 70th birthday lunch in 2022. Don Patterson later called and invited her, apologising for the oversight, she said. Ms Patterson and Simon ultimately could not make the relationship work, but attempted to remain civil for the children's benefit. "I didn't want to be separated, but I felt there was no choice," Ms Patteron told the court. "Our primary problem was, if we had a disagreement or any kind of conflict, we didn't seem to be able to talk about it in a way where either or us felt heard or understood," she said. "We just felt hurt, and we didn't really know how to do that well." Ms Patterson said the topic of child support first arose in October 2022 as she was preparing her tax return paperwork. She learnt that Simon had listed himself as single on his tax return but had not given her sufficient warning about the change to their relationship status to submit family tax benefit paperwork. Disputes over child support payments "increased in heat" from then onwards, she said. Ms Patterson said she was "hurt" when Simon said he would not contribute to their child's surgery and anesthesiology bills after he had been "explicitly instructed" not to by the Department of Human Services. While Ms Patterson butted heads with her estranged husband over child support payments, she said she would vent to her friends in a social media group chat. She said the group was a "cheer squad" while she was going through relationship issues. Don and Gail had attempted to mediate child support disputes between the couple but had ultimately suggested that they pray together. This suggestion prompted Ms Patterson to post a message to the group chat saying, "This family, I swear to f--king god". But she told the court that she "regrets" sending the message. "I was really frustrated with Simon, but it wasn't Don and Gail's fault, it wasn't the family's fault, it wasn't even entirely Simon's fault - I played a part too," she said. Ms Patterson identified as an atheist when she met Simon, but converted to the church after having a "spiritual experience" at Mr Wilkinson's Korumburra church. She told the court that she remains a Christian. The court was told that Ms Patterson briefly owned a second-hand bookshop in Pemberton in Western Australia in 2011. "I spent months travelling around south-west and Western Australia collecting books to sell there," she said. She said she collected books at fairs, libraries and estate sales "for quite a while" before buying 30 to 35 bookshelves from Ikea. Ms Patterson told the court that she had been accepted into nursing school at the start of 2023 but had decided to defer for a year, to start in 2024. She wanted to ensure she had enough time to care for her two children before starting the Bachelor of Nursing and Midwifery at Federation University. But money wasn't an issue. She said she was "comfortable financially" and could afford to go to university and without having a full-time job "at the same time". Ms Patterson told the court that she struggled with binge eating and purging throughout her adult life, and said she had "never had a healthy relationship with food". "I tried every diet under the sun," she said. She said the battle with self-esteem and disordered eating started as a child when she was regularly weighed by her mother. She told the court that she had secretly binged and purged around two to three times per week in the lead up to the fatal lunch and had planned to undergo gastric bypass surgery. "I've been [binging and purging] since my 20s... It could be daily, but also weekly or monthly. It varied in intensity." She said nobody knew about it, but that "everybody knows now". Ms Patterson detailed a number of interactions she had with medical professionals that, she said, caused her to "lose faith" in the medical system. She told the court that she and Simon had discharged themselves from the hospital when their first child was born in Perth, after a traumatic birth involving an emergency Caesarean section. She explained that her two children had struggled to receive medical attention for health issues later in life. Ms Patterson told the court that she had presented for medical care with her daughter a number of times after an ovarian growth was discovered. She also said her son had developed knock knees, but that she struggled to get attention from medical professionals. She admitted that she had never been diagnosed with cancer, but that she had a suspicion she was unwell after experiencing "a multitude of symptoms". "I'd been having, for a few months, a multitude of symptoms. I felt very fatigued, I had ongoing abdominal pain, chronic headaches, and I put on a lot of weight in a short period of time," she told the court. "What sent me over the edge to go to the doctor was that my wedding ring wouldn't fit, so I got it resized, and then my hand outgrew it again," she said. She told the court that she had believed she may have an autoimmune disease, such as lupus or multiple sclerosis, after referring to "doctor Google". "I think I wasted a lot of time, not just my time, but medical people's time through all my doctor Googling," she said. "It's hard to justify it, but with the benefit of hindsight, I lost so much faith in [medicine and medical professionals]. "But every headache is not a brain tumour," she said. Support is available for those who may be distressed:
Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
Moment that Guy Sebastian went to cops
Guy Sebastian has revealed the moment he approached police to raise allegations his former manager had embezzled money from him, telling a court that he resisted going into his local station to avoid a media circus. Mr Sebastian is on the witness stand as his former manager Titus Day stands trial in the NSW District Court accused of embezzling more than $600,000 from the Aussie pop star. It's alleged that Mr Day failed to remit performance fees and royalties that were collected by his 6 Degrees talent agency. Mr Day has denied doing anything dishonest or fraudulent and pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of embezzlement as a clerk or servant and one count of attempting to dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception. Mr Sebastian appeared in the witness box for the second day on Tuesday, telling the court how his relationship with his long-time manager and friend broke down in 2017. The court was told that Mr Sebastian did not have a formal contract with 6 Degrees and when he moved over to Mr Day's company they agreed to an arrangement on the same terms that he had with his former talent agency. Titus Day is standing trial in the NSW District Court having pleaded not guilty to embezzlement. NewsWire/Nikki Short. Credit: News Corp Australia Mr Sebastian told the court that he was happy with Mr Day's management when he first moved into his stable, but tensions arose and his bookkeepers were forced to chase information and clarification on issues and payments, which ultimately led to their split. The court on Tuesday heard details of how following the dissolution of their partnership, the two men both made claims that the other owed them money. Mr Sebastian told the jury about a meeting, after they had severed ties, in which he raised queries about performance fees. According to Mr Sebastian, he told Mr Day that his former manager was entitled to his 20 per cent fee for any gigs that he had helped organise, but he wanted the money paid directly to him, rather than the usual practice of it going through a 6 Degrees account. 'At that stage there were a lot of requests for these statements,' Mr Sebastian told the court. 'At this stage I just wanted to really find out why it was so difficult to get those paperworks and how we tie up all these loose ends.' Guy Sebastian is suing his former manager. NewsWire / John Appleyard Credit: News Corp Australia Mr Day's 6 Degrees talent agency was placed into liquidation in 2019. NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia He said Mr Day then attempted to claim that he was owed 'trailing commissions' for the next five years. In the entertainment industry, trailing commissions are a slice of a performer's income that are payable to a manager for a period of time after they end their business relationship. However Mr Sebastian said he never had an agreement with Mr Day for trailing commissions, calling the suggestion 'ridiculous'. The court was told that in 2018 Mr Sebastian filed proceedings against Mr Day in the Federal Court that prompted his former manager and 6 Degrees to file a counterclaim. 6 Degrees was placed into liquidation in 2019, the court was told. After splitting with Mr Day and 6 Degrees, Mr Sebastian hired agent Jennifer Fontaine from Private Idaho Management to look after his affairs. And they began investigating signing him up for a 'neighbouring rights' deal to collect royalties generated overseas. But he said it was discovered that Mr Sebastian was already signed up to a neighbouring rights company based in Canada, Premier Muzik. 'You didn't know or recall that you were signed to Premier Muzik,' Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC asked. 'I never had any contact with Premier. At that point, this was very new to me,' Mr Sebastian said. Mr Day and Mr Sebastian before their split. Supplied. Credit: News Corp Australia He said it raised concerns that Mr Day had allegedly not remitted royalties from Premier Muzik. Mr Sebastian said about this time he was told by the people advising him that they had a duty to report the matter to police. He eventually reached out to police through Detective Senior Constable David Murphy, who was a friend of a close friend. He said he had a private meeting with Constable Murphy and purposefully avoided walking into his local police station to avoid media scrutiny. 'I wanted to keep it private, due to the nature of my job,' Mr Sebastian said. 'If I'm walking into a police station, I didn't want it to get out in the media and it to be a circus. I wanted to keep it as contained as I could.' The trial continues.
