Kangaroo on road could have caused triple-fatal crash
The collision involving two SUVs occurred about 7.20am on Sunday on Bolinda-Darraweit Road in the Macedon Ranges, northwest of Melbourne.
The triple fatality brought the number of lives lost on Victorian roads in 72 hours to six, prompting renewed warnings from authorities.
Three people travelling in one SUV died at the scene, while two others involved in the crash were taken to hospital, one of whom had life-threatening injuries.
A dead kangaroo was found near the scene, with police looking into whether one of the SUVs had veered to avoid it.
"It appears one of the vehicles has veered into incoming traffic ... and they've collided head-on, which has caused the catastrophic scene," Senior Sergeant Ben Morris told reporters.
"We're not 100 per cent sure ... we're still working through the scene to confirm the involvement of the animal."
A motorist died hours later after a head-on collision on the Western Highway in Buangor, about 181km west of Melbourne.
Police were called to the scene after a car reportedly veered onto the wrong side of the freeway and collided with another vehicle.
The driver of the first car died at the scene and has yet to be formally identified.
The second car's driver was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, while a female passenger was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries.
In a separate incident on Saturday night, a rider died and another is fighting for life after a crash involving two motorcycles and two vehicles on the Western Freeway at Grangefields, near Melbourne.
A 16-year-old boy died in the city's east on Friday after being hit by a car, while an e-bike rider was critically injured in Geelong.
Road Policing Command Superintendent Justin Goldsmith said most of the serious collisions at the weekend were on regional roads.
"Every life lost is one too many," he said.
"What we have seen this weekend has been devastating and there are many families whose lives have changed forever as a result of the trauma on our roads."
Ambulance Victoria CEO Jordan Emery described the fatalities and injuries as the most horrific of circumstances.
"As a paramedic, I realise that these events are part of our job, but the tragic loss of life through road trauma is especially tough," he said."If there is one message we can send, it's to please take care when on the road. The impact is felt well beyond those behind the wheel."
There have been 156 lives lost on Victorian roads this year, 15 more than the same time in 2024.
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Perth Now
12 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Nine key issues in mushroom murder case
After four lunch guests fell critically ill following a beef wellington meal, Victorian authorities raced to understand what happened. It would be more than three months before homicide squad detectives arrested Erin Patterson at her Leongatha home and laid charges of murder and attempted murder. Over 10 weeks, details of Patterson's actions in the lead up to the fatal lunch and afterwards were drawn into sharp focus as more than 50 witnesses – including Patterson herself – were grilled in the witness box. On Monday, after seven days of deliberations, the jury unanimously found Patterson guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. Erin Patterson spent eight days in the witness box giving evidence. NewsWire / Anita Lester Credit: News Corp Australia Prosecutors argued the only reasonable explanation for what happened is Patterson knowingly seeking out death cap mushrooms and including them in the lunch on July 29, 2023, intending to kill her or seriously injure her guests. Her defence, on the other hand, argued Patterson accidentally included the deadly mushrooms and acted poorly out of panic she would be wrongly blamed. Patterson's parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson died from multiple organ failure linked to mushroom poisoning in the week following the lunch. During his final address to the jury, on day 40 of the trial, Justice Christopher Beale listed nine issues the jury would have to decide and summarised the evidence and arguments for each. These were; Whether Patterson deliberately included death cap mushrooms in the meal; Whether she had the state of mind necessary for the charges; Whether she had good reasons not to kill her lunch guests; Whether she foraged for edible wild mushrooms; Why her children were not at the lunch; Why Patterson cooked individual beef wellingtons; Whether the lunch guests had different-coloured dinner plates; Whether Patterson allocated her own plate; Whether Patterson engaged in incriminating conduct after the lunch. Patterson had maintained she did not intentionally harm anyone. Supplied. Credit: Supplied The judge said the 'ultimate' issues were whether Patterson deliberately included death caps and whether she had the state of mind necessary, but the other issues could inform their judgement on those issues. Justice Beale told jurors the case had attracted 'unprecedented media attention' and directed them to not let it influence them. 'No-one in the media, in public, in your workplace, or in your homes have sat in that jury box throughout the trial, seeing and hearing all the witnesses, mostly in person,' he said. 'You, and you alone, are best placed to decide whether the prosecution have proved their case beyond reasonable doubt. No-one else.' During the trial, the jury heard Patterson extended invitations to her husband Simon Patterson and four of his family members after the Sunday service at the Korumburra Baptist Church on July 16. Ian Wilkinson, Heather's husband and the Church's pastor, recalled his wife was 'fairly excited'. 'We were very happy to be invited, yes. It seemed like maybe our relationship with Erin was going to improve,' he told the jury. Ian told the court his wife expressed confusion about the differently coloured plates after they fell ill. NewsWire / Diego Fedele Credit: News Corp Australia Simon initially agreed to attend, but pulled out the night before, texting Patterson that he was 'too uncomfortable' with the prospect. He told the court he and Patterson had an amicable relationship in the years since their separation in 2015, but things had changed at the end of 2022. She responded minutes later, saying she was disappointed and urging Simon to change his mind. ' … I wanted it to be a special meal as I may not be able to host a lunch like this again for some time,' she wrote. On the stand, Patterson said she may have exaggerated but wanted to make Simon feel bad for not attending. Simon Patterson told the jury he remains married to Patterson. Picture. NewsWire/Nadir Kinani Credit: News Corp Australia The four lunch guests, Don, Gail, Ian and Heather, arrived together about 12.30pm and were shown around the home Patterson had built the year prior. They sat down and ate the individually-portioned beef wellingtons and left about 3.45pm, with each of the guests falling ill overnight. Giving evidence, Ian Wilkinson recalled Patterson eating off a smaller 'orangey-tan' coloured plate while the guests ate off larger grey plates. He also said Patterson revealed a cancer diagnosis, asked for advice on how to break the news to her two children and the group praying together. Patterson herself, confirmed she had never been diagnosed with cancer and disputed she said she did, but recalled insinuating she was undergoing medical testing for a cancer concern. This, she agreed, was a lie, but explained she was planning to have weight loss surgery and intended to use the lie as cover to avoid embarrassing conversations. Heather Wilkinson was the first of the lunch guests to die, while Ian survived. Supplied. Credit: Supplied Patterson told the jury she did not own white plates or any sets of four matching plates, with her lawyers arguing Ian was mistaken. On the stand, she also claimed she'd never made beef wellington before and modified a RecipeTin Eats recipe from a traditional log to individual portions because she could not find an appropriate cut of meat. Each of the lunch guests were in hospital the morning of July 30 and their conditions continued to deteriorate to the point the quartet were on life support and in induced comas by August 1. Patterson meanwhile, said she was suffering regular diarrhoea but drove her son to a flying lesson in Tyabb – a more than two hour round trip – in the afternoon of July 30. She attended Leongatha Hospital the following day, where she was told by Dr Chris Webster that doctors suspected death cap poisoning in the other guests and she needed immediate treatment. Patterson discharged herself against medical advice about 5 minutes after arriving and returned an hour and 38 minutes later when she was admitted. She told the jury she attended thinking she had gastro and was not prepared to be admitted but returned after sorting a few things out at home. Patterson was taken to hospital in Melbourne, alongside her two children who she claimed to have served leftovers with the pastry and mushrooms scrapped off for dinner on July 30. The trio were discharged the following day on August 1 and returned home. None of the medical witnesses in the trial said Patterson appeared unwell and she showed no markers of death cap poisoning but intensive care specialist Professor Andrew Bersten said her medical records were consistent with a diarrhoeal illness. Heather Wilkinson and Gail Patterson both died on August 4 and Don Patterson died the following day. Simon's parents Don and Gail Patterson died a day apart. Supplied Credit: Supplied The jury heard the morning after Patterson was discharged, she drove to the Koonwarra Transfer Station and dumped her dehydrator which was later located by police and found to have death cap remnants. Prosecutors alleged Patterson deliberately sourced the death caps, pointing to two sightings posted to citizen science website iNaturalist in the nearby towns of Loch and Outtrim. They also pointed to evidence from digital forensic scientist Dr Matthew Sorrell that her phone records indicate possible visits to those towns in April and May. Prosecutors alleged Patterson made individual portions of beef wellington so she could control what went into them to 'devastating effect'. They alleged she feigned death cap poisoning, spun a story about feeding the leftovers to her children and dumped the dehydrator as an effort to avoid suspicion. 'She has told lies upon lies because she knew the truth would implicate her,' Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC said. 'When she knew her lies had been uncovered, she came up with a carefully constructed narrative to fit with the evidence – almost.' Prosecutors called on the jury to reject Patterson's account. On the stand, Patterson denied deliberately sourcing the death caps but told the jury she was an amateur wild mushroom forager. She said she picked and dehydrated mushrooms from the Korumburra Botanical Gardens earlier that year and now believes it's possible she accidentally included them in the meal. Patterson told the jury she'd bought dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer in Melbourne in April that year, storing them in a Tupperware container in her pantry and adding them to the duxelles because she thought the dish was 'a little bland'. Patterson told the jury she developed an interest in foraging in early 2020. Brooke Grebert-Craig. Credit: Supplied Explaining why she dumped the dehydrator, Patterson said Simon had accused her of using it to poison his parents while in hospital on August 1 and she began to panic fearing she would be wrongly blamed. She also confirmed she did not tell anyone, from police to doctors and public health authorities about her foraging or suspicion. 'The lies in the days afterwards – everything that she does in the days afterwards, doesn't change what her intention was at the time of serving the meal,' defence barrister Colin Mandy SC said. 'And a person, you might think, who accidentally made four people very unwell … that person has a motive to tell a lot of lies.' There has been a significant media presence in Morwell. NewsWire / Diego Fedele Credit: News Corp Australia Her defence pointed to a lack of motive put forward by the prosecution, suggesting all the evidence in the case indicated she had good relationships with her in-laws. 'Erin Patterson had a motive to keep these people in her world … especially so they could keep supporting her and her children,' Mr Mandy said. Patterson's defence pointed to three biological markers; low potassium, elevated haemoglobin and elevated fibrinogen; as evidence she was sick, just not sick as her guests. Mr Mandy said the evidence in the trial was people could have different severity of illness from death cap poisoning and Patterson had given an account of vomiting in the hours after the lunch. She will return to court at a later date.
Perth Now
16 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Mushroom cook guilty of lunch murders
After nine weeks of trial in the country Victorian town of Morwell, it took jurors seven days to return unanimous verdicts finding Erin Patterson guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. 'Guilty,' the forewoman said after each charge was read. Erin appeared in court dressed in a paisley top, and appeared nervous as the courtroom packed out ahead of the bombshell verdict. She tried to meet the eyes of the jurors as they entered the room about 2.16pm, but not one met her gaze. She remained expressionless as the forewoman softly said 'guilty' in response to each charge. There were soft gaps from some members of the public as the first verdict was read, and one supporter of Ms Patterson was seen shallow breathing and staring at the ceiling. Outside the court, about 200 people were gathered. Erin Patterson has been found guilty of murdering three of Simon Patterson's family members with a beef wellington lunch. Supplied. Credit: Supplied What was the trial about The case had centred around a lunch Patterson hosted on July 29, 2023, at her Leongatha home about a 45 minute drive southwest of Morwell. At the lunch were her estranged husband's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt and uncle, Heather and Ian Wilkinson. At the meal, the five people present at individually-portioned beef wellington parcels Patterson had modified from a RecipeTin Eats recipe. During the trial, jurors were told by Patterson's defence that it was not disputed that death caps were in the lunch, but the key question was whether she had deliberately poisoned her guests. The trial was told Patterson invited her husband, Simon Patterson, to the lunch as well, however he pulled out the night before via text. Each of the guests fell critically ill after the lunch, with Don, Gail and Heather dying of multiple organ failure caused by death cap mushroom poisoning in early August. Ian, the pastor of the Korumburra Baptist Church, recovered after spending about a month and a half in hospital. Simon Patterson's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, died a day apart in early August 2023. Supplied Credit: Supplied Gail Wilkinson was the first lunch guest to die on August 4, while Ian survived. Supplied. Credit: Supplied The jury heard the four family members began experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms about 12 hours after the lunch and were taken to hospital the following morning on July 30. The two couples' conditions rapidly declined and each were in induced comas by August 1. Conversely, the jury heard, Patterson told others she began experiencing loose stools the afternoon following the lunch and suffered diarrhoea regularly through the night. She attended the Leongatha Hospital the morning of July 31, two days after the lunch, was taken to Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne and released on August 1. Doctors found no clinical or biochemical evidence of amanita (death cap) poisoning, although an intensive care specialist said her medical records were consistent with a diarrhoeal illness. What the prosecution and defence said Prosecutors argued the evidence could prove she intentionally sourced and included the deadly fungi while defence maintained it was an accidental poisoning. In her closing remarks, Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC pointed to five 'calculated deceptions' she said sat at the heart of the case against Patterson. These allegedly were; a fake cancer diagnosis used as pretence for the lunch, that a lethal dose of death caps were 'secreted' in the meal, Patterson faking the same illness as her guests, a 'sustained cover up' and, untruthful evidence given from the witness box. Dr Rogers argued Patterson's actions in the days following the lunch could only reasonably be explained by her knowing the guests were poisoned with death caps while she was not. Jurors were told these included dumping a dehydrator on August 2 that was later found to contain death cap remnants and lying to police by claiming she had never foraged for mushrooms or owned a dehydrator. It was also alleged she lied about feeding leftovers from the meal, with the mushrooms scraped off, to her children the night after the lunch as an effort to deflect suspicion. Dr Rogers said, on the evidence, the jury could 'safely reject any reasonable possibility that this was a terrible accident' and allow them to find she committed each of the crimes. 'We say there is no reasonable alternative explanation for what happened to the lunch guests, other than the accused deliberately sourced death cap mushrooms and deliberately included them in the meal she served them, with an intention to kill them,' she said. Prosecutors alleged a sixth beef wellington was made for Simon Patterson if he attended. Picture. NewsWire/Nadir Kinani Credit: News Corp Australia She pointed to evidence Patterson had previously used the website iNaturalist to look up death cap sightings in May 2022 and her phone records to suggest she deliberately sought out the poisonous mushroom in April and May 2023. One iNaturalist post on April 18 identified them growing in Loch while a second post on May 21 located death caps in Outtrim. 'This evidence tends to show that the accused had the opportunity to source death cap mushrooms at a time approximate to the lunch,' Dr Rogers said. The prosecutor also pointed to an image found on a Samsung tablet of mushrooms on a dehydrator tray that an expert said was 'consistent' with death caps. Dr Rogers also submitted lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson's testimony of Patterson eating from a different plate to her guests as a 'striking piece of evidence'. 'That choice to make individual portions allowed her complete control over the ingredients in each individual parcel,' she said. 'It is a control, the prosecution says, that she exercised with devastating effect.' Chief Prosecutor Nanette Rogers departs from the Latrobe Valley Court in Morwell. NewsWire / Diego Fedele Credit: News Corp Australia Turning to Patterson's time in the witness box, including when she claimed to have been foraging for mushrooms for years, Dr Rogers urged the jury to reject her account. 'You should simply disregard this new claim that this was a horrible foraging accident, as nothing more than an attempt by the accused to get her story to fit the evidence that the police compiled in this case,' she said. 'She has told too many lies and you should reject her evidence.' Patterson's defence, led by barrister Colin Mandy SC, argued the prosecution had worked back from the belief she must be responsible for what happened and cherry picked evidence that supported this. He sought to paint the case against his client as 'illogical' and 'absurd', highlighting that there was no identified motive for what Patterson had allegedly done. Mr Mandy said the evidence in this case showed Patterson loved her in-laws and had a mostly positive relationship with Simon Patterson since their separation in 2015. 'Why on earth would anyone want to kill these people?' he asked. 'There's no possible prospect that Erin wanted in those circumstances to destroy her whole world, her whole life. Surely it's more likely that her account is true.' Defence Barrister Colin Mandy SC told the jury the case against Ms Patterson was 'illogical' and 'absurd'. NewsWire / Diego Fedele Credit: News Corp Australia Mr Mandy pointed to Patterson's testimony from the witness box, where she said she was feeling isolated from her support network by Simon and the lunch was a proactive effort to keep the family in her and her children's lives. He argued her account was far more likely than the prosecution's 'convoluted' theory Patterson planned for these murders months out. Patterson told the jury she'd always loved eating mushrooms and developed an interest in foraging wild mushrooms during the early Covid lockdowns of 2020. She maintained what she told health authorities after the lunch was true, that she used fresh button mushrooms from Woolworths and added a packet of dried mushrooms purchased from an Asian grocer in Melbourne earlier that year. But Patterson said she now believed she may have added dehydrated wild mushrooms to the same Tupperware container she stored the purchased mushrooms in her pantry. Mr Mandy told the court his client admits she lied to police and tried to hide the dehydrator, explaining it as the actions of a woman who believed she would be wrongly blamed. 'You heard the accused say that she regrets telling lies, but that's what she did,' he said. 'She's not on trial for being a liar.' The defence barrister argued the evidence his client had previously looked up death caps on iNaturalist had an innocent explanation – that a novice forager would want to see if the deadly mushroom grew in her area. He pointed to Patterson's account of binge eating cake and vomiting after the lunch as a possible explanation for why she did not get as sick as her guests. But Mr Mandy also said the expert evidence in the case was that two people, eating the same meal containing death caps, could experience different severity of illness based on a range of personal factors. Patterson will return to court at a later date.
Perth Now
27 minutes ago
- Perth Now
‘Betrayal': Big call after childcare horror
Sussan Ley is calling on Anthony Albanese to work together on bolstering children's safety laws after horrific allegations of sex abuse at a childcare centre. Last week, detectives arrested and charged Joshua Dale Brown, 26, with more than 70 offences, including child rape and possession of child abuse material. He was a worker at a Melbourne childcare centre and had a working with children check. The Opposition Leader said on Monday it was 'an incredible betrayal'. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is calling on Labor to take a bipartisan approach to bolstering child protection laws. Martin Ollman / NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia 'I just felt physically sick when I heard this,' Ms Ley told Seven's Sunrise. 'So I have written to the Prime Minister in good faith to offer our constructive engagement in the lead-up to parliament returning so that we can have legislation ready to go to actually act once and for all, to do what I think every parent would expect, and every community member would expect, to make sure our children are safe in childcare settings.' A royal commission into child sexual abuse was completed in late 2017. Ms Ley was the assistant education minister responsible for childcare when the inquiry started in 2013. She also held ministerial positions in the Coalition governments during the royal commission and after it. Asked if last week's allegations were a 'failure of the Coalition', Ms Ley insisted that her side got the ball rolling and Labor kept up momentum. 'Now, we certainly need that work to be accelerated,' she said. Pressed on what the Coalition did when it received the royal commission's final report, she said the states and territories held most of the responsibility. Though, she was quick to deny that she was blaming state and territory governments. Joshua Brown worked at Creative Garden Early Learning in Point Cook. NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia 'I'm not stepping back from saying that things need to be done, but I am recognising that state governments do own a lot of this,' Ms Ley said. 'For example, the Victorian state government has, if I can describe them, weaker working with children checks than any other state. 'And we all need the states to step up and own this because if they just say, as they often do in these instances, we want our system to prevail, then they're not acting either.' She added that federal intervention 'won't necessarily cover every single working with children check' because they were a state-level responsibility, but it would 'cover other measures that can take place in childcare centres that the Commonwealth may be able to hold some levers of control'. Education Minister Jason Clare last week vowed to introduce legislation that would let Canberra cut federal funds to childcare centres that 'aren't up to scratch' on children's safety. He said funding was one big lever the federal government could pull. In a separate case, the Herald Sun revealed over the weekend that a man convicted of accessing nearly 1000 images of child abuse material visited childcare centres while awaiting prosecution for some three years.
