Underworld figure offers cemetery as bail collateral
An underworld figure desperate for release from prison has wagered a multi-million-dollar cemetery as collateral, taking a judge by surprise.
Omar Haouchar, 32, was arrested in January over an alleged conspiracy to murder a rival gang member outside the Day St police station in Sydney's city centre.
His barrister told a Supreme Court bail hearing that a person close to Haouchar had put forward a cemetery as security to support his release application.
"I've never seen a cemetery offered as security before," Justice Ian Harrison told the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday.
The valuation of the cemetery was uncertain because, unlike its surrounding property, it was not available for subdivision, barrister Ertunc Ozen SC said.
But it was estimated to be worth millions of dollars.
Haouchar, who appeared in court via a video link from the Goulburn supermax remand centre, was previously denied bail in February.
Since that time, Mr Ozen said further documents had been tendered to the court by prosecutors, detailing evidence against his client.
Associates of the Haouchar crime network allegedly used encrypted app Threema to discuss murdering 30-year-old Andre Kallita in December 2023.
Prosecutors claimed that Haouchar was using the handle "Invisible" in an encrypted group chat titled "URGENT".
The murder plot involved a lookout, waiting to see Kallita report to the police station for bail, alerting two shooters waiting close by, according to a police statement filed with the NSW Supreme Court.
But Mr Ozen said there was insufficient evidence to prove Haouchar is Invisible.
"The Crown simply cannot tie Invisible to this applicant," he told the court.
"This is the crux of the crown case, and without that attribution, the crown case fails."
He also argued that since Haouchar's transfer to supermax, his ability to communicate with his legal team had been limited and this would result in delays to court proceedings.
"The conditions of custody make it nearly impossible for him to prepare for this matter," Mr Ozen said.
Crown prosecutor Rebecca Stefani opposed bail, arguing Haouchar posed a risk of committing further offences and attempting to leave the state.
She told the court he had spent 11 years in custody for a slew of offences.
These included reckless wounding, aggravated burglary and directing the activities of a criminal group.
The Haouchar syndicate, largely operated by leaders based in Lebanon, has been tied to $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency transactions and various firearm, drug, tobacco and money-laundering offences, police said previously.
Justice Harrison will make his decision on the bail application after further submissions have been filed.
An underworld figure desperate for release from prison has wagered a multi-million-dollar cemetery as collateral, taking a judge by surprise.
Omar Haouchar, 32, was arrested in January over an alleged conspiracy to murder a rival gang member outside the Day St police station in Sydney's city centre.
His barrister told a Supreme Court bail hearing that a person close to Haouchar had put forward a cemetery as security to support his release application.
"I've never seen a cemetery offered as security before," Justice Ian Harrison told the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday.
The valuation of the cemetery was uncertain because, unlike its surrounding property, it was not available for subdivision, barrister Ertunc Ozen SC said.
But it was estimated to be worth millions of dollars.
Haouchar, who appeared in court via a video link from the Goulburn supermax remand centre, was previously denied bail in February.
Since that time, Mr Ozen said further documents had been tendered to the court by prosecutors, detailing evidence against his client.
Associates of the Haouchar crime network allegedly used encrypted app Threema to discuss murdering 30-year-old Andre Kallita in December 2023.
Prosecutors claimed that Haouchar was using the handle "Invisible" in an encrypted group chat titled "URGENT".
The murder plot involved a lookout, waiting to see Kallita report to the police station for bail, alerting two shooters waiting close by, according to a police statement filed with the NSW Supreme Court.
But Mr Ozen said there was insufficient evidence to prove Haouchar is Invisible.
"The Crown simply cannot tie Invisible to this applicant," he told the court.
"This is the crux of the crown case, and without that attribution, the crown case fails."
He also argued that since Haouchar's transfer to supermax, his ability to communicate with his legal team had been limited and this would result in delays to court proceedings.
"The conditions of custody make it nearly impossible for him to prepare for this matter," Mr Ozen said.
Crown prosecutor Rebecca Stefani opposed bail, arguing Haouchar posed a risk of committing further offences and attempting to leave the state.
She told the court he had spent 11 years in custody for a slew of offences.
These included reckless wounding, aggravated burglary and directing the activities of a criminal group.
The Haouchar syndicate, largely operated by leaders based in Lebanon, has been tied to $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency transactions and various firearm, drug, tobacco and money-laundering offences, police said previously.
Justice Harrison will make his decision on the bail application after further submissions have been filed.
An underworld figure desperate for release from prison has wagered a multi-million-dollar cemetery as collateral, taking a judge by surprise.
Omar Haouchar, 32, was arrested in January over an alleged conspiracy to murder a rival gang member outside the Day St police station in Sydney's city centre.
His barrister told a Supreme Court bail hearing that a person close to Haouchar had put forward a cemetery as security to support his release application.
"I've never seen a cemetery offered as security before," Justice Ian Harrison told the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday.
The valuation of the cemetery was uncertain because, unlike its surrounding property, it was not available for subdivision, barrister Ertunc Ozen SC said.
But it was estimated to be worth millions of dollars.
Haouchar, who appeared in court via a video link from the Goulburn supermax remand centre, was previously denied bail in February.
Since that time, Mr Ozen said further documents had been tendered to the court by prosecutors, detailing evidence against his client.
Associates of the Haouchar crime network allegedly used encrypted app Threema to discuss murdering 30-year-old Andre Kallita in December 2023.
Prosecutors claimed that Haouchar was using the handle "Invisible" in an encrypted group chat titled "URGENT".
The murder plot involved a lookout, waiting to see Kallita report to the police station for bail, alerting two shooters waiting close by, according to a police statement filed with the NSW Supreme Court.
But Mr Ozen said there was insufficient evidence to prove Haouchar is Invisible.
"The Crown simply cannot tie Invisible to this applicant," he told the court.
"This is the crux of the crown case, and without that attribution, the crown case fails."
He also argued that since Haouchar's transfer to supermax, his ability to communicate with his legal team had been limited and this would result in delays to court proceedings.
"The conditions of custody make it nearly impossible for him to prepare for this matter," Mr Ozen said.
Crown prosecutor Rebecca Stefani opposed bail, arguing Haouchar posed a risk of committing further offences and attempting to leave the state.
She told the court he had spent 11 years in custody for a slew of offences.
These included reckless wounding, aggravated burglary and directing the activities of a criminal group.
The Haouchar syndicate, largely operated by leaders based in Lebanon, has been tied to $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency transactions and various firearm, drug, tobacco and money-laundering offences, police said previously.
Justice Harrison will make his decision on the bail application after further submissions have been filed.
An underworld figure desperate for release from prison has wagered a multi-million-dollar cemetery as collateral, taking a judge by surprise.
Omar Haouchar, 32, was arrested in January over an alleged conspiracy to murder a rival gang member outside the Day St police station in Sydney's city centre.
His barrister told a Supreme Court bail hearing that a person close to Haouchar had put forward a cemetery as security to support his release application.
"I've never seen a cemetery offered as security before," Justice Ian Harrison told the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday.
The valuation of the cemetery was uncertain because, unlike its surrounding property, it was not available for subdivision, barrister Ertunc Ozen SC said.
But it was estimated to be worth millions of dollars.
Haouchar, who appeared in court via a video link from the Goulburn supermax remand centre, was previously denied bail in February.
Since that time, Mr Ozen said further documents had been tendered to the court by prosecutors, detailing evidence against his client.
Associates of the Haouchar crime network allegedly used encrypted app Threema to discuss murdering 30-year-old Andre Kallita in December 2023.
Prosecutors claimed that Haouchar was using the handle "Invisible" in an encrypted group chat titled "URGENT".
The murder plot involved a lookout, waiting to see Kallita report to the police station for bail, alerting two shooters waiting close by, according to a police statement filed with the NSW Supreme Court.
But Mr Ozen said there was insufficient evidence to prove Haouchar is Invisible.
"The Crown simply cannot tie Invisible to this applicant," he told the court.
"This is the crux of the crown case, and without that attribution, the crown case fails."
He also argued that since Haouchar's transfer to supermax, his ability to communicate with his legal team had been limited and this would result in delays to court proceedings.
"The conditions of custody make it nearly impossible for him to prepare for this matter," Mr Ozen said.
Crown prosecutor Rebecca Stefani opposed bail, arguing Haouchar posed a risk of committing further offences and attempting to leave the state.
She told the court he had spent 11 years in custody for a slew of offences.
These included reckless wounding, aggravated burglary and directing the activities of a criminal group.
The Haouchar syndicate, largely operated by leaders based in Lebanon, has been tied to $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency transactions and various firearm, drug, tobacco and money-laundering offences, police said previously.
Justice Harrison will make his decision on the bail application after further submissions have been filed.
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Perth Now
3 hours ago
- Perth Now
Mushroom cook's lies exposed in court
Almost two years after four of her husband's family members fell deathly ill following a lunch she hosted, alleged poisoner Erin Patterson has broken her silence. For eight days, the 50-year-old sat in the witness box of a regional Victorian courtroom as she answered thousands of questions about her life, her relationships and the events surrounding July 29, 2023. Her evidence was, at times, intensely personal as the alleged triple-murderer spoke about issues in her marriage, feeling ostracised from her husband's family, lies she told and an eating disorder no one knew about. And it all played out in front of a jury of her peers, her in-laws and a packed public gallery – some lining up for hours in near-zero temperatures to ensure a seat in the second floor courtroom. Erin Patterson maintains she did not want to harm anyone. Brooke Grebert-Craig. Credit: Supplied This Thursday, on day 31 of the trial, senior Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC closed off five days of cross-examination with three questions that lie at the heart of the Crown's case. 'I suggest that you deliberately sourced death cap mushrooms in 2023; agree or disagree?' Dr Rogers asked. 'Disagree.' 'I suggest you deliberately included them in the beef Wellingtons you served to Don Patterson, Gail Patterson, Ian Wilkinson and Heather Wilkinson; agree or disagree?' 'Disagree.' 'And you did so intending to kill them; agree or disagree?' 'Disagree.' Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC is leading the prosecution of Ms Patterson. NewsWire/ David Crosling Credit: News Corp Australia Ms Patterson has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder with her defence arguing she did not intentionally poison anyone and the case is a tragic accident. Her estranged husband Simon Patterson's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt, Heather Wilkinson died from death cap mushroom poisoning in the week after eating a beef wellington lunch she hosted. The fourth guest, Heather's husband Korumburra Baptist Church pastor Ian Wilkinson, recovered and has been a regular face in the Morwell courtroom alongside other members of the Wilkinson and Patterson families. Members of the Wilkinson family, including Ian Wilkinson and Ruth Dubios. NewsWire / Diego Fedele Credit: News Corp Australia On the stand, Ms Patterson denied wanting to harm any of her four guests and said the July 29 lunch was spurred by a desire to close some distance she had felt in recent months. She told the jury after her separation from Simon in 2015, Don and Gail had remained central figures in her life, particularly after the deaths of her own parents. But she felt Simon had a hand in ostracising her from his family and had decided to be more proactive 'so I didn't lose that connection'. She said Simon and her had struggled to communicate over the entirety of their relationship but remained close after their split until a child support dispute in late 2022 created tension. 'We didn't relate on friend things, banter, like we used to. That changed at the start of the year,' she said. Simon Patterson was the first witness called by the prosecution. Picture. NewsWire/Nadir Kinani Credit: News Corp Australia Ms Patterson told the jury she chose to make beef wellington for the lunch because it was a dish her mother would make for special occasions, modifying Nagi Maehashi's recipe from a log to individual portions because she could only find eye-fillet steaks. She said she primarily used button mushrooms from Woolworths to make the duxelles, or mushroom paste, but added dried mushrooms from her pantry because the dish 'seemed a little bland'. She gave evidence the dried mushrooms were purchased from an Asian grocer in Melbourne's east in about April the same year and had a 'pungent smell'. 'I thought it was the perfect dish for them,' the accused woman said. Ms Patterson said she made six beef wellingtons, serving five to herself and her guests, and serving the last one to her children for dinner the following night with the pastry and mushrooms scrapped off. Don and Gail Patterson died a day apart in early August. Supplied Credit: Supplied She said in the aftermath of the lunch she believed she only used mushrooms from the two sources but now accepts she 'may' have added dehydrated wild mushrooms to the Tupperware container in her pantry. The jury heard Ms Patterson bought a dehydrator on April 28, 2023. She told the court she bought the Sunbeam device so she could preserve foods including wild mushrooms and denied a suggestion by prosecutors that the purchase was made two hours after picking death cap mushrooms in the nearby town of Loch. She further disputed Dr Roger's suggestion that a photo located in the Google Photos cache data on a Samsung tablet depicts death caps on a dehydrator tray with the last modified date of May 4. In her recorded interview with police a week after the lunch, Ms Patterson said she'd never foraged for mushrooms. On the stand however, she admitted this was a lie, telling the jury she developed an interest in wild mushrooms during the early 2020 Covid lockdowns. A court sketch of Ms Patterson on her first day on the stand. NewsWire / Anita Lester Credit: News Corp Australia Over a period of months she said she grew confident in identifying field and horse mushrooms in the paddocks on her property, before 'eventually' eating them. 'I cut a bit off one of the mushrooms, fried it up with some butter, ate it, and then saw what happened,' she said. 'They tasted good and I didn't get sick.' Ms Patterson said over the following years she would go foraging in nearby areas and cook the wild mushrooms into meals for her and her children. But she said she'd never foraged at two locations, Loch and Outtrim, where prosecutors allege phone records indicate a possible visit after death cap sightings were posted on iNaturalist. In cross-examination, she refuted a suggestion by Dr Rogers that her interest in mushrooms was invented 'to try and explain why you put foraged death cap mushrooms in the meal'. In her evidence, the accused woman disputed several aspects of lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson's account to the jury of the event. He described the four lunch guests eating off large grey plates while Ms Patterson ate off a smaller 'orangey-tan' plate and her sharing an ovarian cancer diagnosis and asking for advice on how to tell the children. Ian Wilkinson has regularly attended court for the seven week trial. NewsWire/ David Crosling Credit: News Corp Australia Ms Patterson said she did not own grey plates, nor an orangey-tan one or even four plates of a set. The jury was shown images taken from the police walk-through on August 5 which show two white plates, two black plates, a black and red plate and a multi-coloured plate. Ms Patterson confirmed these were the only plates she owned. She also disputed that she told the guests she had cancer, claiming she said she might have some 'upcoming treatment' after telling Don and Gail she was receiving testing on a lump on her elbow earlier that year. Ms Patterson admitted she lied to Don and Gail about undergoing a needle biopsy and MRI but said she was planning on using the lump, which has resolved itself, as cover for weight-loss surgery. 'I'd been fighting a never-ending battle of low self-esteem most of my adult life, and the further inroads I made into being middle aged, the less I felt good about myself, I suppose,' she said. 'I was ashamed of the fact that I didn't have control over my body or what I ate … I shouldn't have lied to them.' Erin Patterson's defence is lead by barrister Colin Mandy SC with Sophie Stafford. NewsWire / Diego Fedele Credit: News Corp Australia Ms Patterson told the court she'd never had a 'healthy relationship' with food and had been bingeing and purging since her 20s – something she hid from everyone around her. 'In some intense periods it could have been daily, then it could be weekly or monthly,' she said. She said at the lunch she only ate a portion of her beef wellington but after her guests left, she cleaned up and binged on an orange cake Gail had brought. 'I had a piece of cake and then another piece of cake and then another,' she said, her voice faltering. The alleged poisoner said she felt sick and 'brought it back up' some time that afternoon, but would not be drawn on if she vomited the beef wellington. 'I couldn't be sure what was in my vomit,' she said. Ms Patterson disputed a suggestion by Dr Rogers that her account of vomiting was a lie to account for why she didn't fall seriously ill like her guests. 'I wish that was true, but it's not,' she said. Crowds have gathered outside court to attend the hearing. NewsWire/ David Crosling Credit: News Corp Australia Ms Patterson said she had a pre-assessment scheduled for gastric bypass surgery at the ENRICH Clinic in Melbourne two months after the lunch but cancelled it in the fallout. In a last-minute statement produced by prosecutors on June 11, ENRICH Clinic testified they'd never offered gastric bypass surgery. Ms Patterson refused to concede she lied, saying that was her memory but perhaps it was another weight loss procedure, such as liposuction. Her barrister Colin Mandy SC later produced a screenshot of the ENRICH Clinic's website, which contained a post saying they stopped offering liposuction in June 2024. After Ms Patterson's evidence concluded on Thursday, jurors were told by Justice Christopher Beale that marked the 'completion of the evidence in this case'. The trial is expected to resume on Monday as prosecutors deliver their closing address before the defence follows suit. The trial continues.
Perth Now
11 hours ago
- Perth Now
Mushroom cook Erin Patterson breaks her silence
Almost two years after four of her husband's family members fell deathly ill following a lunch she hosted, alleged poisoner Erin Patterson has broken her silence. For eight days, the 50-year-old sat in the witness box of a regional Victorian courtroom as she answered thousands of questions about her life, her relationships and the events surrounding July 29, 2023. Her evidence was, at times, intensely personal as the alleged triple-murderer spoke about issues in her marriage, feeling ostracised from her husband's family, lies she told and an eating disorder no one knew about. And it all played out in front of a jury of her peers, her in-laws and a packed public gallery – some lining up for hours in near-zero temperatures to ensure a seat in the second-floor courtroom. Erin Patterson has finished her marathon session giving evidence in her triple-murder trial. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS) Credit: AAP This Thursday, on day 31 of the trial, senior Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC closed off five days of cross-examination with three questions that lie at the heart of the Crown's case. 'I suggest that you deliberately sourced death cap mushrooms in 2023; agree or disagree?' Dr Rogers asked. 'Disagree.' 'I suggest you deliberately included them in the beef Wellingtons you served to Don Patterson, Gail Patterson, Ian Wilkinson and Heather Wilkinson; agree or disagree?' 'Disagree.' 'And you did so intending to kill them; agree or disagree?' 'Disagree.' Ms Patterson has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder with her defence arguing she did not intentionally poison anyone and the case is a tragic accident. Her estranged husband Simon Patterson's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt, Heather Wilkinson died from death cap mushroom poisoning in the week after eating a beef wellington lunch she hosted. The fourth guest, Heather's husband Korumburra Baptist Church pastor Ian Wilkinson, recovered and has been a regular face in the Morwell courtroom alongside other members of the Wilkinson and Patterson families. Korumburra pastor Ian Wilkinson and wife Heather Wilkinson also ate the beef wellington. Supplied. Credit: Supplied On the stand, Ms Patterson denied wanting to harm any of her four guests and said the July 29 lunch was spurred by a desire to close some distance she had felt in recent months. She told the jury after her separation from Simon in 2015, Don and Gail had remained central figures in her life, particularly after the deaths of her own parents. But she felt Simon had a hand in ostracising her from his family and had decided to be more proactive 'so I didn't lose that connection'. She said Simon and her had struggled to communicate over the entirety of their relationship but remained close after their split until a child support dispute in late 2022 created tension. 'We didn't relate on friend things, banter, like we used to. That changed at the start of the year,' she said. Ms Patterson's estranged husband Simon Patterson. NewsWire / David Geraghty Credit: News Corp Australia Ms Patterson told the jury she chose to make beef wellington for the lunch because it was a dish her mother would make for special occasions, modifying Nagi Maehashi's recipe from a log to individual portions because she could only find eye-fillet steaks. She said she primarily used button mushrooms from Woolworths to make the duxelles, or mushroom paste, but added dried mushrooms from her pantry because the dish 'seemed a little bland'. She gave evidence the dried mushrooms were purchased from an Asian grocer in Melbourne's east in about April the same year and had a 'pungent smell'. 'I thought it was the perfect dish for them,' the accused woman said. Ms Patterson said she made six beef wellingtons, serving five to herself and her guests, and serving the last one to her children for dinner the following night with the pastry and mushrooms scrapped off. She said in the aftermath of the lunch she believed she only used mushrooms from the two sources but now accepts she 'may' have added dehydrated wild mushrooms to the Tupperware container in her pantry. The jury heard Ms Patterson bought a dehydrator on April 28, 2023. She told the court she bought the Sunbeam device so she could preserve foods including wild mushrooms and denied a suggestion by prosecutors that the purchase was made two hours after picking death cap mushrooms in the nearby town of Loch. She further disputed Dr Roger's suggestion that a photo located in the Google Photos cache data on a Samsung tablet depicts death caps on a dehydrator tray with the last modified date of May 4. Erin Patterson is facing trial accused of murdering three of her husband's family members. NewsWire / Paul Tyquin Credit: News Corp Australia In her recorded interview with police a week after the lunch, Ms Patterson said she'd never foraged for mushrooms. On the stand however, she admitted this was a lie, telling the jury she developed an interest in wild mushrooms during the early 2020 Covid lockdowns. Over a period of months she said she grew confident in identifying field and horse mushrooms in the paddocks on her property, before 'eventually' eating them. 'I cut a bit off one of the mushrooms, fried it up with some butter, ate it, and then saw what happened,' she said. 'They tasted good and I didn't get sick.' Ms Patterson said over the following years she would go foraging in nearby areas and cook the wild mushrooms into meals for her and her children. But she said she'd never foraged at two locations, Loch and Outtrim, where prosecutors allege phone records indicate a possible visit after death cap sightings were posted on iNaturalist. In cross-examination, she refuted a suggestion by Dr Rogers that her interest in mushrooms was invented 'to try and explain why you put foraged death cap mushrooms in the meal'. In her evidence, the accused woman disputed several aspects of lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson's account to the jury of the event. He described the four lunch guests eating off large grey plates while Ms Patterson ate off a smaller 'orangey-tan' plate and her sharing an ovarian cancer diagnosis and asking for advice on how to tell the children. Ms Patterson said she did not own grey plates, nor an orangey-tan one or even four plates of a set. The jury was shown images taken from the police walk-through on August 5 which show two white plates, two black plates, a black and red plate and a multi-coloured plate. Ms Patterson confirmed these were the only plates she owned. A supplied image obtained on Saturday, August 12, 2023, of Don Patterson and Gail Patterson who died in hospital after eating a meal suspected to have contained poisoned mushroom. Homicide squad detectives are continuing to investigate how four guests became seriously ill after attending a lunch at a Leongatha home in Victoria's southeast on July 29. (AAP Image/Supplied by IntraWork Business Services) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY Credit: SUPPLIED / PR IMAGE She also disputed that she told the guests she had cancer, claiming she said she might have some 'upcoming treatment' after telling Don and Gail she was receiving testing on a lump on her elbow earlier that year. Ms Patterson admitted she lied to Don and Gail about undergoing a needle biopsy and MRI but said she was planning on using the lump, which has resolved itself, as cover for weight-loss surgery. 'I'd been fighting a never-ending battle of low self-esteem most of my adult life, and the further inroads I made into being middle aged, the less I felt good about myself, I suppose,' she said. 'I was ashamed of the fact that I didn't have control over my body or what I ate … I shouldn't have lied to them.' Ms Patterson told the court she'd never had a 'healthy relationship' with food and had been bingeing and purging since her 20s – something she hid from everyone around her. 'In some intense periods it could have been daily, then it could be weekly or monthly,' she said. She said at the lunch she only ate a portion of her beef wellington but after her guests left, she cleaned up and binged on an orange cake Gail had brought. 'I had a piece of cake and then another piece of cake and then another,' she said, her voice faltering. The alleged poisoner said she felt sick and 'brought it back up' some time that afternoon, but would not be drawn on if she vomited the beef wellington. 'I couldn't be sure what was in my vomit,' she said. Ms Patterson disputed a suggestion by Dr Rogers that her account of vomiting was a lie to account for why she didn't fall seriously ill like her guests. 'I wish that was true, but it's not,' she said. Ms Patterson said she had a pre-assessment scheduled for gastric bypass surgery at the ENRICH Clinic in Melbourne two months after the lunch but cancelled it in the fallout. In a last-minute statement produced by prosecutors on June 11, ENRICH Clinic testified they'd never offered gastric bypass surgery. Ms Patterson refused to concede she lied, saying that was her memory but perhaps it was another weight loss procedure, such as liposuction. Her barrister Colin Mandy SC later produced a screenshot of the ENRICH Clinic's website, which contained a post saying they stopped offering liposuction in June 2024. After Ms Patterson's evidence concluded on Thursday, jurors were told by Justice Christopher Beale that marked the 'completion of the evidence in this case'. The trial is expected to resume on Monday as prosecutors deliver their closing address before the defence follows suit. The trial continues.
West Australian
18 hours ago
- West Australian
Erin Patterson trial: Cook breaks her silence after eight days on the stand for triple-murder case
Almost two years after four of her husband's family members fell deathly ill following a lunch she hosted, alleged poisoner Erin Patterson has broken her silence. For eight days, the 50-year-old sat in the witness box of a regional Victorian courtroom as she answered thousands of questions about her life, her relationships and the events surrounding July 29, 2023. Her evidence was, at times, intensely personal as the alleged triple-murderer spoke about issues in her marriage, feeling ostracised from her husband's family, lies she told and an eating disorder no one knew about. And it all played out in front of a jury of her peers, her in-laws and a packed public gallery – some lining up for hours in near-zero temperatures to ensure a seat in the second-floor courtroom. This Thursday, on day 31 of the trial, senior Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC closed off five days of cross-examination with three questions that lie at the heart of the Crown's case. 'I suggest that you deliberately sourced death cap mushrooms in 2023; agree or disagree?' Dr Rogers asked. 'Disagree.' 'I suggest you deliberately included them in the beef Wellingtons you served to Don Patterson, Gail Patterson, Ian Wilkinson and Heather Wilkinson; agree or disagree?' 'Disagree.' 'And you did so intending to kill them; agree or disagree?' 'Disagree.' Ms Patterson has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder with her defence arguing she did not intentionally poison anyone and the case is a tragic accident. Her estranged husband Simon Patterson's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt, Heather Wilkinson died from death cap mushroom poisoning in the week after eating a beef wellington lunch she hosted. The fourth guest, Heather's husband Korumburra Baptist Church pastor Ian Wilkinson, recovered and has been a regular face in the Morwell courtroom alongside other members of the Wilkinson and Patterson families. On the stand, Ms Patterson denied wanting to harm any of her four guests and said the July 29 lunch was spurred by a desire to close some distance she had felt in recent months. She told the jury after her separation from Simon in 2015, Don and Gail had remained central figures in her life, particularly after the deaths of her own parents. But she felt Simon had a hand in ostracising her from his family and had decided to be more proactive 'so I didn't lose that connection'. She said Simon and her had struggled to communicate over the entirety of their relationship but remained close after their split until a child support dispute in late 2022 created tension. 'We didn't relate on friend things, banter, like we used to. That changed at the start of the year,' she said. Ms Patterson told the jury she chose to make beef wellington for the lunch because it was a dish her mother would make for special occasions, modifying Nagi Maehashi's recipe from a log to individual portions because she could only find eye-fillet steaks. She said she primarily used button mushrooms from Woolworths to make the duxelles, or mushroom paste, but added dried mushrooms from her pantry because the dish 'seemed a little bland'. She gave evidence the dried mushrooms were purchased from an Asian grocer in Melbourne's east in about April the same year and had a 'pungent smell'. 'I thought it was the perfect dish for them,' the accused woman said. Ms Patterson said she made six beef wellingtons, serving five to herself and her guests, and serving the last one to her children for dinner the following night with the pastry and mushrooms scrapped off. She said in the aftermath of the lunch she believed she only used mushrooms from the two sources but now accepts she 'may' have added dehydrated wild mushrooms to the Tupperware container in her pantry. The jury heard Ms Patterson bought a dehydrator on April 28, 2023. She told the court she bought the Sunbeam device so she could preserve foods including wild mushrooms and denied a suggestion by prosecutors that the purchase was made two hours after picking death cap mushrooms in the nearby town of Loch. She further disputed Dr Roger's suggestion that a photo located in the Google Photos cache data on a Samsung tablet depicts death caps on a dehydrator tray with the last modified date of May 4. In her recorded interview with police a week after the lunch, Ms Patterson said she'd never foraged for mushrooms. On the stand however, she admitted this was a lie, telling the jury she developed an interest in wild mushrooms during the early 2020 Covid lockdowns. Over a period of months she said she grew confident in identifying field and horse mushrooms in the paddocks on her property, before 'eventually' eating them. 'I cut a bit off one of the mushrooms, fried it up with some butter, ate it, and then saw what happened,' she said. 'They tasted good and I didn't get sick.' Ms Patterson said over the following years she would go foraging in nearby areas and cook the wild mushrooms into meals for her and her children. But she said she'd never foraged at two locations, Loch and Outtrim, where prosecutors allege phone records indicate a possible visit after death cap sightings were posted on iNaturalist. In cross-examination, she refuted a suggestion by Dr Rogers that her interest in mushrooms was invented 'to try and explain why you put foraged death cap mushrooms in the meal'. In her evidence, the accused woman disputed several aspects of lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson's account to the jury of the event. He described the four lunch guests eating off large grey plates while Ms Patterson ate off a smaller 'orangey-tan' plate and her sharing an ovarian cancer diagnosis and asking for advice on how to tell the children. Ms Patterson said she did not own grey plates, nor an orangey-tan one or even four plates of a set. The jury was shown images taken from the police walk-through on August 5 which show two white plates, two black plates, a black and red plate and a multi-coloured plate. Ms Patterson confirmed these were the only plates she owned. She also disputed that she told the guests she had cancer, claiming she said she might have some 'upcoming treatment' after telling Don and Gail she was receiving testing on a lump on her elbow earlier that year. Ms Patterson admitted she lied to Don and Gail about undergoing a needle biopsy and MRI but said she was planning on using the lump, which has resolved itself, as cover for weight-loss surgery. 'I'd been fighting a never-ending battle of low self-esteem most of my adult life, and the further inroads I made into being middle aged, the less I felt good about myself, I suppose,' she said. 'I was ashamed of the fact that I didn't have control over my body or what I ate … I shouldn't have lied to them.' Ms Patterson told the court she'd never had a 'healthy relationship' with food and had been bingeing and purging since her 20s – something she hid from everyone around her. 'In some intense periods it could have been daily, then it could be weekly or monthly,' she said. She said at the lunch she only ate a portion of her beef wellington but after her guests left, she cleaned up and binged on an orange cake Gail had brought. 'I had a piece of cake and then another piece of cake and then another,' she said, her voice faltering. The alleged poisoner said she felt sick and 'brought it back up' some time that afternoon, but would not be drawn on if she vomited the beef wellington. 'I couldn't be sure what was in my vomit,' she said. Ms Patterson disputed a suggestion by Dr Rogers that her account of vomiting was a lie to account for why she didn't fall seriously ill like her guests. 'I wish that was true, but it's not,' she said. Ms Patterson said she had a pre-assessment scheduled for gastric bypass surgery at the ENRICH Clinic in Melbourne two months after the lunch but cancelled it in the fallout. In a last-minute statement produced by prosecutors on June 11, ENRICH Clinic testified they'd never offered gastric bypass surgery. Ms Patterson refused to concede she lied, saying that was her memory but perhaps it was another weight loss procedure, such as liposuction. Her barrister Colin Mandy SC later produced a screenshot of the ENRICH Clinic's website, which contained a post saying they stopped offering liposuction in June 2024. After Ms Patterson's evidence concluded on Thursday, jurors were told by Justice Christopher Beale that marked the 'completion of the evidence in this case'. The trial is expected to resume on Monday as prosecutors deliver their closing address before the defence follows suit. The trial continues.
