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ABC News
an hour ago
- Health
- ABC News
Erin Patterson tells her murder trial she regrets saying she wanted 'nothing to do with' in-laws
Erin Patterson has become emotional on the witness stand at her murder trial as she expressed regret about messages she wrote about her in-laws. Ms Patterson resumed giving evidence in her own defence on Tuesday, as she fights charges of murdering her parents-in-law Don and Gail and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson by serving them a beef Wellington meal containing death cap mushrooms. She is also charged with the attempted murder of Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson at the lunch, held in July 2023. The trial of Erin Patterson, who stands accused of using a poisoned meal to murder three relatives, continues. Follow the updates in our live blog. To stay up to date with this story, subscribe to ABC News. On Tuesday, Ms Patterson was asked about her multiple separations from her husband, Simon. She outlined to the Supreme Court, sitting in the regional Victorian town of Morwell, how they formally separated at the end of 2015 and divided their assets up equally, without lawyers. Ms Patterson told the jury she continued to attend Patterson family events after the formal separation, and that Heather Wilkinson would always make a point of talking to her at church. She said her relationship with Don and Gail also did not change after the separation. "I was just their daughter-in-law … they just continued to love me," she said, her voice breaking. But by late 2022, Ms Patterson told the court there were tensions between her and Simon over finances, including school fees, a child support application by Erin, and Simon declining to pay an anaesthetist's fee for their son. "I was hurt," Ms Patterson told the court. "We'd never had any conflict over money that I could remember before this." Mr Mandy took Ms Patterson through Facebook group messages in which she expressed frustration with her parents-in-law about their reluctance to get involved in their dispute about finances and said: "This family I swear to f***ing god." Ms Patterson told the court she was feeling hurt, frustrated and "a little bit desperate". She became emotional as she said she regretted saying it, and some other similar messages which were read to court. "They didn't deserve it." Ms Patterson also told the court about her love of mushrooms, saying she enjoyed eating them because they tasted good and were "very healthy". She said she developed an interest in wild mushrooms in early 2020 when she and her children would go for walks at the Korumburra Botanic Gardens during lockdown. "The first time I noticed them I remember because the dog was eating some and I picked all the mushrooms that I could see because I wanted to try to figure out what they were to see if that might be a problem for him," she said. She told the court it was difficult to identify the species. Ms Patterson said she found field and horse mushrooms in the paddock near her home and "eventually" consumed them. "It was a process over several months in the lead-up to it, but when I got to a point where I was confident about what I thought they were … 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." She told the jury she regularly bought dried mushrooms at Asian grocery stores and used them in dinners because they had a more interesting flavour. Earlier on Tuesday morning, Ms Patterson told the court about multiple experiences that she said caused her to lose faith in the health system, including incidents with her children. She told the jury how her daughter cried for long durations as a newborn and she believed she was in pain, but was told she was just being an over-anxious mother and dismissed her concerns. "I didn't like hospitals before it, like who does, but I didn't trust that these people knew what they were doing, and I was just in a heightened state of anxiety ever after about my daughter's health. "I don't want to lose her." Ms Patterson also answered questions about whether or not she had been diagnosed with cancer. Throughout the trial, the court has heard a cancer diagnosis was the reason Ms Patterson invited her parents-in-law and Ian and Heather Wilkinson to the beef Wellington lunch that ended in the ingestion of poisonous cap mushrooms. On Tuesday Ms Patterson told the court she never had ovarian cancer, but that she had been experiencing chronic headaches, fatigue, abdominal pain, sudden weight gain and fluid retention. She told the court she often googled her symptoms and went to GPs concerned about what the results suggested, including times when she thought she had a brain tumour, multiple sclerosis and auto-immune conditions. "I think I wasted a lot of time, not just my time, but medical people's time, through all my 'doctor Googling'," she told the court. "It's hard to justify it but with the benefit of hindsight I can see that … I just lost so much faith in the medical system that I decided that anything to do with my health and the children's health [I'll sort myself]." Mr Mandy also took Ms Patterson back to evidence she gave on Monday about suffering from low self-esteem, particularly around her weight. Ms Patterson said she had had body image issues since she was a teenager. "When I was a kid, Mum would weigh us every week to make sure we weren't putting on too much weight and so I went to the extreme of barely eating then, to through my adulthood going the other way and bingeing, I suppose, for want of a better word. She became visibly emotional as she said she was was bulimic, binge eating two-to-three times a week through her 20s.
News.com.au
9 hours ago
- Health
- News.com.au
Erin Patterson trial: Alleged mushroom poisoner set to continue giving evidence
Alleged mushroom poisoner Erin Patterson detailed concerns she was being pushed out of her husband's family in the months before the fatal lunch, the jury has been told. Erin Patterson, 50, took the stand at her triple-murder trial on Monday after Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC closed the prosecution case. Ms Patterson said she felt her relationship with her estranged husband's family had grown distant in the first few months of 2023, but said her relationship with Simon was 'functional'. 'I had felt for some months that my relationship with the wider Patterson family, and particularly Don and Gail, had perhaps had a bit more distance or space put between us,' she said. 'We saw each other less ... I'd begun to have concerns that Simon was not wanting me to be involved too much with the family any more. Perhaps I wasn't being invited to so many things.' Ms Patterson is accused of deliberately poisoning a beef wellington lunch she hosted for her estranged husband's parents and aunt and uncle on July 29, 2023. She was charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, after Don Patterson, his wife Gail Patterson and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson died from organ failure in the week after the meal. Heather's husband, Korumburra Baptist Church long-serving pastor Ian Wilkinson, fell critically ill but recovered. Ms Patterson has pleaded not guilty, with her defence arguing that while the lunch did contain poisonous mushrooms, she did not intentionally poison anyone and the case is actually a tragic accident. Taking the stand shortly about 3.30pm on Monday, Ms Patterson began to answer questions about her relationship, struggles with her weight, religious beliefs, motherhood and the lead up to the fatal lunch. Her voice started off soft, growing in volume and confidence as the minutes ticked over but faltered once when talking about the 'very traumatic' birth of her son in January 2009. Frequently, she would pause for a second or two, her eyes closed, before answering a question. Ms Patterson told the jury she first met her husband Simon Patterson when the pair were working at the Monash City Council in Melbourne in 2004. She said they first began socialising through friends at the council, but the relationship grew deeper through 'conversations about life, religion and politics' while camping together. Describing herself then as a 'fundamental atheist', she said she sought to convert her Christian boyfriend before attending a service from Ian. 'I had a religious experience there and it quite overwhelmed me,' she said. Ms Patterson said she developed a close relationship with Don and Gail and was walked down the aisle by Simon's cousin, David Wilkinson, in June 2007 because her parents were on a train in Russia. Soon after the couple hit the open road, 'meandering' across the country before settling for a time in Perth. Here she said she fell pregnant and their son was born, before continuing their road trip across the top end. After months on the road, Ms Patterson said she'd 'had a gutful' and flew from Townsville back to Perth and the couple separated for the first time. 'What we struggled with over the entire course of our relationship… we just couldn't communicate well when we disagreed about something,' she said. 'So we would just feel hurt and not know how to resolve it.' Ms Patterson is expected to continue giving evidence when the hearing resumes on Tuesday. The trial continues.
CBS News
12 hours ago
- Health
- CBS News
Woman on trial for killing 3 relatives of ex-husband with poison mushrooms testifies about marital issues
Mother and son lucky to be alive after eating poisonous mushrooms in Amherst Mother and son lucky to be alive after eating poisonous mushrooms in Amherst Mother and son lucky to be alive after eating poisonous mushrooms in Amherst The woman accused of murdering three members of her ex-husband's family by serving them poisonous mushrooms has taken the stand at an Australian court on Monday as the highly publicized triple murder trial nears its conclusion. Erin Patterson, 50, is accused of killing her former parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail Patterson's sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66, and also of attempting to murder Wilkinson's husband, Ian, 68 after the four consumed a meal at Patterson's home in Victoria state in July 2023. She could face up to 25 years in prison for the attempted murder charge, while murder in the state of Victoria carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Her lawyer, Colin Mandy, previously told the Victorian state Supreme Court during the six-week trial the poisoning was accidental. Patterson's appearance as a defense witness Monday marked the first time the 50-year-old has spoken since pleading not guilty to all charges in May last year. She served meals of beef Wellington, mashed potato and green beans at her home in the rural town of Leongartha on July 29, 2023. All four guests were hospitalized the next day with poisoning from death cap mushrooms, also known as amanita phalloides, that were added to the beef and pastry dish. Ian Wilkinson survived after a liver transplant. Under questioning from Mandy, Patterson revealed personal battles with low self-esteem, shifting spirituality, the complicated birth of her son and growing distance from her estranged husband's family in recent years. "I had felt for some months that my relationship with the wider Patterson family, and particularly Don and Gail, perhaps had a bit more distance or space put between us," Patterson said. "We saw each other less." She described how husband Simon -- the pair were estranged but still legally married -- seemed to be pushing her out of the family in the lead up to the fatal meal. "I'd become concerned that Simon was not wanting me to be involved too much in the family anymore," she said. "I wasn't being invited to so many things." Erin Patterson looks on in Melbourne, Australia, April 15, 2025. James Ross/AP Patterson is due back on the witness stand Tuesday as the trial continues. The prosecution completed the presentation of its evidence to a jury of 14 people earlier on Monday afternoon. "They can be scared and alive or dead" Last month, Ian Wilkinson told the courtroom that he and his wife had been "very happy to be invited" to the lunch, the BBC reported. Wilkinson told the court that Patterson had plated "all of the food," according to the BBC. "Each person had an individual serve, it was very much like a pasty," he said. "It was a pastry case and when we cut into it, there was steak and mushrooms." The court also heard that lunch host Erin Patterson's estranged husband, Simon, had been invited to the meal but declined, saying he was uncomfortable with the prospect. Erin Patterson went to hospital two days after the lunch, but left five minutes later against medical advice, the doctor said. "I was surprised," he told the court. Patterson later returned and told Webster her children had also consumed the beef Wellington — but not the mushrooms or pastry. She was hesitant to tell them about the poisoning in case they became "frightened," the doctor said. "I said: 'They can be scared and alive or dead.'" The court also heard from another of Don and Gail Patterson's sons, Matthew, who said he had called the lunch host to ask where the mushrooms came from Death caps are responsible for 90% of lethal mushroom poisoning globally, the BBC reported. In 2022, doctors in Massachusetts were able to save a mother and son who nearly died from death cap mushroom poisoning. In 2020, a spate of poisonings in Victoria, Australia, killed one person and hospitalized seven others.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial LIVE updates: All the latest
Erin Patterson, 50, is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, after allegedly serving them a beef Wellington lunch made with death cap mushrooms. Patterson is also accused of attempting to murder Heather's husband, pastor Ian Wilkinson, who survived the lunch after spending several weeks in an intensive care unit. The court heard Patterson's estranged husband, Simon, was also invited to the gathering at her home in Leongatha, in Victoria's Gippsland region, but didn't attend. Witnesses told the jury Patterson ate her serving from a smaller, differently-coloured plate than those of her guests, who ate off four grey plates. Patterson told authorities she bought dried mushrooms from an unnamed Asian store in the Monash area of Melbourne, but health inspectors could find no evidence of this. Victoria's health department said the death cap mushroom poisoning was 'isolated' to Patterson's deadly lunch. Multiple witnesses, including Erin's estranged husband, Heather's husband and other family members, have given emotion-charged evidence to the jury. Medical staff have told the jury of the painful symptoms the dying lunch guests and Mr Wilkinson suffered. An expert witness told the court that death cap mushrooms were detected in debris taken from a dehydrator Patterson had dumped at a local tip. Telecommunications expert Dr Matthew Sorell also told the jury Patterson's phone was detected near areas at Outtrim and Loch, in the Gippsland region, where death cap mushrooms had been spotted. Victoria Police Cybercrime Squad senior digital forensics officer Shamen Fox-Henry said he found evidence of a death cap mushroom on data from a computer seized from Patterson's Leongatha home on August 5, 2023. On Friday, Austin Hospital intensive care director Professor Stephen Warrillow told the jury he was at the Melbourne health facility in July 2023 when the poisoned lunch guests were transferred to his care. Professor Warrillow said all patients were given intense treatment and Don received a liver transplant. Ian Wilkinson sat in court and listened as details of how his wife died from death cap poisoning were aired in court. The jury also heard the text exchanges between health department officer Sally Anne Atkinson and Patterson in the days after the deadly lunch as authorities rushed to get answers. On Tuesday, the jury was shown the police interview Patterson took part in shortly after her home was searched on August 5. Detectives seized a manual for a Sunbeam hydrator but Patterson denied in her interview that she had ever owned such an appliance. Patterson also told police she invited her in-laws for lunch because she loved them and they were like real family to her. Homicide Squad detective leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall told the court officers searched for a Samsung Galaxy A23 – known as 'Phone A' – but it was never found. Sen-Constable Eppingstall also said another Samsung Galaxy A23 – known as 'Phone B' – was factory reset multiple times including while police searched Patterson's Leongatha home. He said Phone B was later remotely wiped while it was kept in a secure locker at the Homicide Squad headquarters in Melbourne. The jury also heard Patterson's family had a history of cancer and her daughter had a benign ovarian cancer cyst removed. On Thursday, lead defence barrister Colin Mandy SC (pictured) suggested to Sen-Constable Eppingstall that a photo taken during the Leongatha police search depicted the mysterious Phone A. Mr Mandy also highlighted other devices he suggested police failed to seize including laptops and a USB stick. Later, the jury heard Facebook messages between Patterson and her online friends in which they discussed Simon, pets and the death of actress Kirstie Alley. The jury also heard Signal messages between Don and Erin in which Don and Gail (pictured) wished Patterson well and also prayed for her health. On Friday, the jury heard more messages between Erin, Don, Gail and Simon. They discussed Patterson's health and Don also offered to help tutor Erin's son. Erin also praised Gail in another message. 'Happy Mother's Day to the best mother-in-law anyone could ever ask for,' Erin wrote. The trial continues.
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Health
- News.com.au
Erin Patterson: Mushroom murder trial jury shown accused woman's police interview a week after fatal lunch
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. 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. 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. 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.' 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.' 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.' 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.' 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. 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.' 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 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.
