Latest news with #MsPatterson
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Perth Now
Defence raise ‘context' for Erin's messages
A series of messages sent by alleged triple-murderer Erin Patterson to her online friends group needs to be examined in the 'context' of a group of women venting about their lives, her trial has been told. Ms Patterson's barrister Colin Mandy SC revisited the messages his client sent to a Facebook group chat between December 6 and 9, 2022, complaining about her husband and his family. He took Detective leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall, the last prosecution witness of the trial, to the six pages the jury had seen, raising they were extracted from 186 pages of messages with an 'enormous amount of context'. 'I accept there was a lot more conversation occurring,' Constable Eppingstall replied. Erin Patterson has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. Supplied. Credit: Supplied Ms Patterson is facing trial accused of murdering Simon Patterson's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and aunt, Heather Wilkinson, after the trio died following a deadly beef Wellington lunch in the Victorian town of Leongatha on July 29, 2023. She is also accused of attempted to murder Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson who survived after spending about a month and a half in hospital. Prosecutors allege she deliberately poisoned the meal with death cap mushrooms while Ms Patterson's defence have argued the deaths were a tragic accident. Ms Patterson's chat logs were first raised in the trial last week when Victoria Police senior digital forensics officer Shamen Fox-Henry gave evidence about the messages found in cache data on a Samsung phone. Detective Leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall was the officer tasked with investigating Ms Patterson. NewsWire / Diego Fedele Credit: News Corp Australia On Thursday, Mr Mandy provided several examples of messages between participants of the group, suggesting they needed to be seen in the full context. 'Simon's dad contacted me this morning to say that he and Gail had tried to talk to Simon about the matters I raised and to get 'his side' but he refused to talk about it … So he said all that he can ask is that Simon and I get together to pray for the children (Emoji) (Emoji) this family I swear to f--king god,' the first message from Ms Patterson reads. Mr Mandy took Constable Eppingstall to the 'discussions left out' of the chat logs the jury say.'What morons!' Ms Patterson's friend Jenny Hay replies. 'Anyway you weren't asking them to adjudicate … You just wanted them to hear your story. 'So Simon is meant to pray for his own children because they have a s--t dad? It makes no sense.' Ms Patterson responds; 'I said to him about fifty times yesterday that I didn't want them to adjudicate (Emoji) nobody bloody listens to me. At least I know they're a lost cause.' Later another friend, who's name was redacted, replies; 'its pathetic'. 'Even if he doesn't want to talk about your marriage they could at least demand to know how he is financially supporting the kids.' Ms Patterson replies by saying; 'no nothing. But also more happened'. 'Don rang me last night to say that he though there was a solution to all this if Simon and I get together to try and talk and pray together (Emoji) (Emoji).' Simon's parents Don and Gail Patterson died in early August 2023. Supplied Credit: Supplied After reading through the exchange, Mr Mandy questioned Constable Eppingstall if he accepted the chat contained multiple participants 'talking like this, that is venting to each other'. 'Yes that's fair to say sir, yes,' the officer responded. Constable Eppingstall is expected to return to the witness box when the trial resumes on Friday. The trial continues.
West Australian
4 days ago
- West Australian
Erin Patterson trial: What alleged killer told detectives following death cap poisoning deaths
Sitting in a police interview room a day after two in-laws had died from death cap mushroom poisoning, Erin Patterson claimed she did not own a dehydrator. Just under 21 minutes of footage from the August 5, 2023, interview was played for the jury in her triple-murder trial after prosecutors called their final witness of the case. Detective leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall, a homicide squad detective who led the investigation into the fatal lunch, took to the witness box on Tuesday afternoon. Constable Eppingstall, who has sat behind prosecutors for the duration of the five week trial, formally charged Ms Patterson on November 2, 2023, the jury was told. Ms Patterson has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder relating to a deadly beef wellington lunch she hosted with members of her husband Simon Patterson's family on July 29 the same year. Gail Patterson and her sister Heather Wilkinson both died on August 4, while Gail's husband Don Patterson died the following day. Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, fell critically ill but recovered after spending more than a month and a half in hospital. Prosecutors allege Ms Patterson deliberately spiked the lunch with death cap mushrooms, while her defence argues it was a tragic accident and she did not intentionally poison anyone. In the interview, held at Wonthaggi Police Station in the afternoon of August 5, Constable Eppingstall tells Ms Patterson police are trying to understand what has made the quartet so ill and, conversely, why she wasn't that sick. Seated across from the two detectives and wearing a brown jumper, Ms Patterson softly indicates she understands. 'I'm sure you understand too that I've never been in a situation like this before and I have been very, very helpful with the health department during the week because I wanted to help,' she says. 'I do want to know what happened, so I've given them as much information as they've asked for.' Later in the interview, Constable Eppingstall tells Ms Patterson police have 'got concerns' about the source of the mushrooms used in the lunch. He asks if she had ever foraged for mushrooms, with Ms Patterson responding; 'never ever'. Constable Eppingstall questions if she ever 'dehydrates things' and receives a shake of the head in response. Later still, he asks if Ms Patterson owned a dehydrator. 'No,' she responds. The officer then tells Ms Patterson they located a manual for a Sunbeam dehydrator in her kitchen when they searched the property earlier the same day. 'I've got manuals of lots of stuff I collected over the years … I just keep them all,' she said. The detective continues the line of questioning with; 'when did you ever own a dehydrator?'. Ms Patterson's reply is not audible, but she then begins to talk about owning a Thermomix. 'When I first got the Thermomix I got really excited about making everything from scratch,' she said. Earlier in the trial, the jury saw footage of Ms Patterson disposing of a black Sunbeam dehydrator at the Koonwarra transfer station and landfill on August 2. In his opening address to the jury, her barrister, Colin Mandy SC, told jurors Ms Patterson accepted she lied about owning a dehydrator or ever foraging for mushrooms. 'The defence case is that she panicked because she was overwhelmed by the fact that these four people had become so ill because of the food that she'd served to them,' he said. 'Might someone panic in a situation like that? Is it possible that people might do and say things that are not well thought out and might, in the end, make them look bad?' Constable Eppingstall will return to the witness box when the hearing resumes at 10.30am on Wednesday. The trial continues.
Perth Now
4 days ago
- Perth Now
Mushroom cook's lie to cops: court
Sitting in a police interview room a day after two in-laws had died from death cap mushroom poisoning, Erin Patterson claimed she did not own a dehydrator. Just under 21 minutes of footage from the August 5, 2023, interview was played for the jury in her triple-murder trial after prosecutors called their final witness of the case. Detective leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall, a homicide squad detective who led the investigation into the fatal lunch, took to the witness box on Tuesday afternoon. Constable Eppingstall, who has sat behind prosecutors for the duration of the five week trial, formally charged Ms Patterson on November 2, 2023, the jury was told. Detective Stephen Eppingstall will be the last witness called by the Crown. NewsWire / Diego Fedele Credit: News Corp Australia Ms Patterson has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder relating to a deadly beef wellington lunch she hosted with members of her husband Simon Patterson's family on July 29 the same year. Gail Patterson and her sister Heather Wilkinson both died on August 4, while Gail's husband Don Patterson died the following day. Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, fell critically ill but recovered after spending more than a month and a half in hospital. Prosecutors allege Ms Patterson deliberately spiked the lunch with death cap mushrooms, while her defence argues it was a tragic accident and she did not intentionally poison anyone. Ms Patterson's husband, Simon Patterson, said he did not attend the lunch. NewsWire / David Geraghty Credit: News Corp Australia In the interview, held at Wonthaggi Police Station in the afternoon of August 5, Constable Eppingstall tells Ms Patterson police are trying to understand what has made the quartet so ill and, conversely, why she wasn't that sick. Seated across from the two detectives and wearing a brown jumper, Ms Patterson softly indicates she understands. 'I'm sure you understand too that I've never been in a situation like this before and I have been very, very helpful with the health department during the week because I wanted to help,' she says. 'I do want to know what happened, so I've given them as much information as they've asked for.' Later in the interview, Constable Eppingstall tells Ms Patterson police have 'got concerns' about the source of the mushrooms used in the lunch. He asks if she had ever foraged for mushrooms, with Ms Patterson responding; 'never ever'. Constable Eppingstall questions if she ever 'dehydrates things' and receives a shake of the head in response. Later still, he asks if Ms Patterson owned a dehydrator. 'No,' she responds. The officer then tells Ms Patterson they located a manual for a Sunbeam dehydrator in her kitchen when they searched the property earlier the same day. 'I've got manuals of lots of stuff I collected over the years … I just keep them all,' she said. The detective continues the line of questioning with; 'when did you ever own a dehydrator?'. Ms Patterson told the interviewers she loved her in-laws. Brooke Grebert-Craig. Credit: Supplied Ms Patterson's reply is not audible, but she then begins to talk about owning a Thermomix. 'When I first got the Thermomix I got really excited about making everything from scratch,' she said. Earlier in the trial, the jury saw footage of Ms Patterson disposing of a black Sunbeam dehydrator at the Koonwarra transfer station and landfill on August 2. In his opening address to the jury, her barrister, Colin Mandy SC, told jurors Ms Patterson accepted she lied about owning a dehydrator or ever foraging for mushrooms. 'The defence case is that she panicked because she was overwhelmed by the fact that these four people had become so ill because of the food that she'd served to them,' he said. 'Might someone panic in a situation like that? Is it possible that people might do and say things that are not well thought out and might, in the end, make them look bad?' Constable Eppingstall will return to the witness box when the hearing resumes at 10.30am on Wednesday. The trial continues.
Herald Sun
4 days ago
- Herald Sun
Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial: Lies told to police over foraging, dehydrator
A Supreme Court jury has heard from accused mushroom cook killer Erin Patterson for the first time as her record of interview was played in her triple-murder trial. In her own words, Ms Patterson answered questions from homicide squad detectives, telling them she had 'never' foraged for mushrooms and did not own a dehydrator. But the defence has admitted these were lies, conceding in its opening address that she has foraged for mushrooms and did own a dehydrator, which she later dumped at a local tip. Ms Patterson is standing trial in Morwell, accused of murdering her estranged husband's parents Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, along with Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66. In her record of interview, Ms Patterson said she loved her in-laws, describing them as 'good, decent people that have never done anything wrong by me'. Don, Gail and Heather died after she served them individual beef wellingtons allegedly laced with lethal death cap mushrooms at her Leongatha home on July 29, 2023. When detectives executed a search warrant at the home on August 5 after the sisters had died, the court heard they told Ms Patterson it was in 'connection with the death of two people', prompting her to ask: 'Who died?' Heather's husband, pastor Ian Wilkinson, 71, was the only guest to survive. Ms Patterson, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, claiming what happened was a 'tragedy and a terrible accident'. THE RECORD OF INTERVIEW Detective Leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall, the lead investigator and final witness for the prosecution, took to the stand on Tuesday as the Crown edges closer to closing its case against Ms Patterson. He told the court her record of interview was conducted at Wonthaggi Police Station on August 5 at 4.41pm after the search warrant had been executed. Wearing a light brown sweater, Ms Patterson was interviewed by Constable Eppingstall and his corroborator Detective Senior Constable David Martin-Alcaide. Seated in the dock of the courtroom, Ms Patterson at times became emotional as she watched herself on a small screen answering the detectives' questions. Constable Eppingstall told Ms Patterson she was being interviewed over the deaths of Gail and Heather as police were trying to understand what had happened. 'I've never been in a situation like this before and I've been very, very helpful with the health department through the week, because I wanted to help that side of things as much as possible, because I do want to know what happened,' she replied. Constable Eppingstall said police were concerned about the source of the mushrooms and asked Ms Patterson if she had foraged for them in the past. 'Never,' she replied. He also asked about a Sunbeam dehydrator, telling Ms Patterson they found an instruction manual for the device in her kitchen drawer. 'Do you know anything about a dehydrator in your house?' he asked. 'No,' she replied. 'Do you own a dehydrator?' he asked. 'No,' she replied. 'I've got manuals of lots of stuff I've collected over the years … I just keep them all.' At the start of the trial, the defence said it was its case that Ms Patterson 'panicked because she was overwhelmed by the fact that these four people had become so ill because of the food that she'd served to them'. Defence barrister Colin Mandy SC admitted she lied about foraging for mushrooms, but said his client 'denies that she ever deliberately sought out death cap mushrooms'. When asked in the record of interview about her relationship with the Pattersons and why she invited them to lunch, Ms Patterson said it was because she had no other family. 'I want to maintain those relationships in spite of what's happening with Simon, I love them a lot,' she continued. She said Don and Gail had 'always been good to me'. 'They always said to me that they would support me with love and emotional support even though Simon and I were separated,' she added. She said it was important to her that the Pattersons remained grandparents to her children, adding that she thought her estranged husband 'hated' that she had a relationship with them after their separation. Constable Eppingstall also asked Ms Patterson why she first presented to Leongatha Hospital two days after the lunch and left five minutes later. 'When you've got animals at home and children who have multiple after school activities, you can't just be told to drop everything and you're off to Melbourne overnight,' she said. 'So I had to go home and feed the animals and pack my daughter's ballet bag.' THE SEARCH WARRANT Earlier, Detective Sergeant Luke Farrell told the court he attended Ms Patterson's house on August 5 with Constable Eppingstall to execute the search warrant. The court heard her two children and the family dog were present for the search, which stretched from about 11.40am to 3.40pm. Photos taken during the search were beamed into the courtroom, providing the jury its first look inside the house where the accused hosted the lunch. The court heard detectives found a manual for a dehydrator inside a kitchen drawer, while a best-selling RecipeTin Eats cookbook was spotted on the kitchen bench. Sergeant Farrell said a 'piece of tissue' had been used as a bookmark and the cookbook had been 'spattered' with food remnants. Constable Eppingstall told the court Ms Patterson told him during the search she used the cookbook to make the beef wellington meal. The six-page recipe was shown to the jury, including a photo of a latticed beef wellington log. The court heard detectives also located a Cooler Master computer, a Samsung phone and a Samsung tablet in one of the children's bedrooms. Sergeant Farrell confirmed a video was taken during the search and captured plates as detectives opened kitchen drawers and the dishwasher. In one screenshot from the video, four small plates 'with a red top and dark bottom' could be seen, as well as a larger plate of the same description. Sergeant Farrell agreed that he was aware at the time of the search that the 'issue of plates' was of interest to police, but he conceded photos were not taken of all the plates in the house and none were seized. The court heard Sergeant Farrell asked Ms Patterson for her phone at the end of the search. 'I asked for it and she gave it to me,' he said. THE HEALTH INVESTIGATION Senior public health adviser Sally Ann Atkinson returned to the witness box on Tuesday and said the Department of Health investigation concluded that it was 'highly unlikely' the commercial food chain had been contaminated with death cap mushrooms. 'The risk to public health was deemed very low,' she said, adding that no food was recalled. She told the court only one Asian grocer stocked dried mushrooms 'similar' to the description provided by Ms Patterson, but she said this product was notably larger. 'Nothing (was found) that matched the description she gave at all,' she said. She confirmed the Department of Health deemed it an 'isolated event'. The trial continues.
Herald Sun
24-05-2025
- Herald Sun
Mushroom Cook Erin Patterson's murder trial: Doctor says how close Ian Wilkinson came to death
Ian Wilkinson, the Baptist pastor who survived Erin Patterson's cooking, knew how close he came to death. On Friday, the rest of us found out. One of the team who worked to save his life, Dr Stephen Warrillow, told the Supreme Court in the King v Erin Patterson how he survived what was 'unsurvivable' for his wife, Heather, her sister Gail Patterson and her husband, Don. The pastor himself, Mr Wilkinson, was inside the courtroom, arms crossed and surrounded by family, as he listened to the Austin Hospital's specialist recall how bleak his chances were of pulling through as the toxins from the lethal death cap mushrooms broke down his body. The septuagenarian was suffering multiple organ failure, the doctor testified. 'We thought he was going to die. He was very close,' Dr Warrillow said. The cook, Ms Patterson, never became as sick as her guests. The prosecution alleges she didn't get sick at all. This week they also called a different kind of doctor as a witness, Dr Matthew Sorell, a phone tower expert. And in language experts often use, Dr Sorell testified that he could not eliminate the possibility that Ms Patterson's phone travelled near the townships of Outtrim and Loch in the Gippsland region where death caps were growing. But ping they did off those nearby towers. The prosecution have also alleged in this trial that the 50-year-old mother of two researched iNaturalist, a website which tracks where fungi, including death caps, grow. They say she bought a dehydrator to prepare them and later dumped it. And that Ms Patterson used two phones and told lies about buying mushrooms from an Asian grocer, when in fact, she was a forager. Ms Patterson says the allegations are wrong. That the lunch she cooked containing the poisonous mushrooms was 'a terrible accident'. This week, the fifth in this trial, could be the final roll call for witnesses. Then, the prosecution and the defence will address the jury about the case for and against convicting Ms Patterson of a triple murder and attempted murder she says she did not commit. Ms Patterson's intent is the dividing line. The closings are the last words the jury will hear from Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC and defence barrister Colin Mandy SC, other than the judge's final instructions. Then they will be sequestered as they deliberate their verdict. Unfortunately for two of the 14 jurors who have listened to the evidence, they will be cut before deliberations begin. For the 12 remaining, it will be their decision alone on whether Ms Patterson, on July 29, 2023, intended to seriously harm or murder her in-laws and extended family. Family, church and money have been recurring themes since the first witness in this trial, Ms Patterson's estranged husband, Simon, entered the witness box. His evidence about the couple's on and off again marriage, a separation that did not end in divorce, and a friendship that dissolved in 2022 as they bickered about child support re-emerged this week. The court, which is sitting in Morwell for this trial, heard about messages from a Facebook account named 'Erin ErinErin', which were beamed onto the courtroom's screens. The messages labelled Simon a 'deadbeat' and his parents a 'lost cause'. 'So Don said they can't adjudicate if they don't know both sides and Simon won't give his side (emoji) so he said all he can ask is that Simon and I get together to pray for the children (emoji) (emoji) this family I swear to f--ing god,' Erin ErinErin sent on December 6, 2022 'I said to him about 50 times yesterday that I didn't want them to adjudicate. Nobody bloody listens to me, at least I know they're a lost cause.' Minutes later from the same account: "I'm sick of this sh-- I want nothing to do with them. I thought his parents would want him to do the right thing but it seems their concern about not wanting to feel uncomfortable and not wanting to get involved in their son's personal matters are overriding that so f--- them.' Seven months later she asked them to lunch. The trial before Justice Christopher Beale will continue on Monday.
