Latest news with #SimonPatterson
The Guardian
36 minutes ago
- Health
- The Guardian
After weeks of silence, Erin Patterson begins to tell her side of the story to deadly mushroom lunch trial
Erin Patterson had been in the witness box for 142 minutes, a window to her right showing the rain falling outside in regional Victoria, when her barrister Colin Mandy SC said: 'I'm going to ask you some questions now about mushrooms'. Patterson had already spoken to the court about her children and her family, her hefty inheritances, her relationship with her estranged husband, Simon, and their slow and gradual decoupling, in her evidence on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning. But this was the closest the triple-murder accused had come to being asked directly about the fateful lunch of beef wellingtons in July 2023. From the first days of her trial, it had become clear the key issue was whether Patterson meant to put death cap mushrooms in the lunch she served to her husband's relatives (including her parents-in-law), and whether she meant to kill or cause serious harm to them. Now Patterson was being asked about whether she liked to eat mushrooms more generally, and whether she had ever picked, eaten and cooked wild varieties of the popular ingredient. Yes, she told the court, to all of the above. Once, she revealed, she had found some growing outside at the property she lived at in Korumburra before moving to the house, in the nearby town Leongatha, where the fateful lunch took place. She said she had fried up what she was confident were field and horse mushrooms with butter, ate them, and, when she discovered they were safe, used them in other meals. That included in food fed to her two children, Patterson told the court. Erin Patterson hosts lunch for estranged husband Simon's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt and uncle Heather and Ian Wilkinson. Patterson serves beef wellington. All four lunch guests are admitted to hospital with gastro-like symptoms. Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson die in hospital. Don Patterson dies in hospital. Victoria police search Erin Patterson's home and interview her. Ian Wilkinson is discharged from hospital after weeks in intensive care. Police again search Erin Patterson's home, and she is arrested and interviewed. She is charged with three counts of murder relating to the deaths of Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson, and the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson. Jury is sworn in. Murder trial begins. Jury hears that charges of attempting to murder her estranged husband Simon are dropped. Mandy's focus narrowed when he asked where the mushrooms in the beef wellington meal had come from. 'The vast majority came from the local Woolworths in Leongatha. There were some from the grocer in Melbourne,' she replied. She accepted, however, that the meal had contained death cap mushrooms. 'Do you accept there must have been death cap mushrooms in there?' Mandy asked Patterson. 'Yes, I do,' she replied. Throughout her answers, Patterson sat in an office chair faced towards Mandy, with Justice Christopher Beale to her left and the jury directly in front of her. The court room was filled with almost a dozen members of the Patterson and Wilkinson families, homicide squad detectives including the officer in charge of the investigation, Stephen Eppingstall, and about 20 members of the public. Behind those public seats was the now-empty dock where, until this week, Patterson had sat quietly observing former friends, family and experts testifying in her trial. Earlier, Mandy had taken his client to expletive-laden messages she had sent in a Facebook group chat in December 2022 expressing frustrations about her in-laws – Don and Gail Patterson, who are now deceased – about a dispute with her estranged husband, Simon. In the messages, previously shown to the jury, the Facebook user 'Erin ErinErin' wrote she was 'sick of this shit' and 'fuck em' about Don and Gail. 'Why did you write that?' Mandy asked. Patterson released a slow exhale and sniffed before she answered. 'I needed to vent,' Patterson told the jury. 'The choice was either go into the paddock and tell the sheep or vent to these women.' The group chat – which Patterson said had been running for four years by late 2022 – was a space to discuss food the women were cooking, as well as their children's lives and current affairs. Asked if she meant the words, Patterson replied 'no' as she dabbed her eyes repeatedly with a tissue. Of the message she sent which said 'this family I swear to fucking god', a visibly emotional Patterson said she wished she had never said it. 'I feel ashamed for saying it, and I wish the family didn't have to hear that I said that. 'They didn't deserve it.' For five weeks, Patterson's voice in her triple murder trial has been confined to conversations recalled by other witnesses, pages of online messages and texts, and a 21-minute formal police interview played to the jury. Dressed in a navy blue shirt with white polka dots, her reading glasses within easy reach to her right, Patterson started to tell her side of the story. The jury who will decide her fate watched and listened. Her evidence will continue on Wednesday.
Free Malaysia Today
6 hours ago
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
Aussie woman accused of triple mushroom murders gives evidence
The trial in Morwell has seen intense interest from Australian and international media. (EPA Images pic) SYDNEY : An Australian woman accused of murdering three of her estranged husband's elderly relatives by serving them a lunch laced with poisonous mushrooms began giving evidence during her trial today, in a case that has gripped the nation. Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with the July 2023 murders of her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, along with the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, Heather's husband, in a case that has gripped Australia. All four fell ill after a lunch of beef Wellington, mashed potatoes and green beans, the court has heard. Prosecutors allege the accused laced the meal with highly poisonous death cap mushrooms at her home in Leongatha, a town of around 6,000 people some 135km from Melbourne. Erin Patterson denies the charges, with her defence saying the deaths were a 'terrible accident'. Beginning her evidence towards the end of the day's session, Erin Patterson said today her relationship with estranged husband Simon Patterson had been in difficulty shortly after they married in 2007. 'We could never communicate in a way that would make each of us feel heard and understood,' she told the court. She had also grown apart from Simon's parents, Donald and Gail, at the time of their deaths, she added. 'I had felt for some months that my relationship with the wider Patterson family, particularly Don and Gail, had a bit more distance or space put between us,' she said. Earlier today the prosecution rested its case, following a month of evidence from witnesses, including relatives and medical, forensic and mushroom experts. Simon Patterson gave evidence earlier in the trial, characterising the relationship between him and the accused as strained at the time of the alleged murders. The trial, that began on April 29, has seen intense interest from Australian and international media, with podcasters, journalists and documentary-makers descending on the town of Morwell, around two hours east of Melbourne, where the trial is being held. Erin Patterson is expected to resume her evidence tomorrow, when the trial continues.
The Guardian
13 hours ago
- Health
- The Guardian
‘They didn't deserve it': Emotional Erin Patterson tells murder trial of shame over messages about family
Erin Patterson has told a court she wishes she never told her Facebook friends in a private group chat 'this family I swear to fucking god' in relation to her in-laws, saying she felt ashamed but hoped that sharing her frustrations would mean she had a 'big cheer squad' for her problems. Patterson also told the jury in her triple murder trial that she was never diagnosed with ovarian cancer and had a history of 'consulting Dr Google', and hoped to bring her family back together despite a formal separation with her estranged husband Simon seven years earlier. In her second day in the witness box, Patterson was also asked about her relationship with Simon changing after a dispute about child support which arose the year before the alleged murders. Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to poisoning her four lunch guests – relatives of her estranged husband, Simon Patterson – with a beef wellington served at her house in Leongatha on 29 July 2023. Patterson has pleaded not guilty to murdering Simon's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt Heather Wilkinson, and attempting to murder Ian Wilkinson, Simon's uncle and Heather's husband. Lawyers for Patterson say the death cap mushroom poisoning was a tragic and terrible accident. Under questioning from her lawyer, Colin Mandy SC, on Tuesday, Patterson spoke about a time in late 2022 when she was in discussion with Simon and Don and Gail about two issues within the family: finances for their children, and the struggles of their son. Don and Gail were asked by Patterson to mediate between her and Simon, as they had done so before, she said. The court was shown a series of messages about these issues, including Don apologising for possibly misrepresenting Simon, and Patterson saying she appreciates it is uncomfortable. 'Simon seems to be under the misapprehension that a child support assessment covers every expense for the children under the sun,' Patterson wrote in December 2022. Patterson was also asked about a 'heated' exchange she and Simon had after she felt she had not been invited to a pub lunch for Gail's 70th. At the same time she was discussing these issues with Simon and his parents, Patterson was posting to her friends on a group chat. She said she sent the messages because 'I was really hurt and really frustrated and felt a little bit desperate' in the Facebook chat, which 'became a safe venting space for all of us'. Of a message previously read to the court, in which she said 'this family, I swear to fucking god', Patterson told the court: 'I wish I'd never said it, I feel ashamed for saying it, and I wish that the family didn't have to hear that I said that. 'They didn't deserve it.' Members of the Patterson and Wilkinson families, including Ian Wilkinson, were in court on Tuesday. Patterson, who was also asked about a separate message when she wrote she was 'sick of this shit', wanted nothing to do with the Pattersons, and wrote 'fuck em', that she shared her frustrations as 'I knew that the women would probably support me being annoyed about those things, and so I said that to them, knowing that they would latch on, and then it [becomes] a big cheer squad for your problem, if that makes sense'. Patterson also spoke about receiving inheritances from her grandmother and mother, which allowed her to loan about $1.2m to Simon's siblings and their partners, and for her to buy several properties and travel extensively overseas. The court heard Patterson had opened a second-hand bookshop in the Western Australian town of Pemberton before she moved back to Victoria with Simon and their son while she was pregnant with the couple's daughter. The reason for the move, she said, was to be closer to Don and Gail after the birth, and because their son loved spending time with his 'nanna and papa' and cousins. Another series of separations between her and Simon continued, until a 'formal' separation in late 2015. Patterson said that despite this she included his name on the title of the Leongatha property which she moved into in 2022 as she wanted to show him something 'tangible' about her desire for the family to reunite. 'That was what I wanted. I did that because I wanted some way to demonstrate with Simon that's what I really believed and wanted,' she said. Patterson appeared to become emotional when she was asked how her relationship with Don and Gail changed after this 'formal' separation. 'It never changed,' she said. 'I was just their daughter in law, and they just continued to love me.' Patterson also told the court about a history of health issues she and her children had which eroded her faith in the medical system. She never had ovarian cancer, nor a needle biopsy, she said. The court has previously heard about text messages she exchanged with Gail about the biopsy, and it is the prosecution case that Patterson used a cancer diagnosis as a 'false pretence' for the lunch. Patterson said both sides of her family had a history of ovarian cancer, and she feared she also had it. 'I'd been having, for a few months by then, a multitude of symptoms,' Patterson said. 'I felt very fatigued. I had ongoing abdominal pain. I had chronic headaches. I put on a lot of weight, in quite a short period of time, and like my feet and my hands seemed to retain a lot of fluid.' She said what 'sent me over the edge' to go to a GP was that her wedding rings wouldn't fit any more, and that when she then went to pick them up from the jeweller, after having them resized, they again didn't fit. At this time, and at another occasion when she feared she had a brain tumour, she 'consulted Dr Google'. She came to realise, she said, that doing this wasted her time, and the time of medical professionals, but she had come to distrust the medical system because of how it had handled issues with her children. Patterson's evidence continues.
Daily Mail
15 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial LIVE updates: Patterson returns to the stand to give evidence in week six of marathon court case
00:37 Microsoft Paint and family troubles: Patterson's first day in the witness box revisited The Crown closed its case against accused killer Erin Patterson on the Monday in the sixth week of the marathon murder trial. The defence, led by Colin Mandy SC, called Patterson herself as their first witness. Patterson told the jury about her rocky relationship with estranged husband Simon Patterson after the pair married in 2007. Patterson also said she was an atheist but she became interested in religion after meeting and spending time with Simon. 'I was what you'd probably call a fundamentalist atheist,' she said. Patterson said her attitude to religion changed in early 2005. The jury heard Patterson and Simon had a lot of conversations about religion. Patterson was trying to convert Simon into an atheist 'But things went in reverse and I became a Christian,' she said. She recalled her visit to Korumburra Baptist Church. 'I remember being really excited about it,' she said. Patterson recalled there was a banner on the wall behind where Ian Wilkinson was preaching. 'It said faith, hope and love,' she said. Patterson said Mr Wilkinson gave a sermon about this banner. She had communion and was welcomed to participate in it. 'I had what can basically be described as a spiritual experience,' she said. 'It had been an intellectual experience until then.' Patterson also told the jury she felt there had been a 'bit more space or distance put between' her and husband's parents, Gail and Don Patterson, at the start of 2023. 'We saw each other less,' she said. She said her relationship with Simon since the start of 2023 was 'functional'. Patterson said she only dealt with Simon regarding logistics, church and the kids. 'We didn't relate on friend things, banter,' Patterson said. 'I'd been fighting a never-ending battle of low self-esteem most of my adult life, (I had) put on more weight, could handle exercise less (as I entered middle-age).' Patterson also told the jury she was financially 'comfortable' and planned to have weight loss surgery. The court heard Patterson initially designed her Leongatha home using Microsoft Paint. She said she designed the property with her kids' needs in mind but also decided the home – where the deadly lunch was served – would be her last. 'That I'd grow old there was what I hoped,' she said. Everything you need to know about the Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial so far 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 emotionally-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 allegedly 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 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. Late on Monday, the Crown led by Dr Nanette Rogers (pictured) closed it's case and Patterson herself entered the witness box. The trial continues.
News24
21 hours ago
- Health
- News24
Mushroom murder accused claims she was ostracised and had ‘never-ending battle of low self-esteem'
An Australian woman is accused of killing her in-laws. Erin Patterson felt ostracised from her husband's family. She fed them a meal laced with deadly mushrooms. An Australian woman felt ostracised from her husband's family in the months before she allegedly murdered three of his relatives with toxic mushrooms, a court heard on Monday. Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with murdering the parents and aunt of her estranged husband in 2023 by serving them a beef Wellington laced with lethal death cap mushrooms. She is also accused of attempting to murder her husband's uncle, who survived the meal after a long stay in hospital. Patterson has pleaded not guilty to all charges in a trial that continues to captivate the country. Having watched the prosecution build its case over the past five weeks, Patterson took the stand for the first time on Monday to mount her defence. READ | 'Causing chaos': Australia police arrest 14 over organised crime attacks disguised as antisemitism 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. 'We saw each other less. I'd become concerned that Simon was not wanting me to be involved too much in the family anymore. I wasn't being invited to so many things.' At the same time, she was struggling with lifelong issues of low self-esteem. 'I'd been fighting a never-ending battle of low self-esteem most of my adult life,' she told the court. 'The further I got into middle age, the less I felt good about myself.' Patterson said their marriage had for years been plagued by poor communication. 'Primarily what we struggled with over the entire course of our relationship was we couldn't communicate well when we disagreed about something. 'We could never communicate in a way that made each of us feel understood and heard.' Martin Keep/AFP Patterson asked husband Simon to a family lunch at her secluded house in rural Victoria in July 2023, also extending an invitation to his parents Don and Gail. Simon turned down the invitation because he felt too uncomfortable, the court has heard previously. But his parents Don and Gail were happy to attend, and died days after eating a beef-and-pastry dish prepared by Patterson. Simon's aunt Heather Wilkinson also died, while her husband Ian fell seriously ill but later recovered. The meal consisted of 'an individual serve' of beef Wellington entirely encased in pastry and filled with 'steak and mushrooms', Ian Wilkinson previously told the guests' meals were served on four grey plates, while Patterson's was on a smaller orange plate, he said in earlier testimony. Patterson and Simon were at odds over finances and child support at the time, the court has heard, and she had sought help from his parents. The prosecution alleges Patterson deliberately poisoned her lunch guests and took care that she did not consume the deadly mushrooms herself. Her defence says it was 'a terrible accident' and that Patterson ate the same meal as the others but did not fall as sick. The trial is expected to last another week.
