Latest news with #VictorianPoisonsInformationCentre
NZ Herald
19-05-2025
- NZ Herald
Erin Patterson allegedly visited death cap site before fatal lunch
On Monday, retired pharmacist and former Victorian Poisons Information Centre specialist Christine McKenzie gave evidence that she located death cap mushrooms near the township of Loch, about 28km northwest of Leongatha, on April 18, 2023. Prosecutors allege Patterson's phone records indicate she 'travelled to and remained in the Loch area at around 10am' on April 28, before returning to Leongatha. Also on May 22, it's alleged her records indicate she again visited Loch and Outtrim, where the jury was told a sighting of death caps was posted on iNaturalist a day earlier. McKenzie told the jury she was visiting her daughter and posted the sighting on iNaturalist, a citizen science website used to record species, under the name 'Chrismck'. 'We'd been for a walk … my husband and I took our grandson for a walk with the dog,' she said. She told the court that she observed death cap mushrooms under oak trees at the Loch Recreation Reserve and removed the sporing bodies. 'Initially, the ones I saw first were under a single oak tree,' McKenzie said. 'We had a dog poo bag with us, so I removed all the death cap mushrooms I could find.' Asked by prosecutor Jane Warren if there was a 'risk' the mushrooms could regrow, McKenzie replied 'absolutely'. 'More could come up over the subsequent days, weeks,' she said. Quizzed on if she saw any regrowth, she said she was only visiting Loch for the day. Under cross-examination by Patterson's barrister Sophie Stafford, McKenzie agreed she regularly looked out for death cap mushrooms when walking at the reserve. 'I often suspected there would be death cap mushrooms under the oak tree,' she said. 'I'd never seen them previous to that day.' McKenzie told the jury that she worked for the Victorian Poisons Information Centre for 17 years and developed an algorithm to decide what calls about mushrooms should be escalated to a mycologist to be identified. 'We couldn't ask every single call about fungi to be identified, there could be hundreds,' she said. She told the court that she developed a special interest in fungi and undertook further study. 'I became fascinated about how few fungi had been identified in Australia and I find them just personally beautiful,' she said. Telecommunications expert takes the stand Advertise with NZME. Digital Forensic Sciences Australia's Dr Matthew Sorrell, an expert in telecommunications systems, told the jury he'd given evidence in more than 400 criminal cases. Sorrell began giving the jury an overview of how telco company records can track mobile phones through their mobile data usage and connection to cell towers. 'In country areas, there are typically 1-2 base stations that cover a local town,' he said. 'There will also be base stations designed to provide wide area coverage.' He said mobile phone service will operate through 'greediness', with a phone flicking to different cell towers depending on which provides a better service. Jurors in the trial were shown a map that depicts cell towers in the Gippsland area at Korumburra, Loch South, Arawata, Kardella and Holmes Hill. Sorrell will continue giving evidence when the trial resumes. Prosecutors allege Patterson intended to kill the lunch guests attending her home after inviting them with the 'false claim' of discussing a cancer diagnosis. 'It is the prosecution case that the accused deliberately poisoned, with murderous intent, each … after inviting them for lunch on the pretence that she'd been diagnosed with cancer and needed advice about how to break it to the children,' Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC, said at the start of the trial. Her husband Simon Patterson's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, died in hospital in the weeks after the gathering. Wilkinson's husband, Korumburra Baptist Church pastor Ian Wilkinson, fell gravely ill but recovered. Defence barrister Colin Mandy, SC, told the jury that Patterson did not dispute that the four lunch guests consumed deadly death cap mushrooms at her Leongatha home. 'The defence case is that Erin Patterson did not deliberately serve poisoned food to her guests at that lunch,' he said. 'The defence case is that what happened was a tragedy, a terrible accident.'
Perth Now
19-05-2025
- Perth Now
Death caps found near Erin's home: court
Erin Patterson spent time in an area identified to have death cap mushrooms growing in it more than three months before three people fatally ingested the poisonous ingredient while eating lunch at her home, a jury has been told. The poisonous death cap mushrooms were located 28km from Ms Patterson's home by a retired pharmacist, who shared the finding online, the triple murder trial was told on Monday. Ms Patterson, 50, is facing trial after pleading not guilty to the murder of three of her husband's relatives and attempting to murder a fourth in the country Victorian town of Leongatha. Prosecutors allege the mother of two deliberately spiked a lunch at her home on July 29, 2023, with death cap mushrooms, while her defence has argued it was an unintentional tragic accident. Erin Patterson and her estranged husband Simon Patterson. NewsWire Credit: NewsWire On Monday, retired pharmacist and former Victorian Poisons Information Centre poisons information specialist Christine McKenzie gave evidence that she located death cap mushrooms near the township of Loch, about 28km northwest of Leongatha, on April 18, 2023. Prosecutors allege Ms Patterson's phone records indicate she 'travelled to and remained in the Loch area at around 10 am' the following day, before returning to Leongatha. Also on April 18, it's alleged her records indicate she visited Outrim at around 11am, where the jury was told an earlier sighting of death caps were posted on iNaturalist. Ms McKenzie told the jury she was visiting her daughter and posted the sighting on iNaturalist, a citizen science website used to record species, under the name 'Chrismck'. 'We'd been for a walk … my husband and I took our grandson for a walk with the dog,' she said. Members of the Wilkinson family, including lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson (centre), attended court on Monday. NewsWire / David Geraghty Credit: News Corp Australia She told the court that she observed death cap mushrooms under oak trees at the Loch Recreation Reserve and removed the sporing bodies. 'Initially, the ones I saw first were under a single oak tree,' Ms McKenzie said. 'We removed them and put them in the dog poo bag, all I could see.' Asked by prosecutor Jane Warren if there was a 'risk' the mushrooms could regrow, Ms McKenzie replied 'absolutely'. 'More could come up over the subsequent days, weeks,' she said. Quizzed on if she say any regrowth, she said she was only visiting Loch for the day. we were just visiting our daughter for the day Ms McKenzie told the jury that she worked for the Victorian Poisons Information Centre for 17 years and developed an algorithm to decide what calls about mushrooms should be escalated to a mycologist to be identified. 'We couldn't ask every single call about fungi to be identified, there could be hundreds,' she said. She told the court that she developed a special interest in fungi and undertook further study. 'I became fascinated about how few fungi had been identified in Australia and I find them just personally beautiful,' she said. Prosecutors allege Ms Patterson intended to kill the lunch guests attending her home after inviting them with the 'false claim' of discussing a cancer diagnosis. 'It is the prosecution case that the accused deliberately poisoned, with murderous intent, each … after inviting them for lunch on the pretence that she'd been diagnosed with cancer and needed advice about how to break it to the children,' Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC said at the start of the trial. Her husband Simon Patterson's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, died in hospital in the weeks after the gathering. Ms Wilkinson's husband, Korumburra Baptist Church pastor Ian Wilkinson, fell gravely ill but recovered. Don and Gail Patterson died within a day of each other in early August 2023. Supplied Credit: Supplied Heather Wilkinson died while her husband Ian survived. Supplied Credit: Supplied Defence barrister Colin Mandy SC told the jury that Ms Patterson did not dispute that the four lunch guests consumed deadly death cap mushrooms at her Leongatha home. 'The defence case is that Erin Patterson did not deliberately serve poisoned food to her guests at that lunch,' he said. 'The defence case is that what happened was a tragedy, a terrible accident.' The trial, before Justice Christopher Beale, continues.
West Australian
19-05-2025
- West Australian
Erin Patterson: Death cap mushrooms located in Loch by retired poisons information specialist, jury told
Erin Patterson spent time in an area identified to have death cap mushrooms growing in it more than three months before three people fatally ingested the poisonous ingredient while eating lunch at her home, a jury has been told. The poisonous death cap mushrooms were located 28km from Ms Patterson's home by a retired pharmacist, who shared the finding online, the triple murder trial was told on Monday. Ms Patterson, 50, is facing trial after pleading not guilty to the murder of three of her husband's relatives and attempting to murder a fourth in the country Victorian town of Leongatha. Prosecutors allege the mother of two deliberately spiked a lunch at her home on July 29, 2023, with death cap mushrooms, while her defence has argued it was an unintentional tragic accident. On Monday, retired pharmacist and former Victorian Poisons Information Centre poisons information specialist Christine McKenzie gave evidence that she located death cap mushrooms near the township of Loch, about 28km northwest of Leongatha, on April 18, 2023. Prosecutors allege Ms Patterson's phone records indicate she 'travelled to and remained in the Loch area at around 10 am' the following day, before returning to Leongatha. Also on April 18, it's alleged her records indicate she visited Outrim at around 11am, where the jury was told an earlier sighting of death caps were posted on iNaturalist. Ms McKenzie told the jury she was visiting her daughter and posted the sighting on iNaturalist, a citizen science website used to record species, under the name 'Chrismck'. 'We'd been for a walk … my husband and I took our grandson for a walk with the dog,' she said. She told the court that she observed death cap mushrooms under oak trees at the Loch Recreation Reserve and removed the sporing bodies. 'Initially, the ones I saw first were under a single oak tree,' Ms McKenzie said. 'We removed them and put them in the dog poo bag, all I could see.' Asked by prosecutor Jane Warren if there was a 'risk' the mushrooms could regrow, Ms McKenzie replied 'absolutely'. 'More could come up over the subsequent days, weeks,' she said. Quizzed on if she say any regrowth, she said she was only visiting Loch for the day. we were just visiting our daughter for the day Ms McKenzie told the jury that she worked for the Victorian Poisons Information Centre for 17 years and developed an algorithm to decide what calls about mushrooms should be escalated to a mycologist to be identified. 'We couldn't ask every single call about fungi to be identified, there could be hundreds,' she said. She told the court that she developed a special interest in fungi and undertook further study. 'I became fascinated about how few fungi had been identified in Australia and I find them just personally beautiful,' she said. Prosecutors allege Ms Patterson intended to kill the lunch guests attending her home after inviting them with the 'false claim' of discussing a cancer diagnosis. 'It is the prosecution case that the accused deliberately poisoned, with murderous intent, each … after inviting them for lunch on the pretence that she'd been diagnosed with cancer and needed advice about how to break it to the children,' Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC said at the start of the trial. Her husband Simon Patterson's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, died in hospital in the weeks after the gathering. Ms Wilkinson's husband, Korumburra Baptist Church pastor Ian Wilkinson, fell gravely ill but recovered. Defence barrister Colin Mandy SC told the jury that Ms Patterson did not dispute that the four lunch guests consumed deadly death cap mushrooms at her Leongatha home. 'The defence case is that Erin Patterson did not deliberately serve poisoned food to her guests at that lunch,' he said. 'The defence case is that what happened was a tragedy, a terrible accident.' The trial, before Justice Christopher Beale, continues.
Perth Now
14-05-2025
- Perth Now
Bombshell testimony about mushroom lunch leftovers at Erin Patterson trial
Waste workers found a food dehydrator had been dumped at a tip by a woman in the days after a poisonous mushroom lunch was served, a triple-murder trial has been told. Video of a woman getting out of a red car and pulling a black dehydrator from the boot before she placed it in an e-waste bin inside a green shed was shown to the jury in Erin Patterson's trial on Wednesday. WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Bombshell testimony at Erin Patterson murder trial. Prosecutors claim Patterson disposed of the food dehydrator, which they allege contained death cap mushroom traces, after she served a poisoned beef Wellington to four former in-laws on July 29, 2023. The 50-year-old mother of two has pleaded not guilty to three murder charges over the lunch, which led to the deaths of Don and Gail Patterson, 70, and Heather Wilkinson, 66. Patterson claims the poisoning was unintentional and a terrible accident. Koonwarra Transfer Station operations manager Darren Canty told the jury police contacted him on August 4 about a person who had attended the waste facility two days earlier. 'As a result of that inquiry, I looked at the video footage that we had from that day and made a copy of that footage and passed it on,' he said. After the footage was played to the court in Morwell, regional Victoria, the jury was shown a photo of the black Sunbeam food dehydrator. Mr Canty said the woman paid by EFTPOS for the e-waste disposal before she left. Intensive care specialist Andrew Bersten was the next witness called on Wednesday, with the jury told he had been sent Patterson's medical records from her presentation at hospital after the lunch. This included ambulance records that showed Patterson had experienced 'five loose bowel actions' between 10am and 11.50am on July 31. 'She was somewhat dehydrated and therefore I thought it was consistent with a diarrhoeal illness,' he said. Earlier, the first scientist to test the beef Wellington remains said she did not find evidence of death cap mushrooms after examining the food with a microscope. Mycologist Camille Truong was working on-call for the Victorian Poisons Information Centre on July 31 when she received a call from Monash Hospital toxicology registrar Laura Muldoon. Four patients had been hospitalised after consuming a meal that contained mushrooms and Dr Muldoon asked for her help to identify the mushrooms, Dr Truong told the jury. Dr Muldoon arranged to deliver the sample to the Royal Botanic Gardens national herbarium for the scientist to analyse. It arrived about 5pm but Dr Truong said she left work early that day. A colleague brought the beef Wellington sample to Dr Truong's home, where she analysed it on her bench under a microscope. She did not find any death cap mushroom pieces and put the remains into her fridge overnight, Dr Truong told the jury. The next day she took the sample to the Royal Botanic Gardens where she re-examined it and again found the remnants did not contain death cap mushrooms. 'The mushroom I identified is called a field mushroom ... this is the typical mushrooms that you find in a supermarket,' Dr Truong said. 'That is the only mushroom that I found in this food item.' Defence barrister Sophie Stafford earlier discussed a coronial report about a woman who died in May 2024 after making herself a meal out of mushrooms picked from her garden. The elderly woman died from death cap mushroom poisoning, the jury was told. Mushroom expert Thomas May said Victoria's Department of Health had contacted him about the recommendations, which included that more public health messaging was needed on the dangers of consuming wild mushrooms. The trial before Justice Christopher Beale continues on Thursday.
7NEWS
14-05-2025
- 7NEWS
Bombshell testimony about deadly mushroom lunch leftovers at Erin Patterson's murder trial
Waste workers found a food dehydrator had been dumped at a tip by a woman in the days after a poisonous mushroom lunch was served, a triple-murder trial has been told. Video of a woman getting out of a red car and pulling a black dehydrator from the boot before she placed it in an e-waste bin inside a green shed was shown to the jury in Erin Patterson's trial on Wednesday. WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Bombshell testimony at Erin Patterson murder trial. Prosecutors claim Patterson disposed of the food dehydrator, which they allege contained death cap mushroom traces, after she served a poisoned beef Wellington to four former in-laws on July 29, 2023. The 50-year-old mother of two has pleaded not guilty to three murder charges over the lunch, which led to the deaths of Don and Gail Patterson, 70, and Heather Wilkinson, 66. Patterson claims the poisoning was unintentional and a terrible accident. Koonwarra Transfer Station operations manager Darren Canty told the jury police contacted him on August 4 about a person who had attended the waste facility two days earlier. 'As a result of that inquiry, I looked at the video footage that we had from that day and made a copy of that footage and passed it on,' he said. After the footage was played to the court in Morwell, regional Victoria, the jury was shown a photo of the black Sunbeam food dehydrator. Mr Canty said the woman paid by EFTPOS for the e-waste disposal before she left. Intensive care specialist Andrew Bersten was the next witness called on Wednesday, with the jury told he had been sent Patterson's medical records from her presentation at hospital after the lunch. This included ambulance records that showed Patterson had experienced 'five loose bowel actions' between 10am and 11.50am on July 31. 'She was somewhat dehydrated and therefore I thought it was consistent with a diarrhoeal illness,' he said. Beef Wellington leftovers examined Earlier, the first scientist to test the beef Wellington remains said she did not find evidence of death cap mushrooms after examining the food with a microscope. Mycologist Camille Truong was working on-call for the Victorian Poisons Information Centre on July 31 when she received a call from Monash Hospital toxicology registrar Laura Muldoon. Four patients had been hospitalised after consuming a meal that contained mushrooms and Dr Muldoon asked for her help to identify the mushrooms, Dr Truong told the jury. Dr Muldoon arranged to deliver the sample to the Royal Botanic Gardens national herbarium for the scientist to analyse. It arrived about 5pm but Dr Truong said she left work early that day. A colleague brought the beef Wellington sample to Dr Truong's home, where she analysed it on her bench under a microscope. She did not find any death cap mushroom pieces and put the remains into her fridge overnight, Dr Truong told the jury. The next day she took the sample to the Royal Botanic Gardens where she re-examined it and again found the remnants did not contain death cap mushrooms. 'The mushroom I identified is called a field mushroom ... this is the typical mushrooms that you find in a supermarket,' Dr Truong said. 'That is the only mushroom that I found in this food item.' Defence barrister Sophie Stafford earlier discussed a coronial report about a woman who died in May 2024 after making herself a meal out of mushrooms picked from her garden. The elderly woman died from death cap mushroom poisoning, the jury was told. Mushroom expert Thomas May said Victoria's Department of Health had contacted him about the recommendations, which included that more public health messaging was needed on the dangers of consuming wild mushrooms. The trial before Justice Christopher Beale continues on Thursday.
