Latest news with #deathcapmushroom
News.com.au
4 days ago
- News.com.au
Erin Patterson trial: Alleged mushroom poisoner to give evidence for seventh day
Alleged death cap mushroom cook Erin Patterson has told her triple-murder trial a sixth beef Wellington she had prepared was 'just an extra one'. Ms Patterson, 50, is facing trial accused of murdering three of her husband's relatives with a deliberately poisoned lunch she hosted in the country Victorian town of Leongatha on July 29, 2023. She is also accused of the attempted murder of a fourth relative, who recovered after falling ill. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Prosecutors allege she spiked the meal with death cap mushrooms with 'murderous intent' while her defence say she did not intend to poison anyone and the case is a tragic accident. Don Patterson, his wife Gail Patterson and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson died in the week following the lunch while Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson survived. Giving evidence at her trial on Tuesday, Ms Patterson was quizzed about a sixth beef Wellington she prepared ahead of the lunch. She denied a suggestion by Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC the dish was made for Simon Patterson, her estranged husband if he changed his mind and attended. 'I didn't make that sixth one for Simon,' she replied. 'I did not make that one for him … it was just an extra one. Simon wasn't coming.' Earlier in the trial, Simon Patterson told the jury he'd been invited two weeks before the lunch alongside his parents and aunt and uncle, initially agreeing to attend. But the evening before the lunch, he texted Ms Patterson to decline. 'Sorry, I feel too uncomfortable about coming to the lunch with you, mum, dad, Heather & Ian tomorrow,' the message read. Ms Patterson responded saying it was 'really disappointing' and urging Simon to change his mind. 'I've spent many hours this week preparing lunch for tomorrow … and spent a small fortune on beef eye fillet to make beef Wellingtons because I wanted it to be a special meal,' she wrote. 'It's important to me that you're all there tomorrow and that I can have the conversations that I need to have. 'I hope you'll change your mind. Your parents and Heather and Ian are coming at 12.30. I hope to see you there.' Ms Patterson told the jury she was 'hurt' Simon didn't want to come and may have exaggerated. 'I guess I wanted him to feel a little bit bad about cancelling at the last minute after he would have known I'd done a lot of preparation,' she said. Asked last week what happened to the sixth beef Wellington, Ms Patterson told the jury she placed it into her fridge to deal with later. She said she served the meal, with the pastry and mushroom scrapped off, to her two children for dinner the day following the lunch. Ms Patterson denied a suggestion by Dr Rogers that she did not feed the meat from this meal to her children, but she did agree the meat was removed. 'I did do that,' the accused woman said. 'And where was it put?' Dr Rogers asked. 'Into my children's stomachs,' Ms Patterson responded. The trial, now in its seventh week, continues.
The Guardian
28-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Erin Patterson murder trial live: police informant to continue evidence on day 21 of mushroom case
Update: Date: 2025-05-28T00:29:07.000Z Title: Day 20 recap Content: While we wait for today's proceedings to get under way, here is a recap of what the jury heard on Tuesday: A Victorian Department of Health official said the investigation into the fateful lunch concluded it was 'highly unlikely' that commercial mushroom supply chains were contaminated with death cap mushroom toxins. A homicide detective said Erin Patterson 'expressed surprise' when she learned that some of her guests had died while police conducted a search of her property on 5 August 2023. The prosecution called their final witness in the trial, Det Leading Sen Const Stephen Eppingstall, who led the police investigation into the lethal lunch. During his testimony, the prosecution played jurors a video of Patterson's police interview recorded on 5 August 2023. In the video, Patterson told police she did not own a dehydrator but owned manuals for lots of things. The court was previously shown photographs of a manual for a Sunbeam dehydrator that police located in a kitchen drawer during the search of Patterson's Leonagtha house on 5 August 2023. Eppingstall said police tried to track Patterson's vehicle during an 11-minute window on the evening following the lunch when she dropped her son at Subway in Leongatha and picked him up. He said police were unable to find any footage to determine where she had gone during this time. Update: Date: 2025-05-28T00:29:07.000Z Title: Welcome Content: to day 21 of Erin Patterson's triple murder trial. We're expecting today's evidence to begin after 10.30am once the jurors enter the court room. Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha, in regional Victoria, on 29 July 2023. She is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and her estranged husband's aunt, Heather Wilkinson. The attempted murder charge relates to Heather's husband, Ian. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The prosecution alleges Patterson deliberately poisoned her lunch guests with 'murderous intent', but her lawyers say the poisoning was a tragic accident.
The Guardian
27-05-2025
- The Guardian
‘Who died?': Erin Patterson ‘surprised' when police told her of mushroom lunch guests' deaths, trial hears
Erin Patterson appeared surprised when told by homicide squad detectives during a search of her property that two of her lunch guests had died, a Victorian court has heard. Homicide squad Det Sgt Luke Farrell gave evidence at Patterson's triple murder trial on Tuesday about executing a search warrant at her Leongatha property a week after the lunch. 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 South Gippsland on 29 July 2023. Patterson has pleaded not guilty to murdering Simon's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, 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. Farrell told the court that on 5 August 2023 he was part of a team of four officers who arrived at Patterson's house about 11.40am. It was his responsibility to conduct the search, with other officers tasked with taking photos and videos of the search, and logging any seized items. The court heard that a transcript of a recording of Farrell speaking with Patterson at the start of the search indicated that he introduced himself, and said police had a warrant. 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. He then said 'it's in connection with the death of two people over the past couple of days', to which Patterson responded 'who died?' Earlier in his evidence, Farrell said Patterson 'expressed surprise' when she learned that some of her guests had died. 'I don't know what she was or wasn't aware of, but she was told in my presence, and expressed she didn't know beforehand,' Farrell said. The court heard Heather Wilkinson died about 2.05am on 4 August 2023, and Gail Patterson about 5.55pm the same day. Farrell also told the court police did not seize plates from Patterson's house during the search, except from a plate with fruit on it which Heather brought to lunch, nor photograph every plate. Police seized several electronic devices during the search, including a phone, tablet and computer. Photographs taken by police during the search and shown to the court included images of multiple plates, and the RecipeTin Eats dinner cook book. Farrell said one page in the book was marked, but that he also found a recipe for beef wellington 'splattered with cooking' on a separate page. A video was also played to the jury showing Farrell sitting with Patterson at her kitchen table and explaining the search was also completed, but he would need to seize her phone. She handed it over, and said it may require a pin. 'It's either 1315 or 131528, I can't remember which one,' she tells Farrell. Farrell said that the phone actually did not need a pin code. He said the search finished about 3.30pm, and police then also searched a unit in Mount Waverley which detectives believed was also owned by Patterson. Nothing was seized during this search. The court also heard on Tuesday from Sally Ann Atkinson, a department of health official who investigated the lunch in order to determine if it required a broader public health response. The investigation led to a final report about the lunch, dubbed The Patterson Family Outbreak, which concluded that 'it was highly unlikely that the commercial mushroom supply chain was contaminated with amatoxins' and that 'the risk to public health was deemed very low'. The trial continues.
