Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #10 *Arrest*

[JLZ]

The point is that he remembered the plates of the guests were of a different colour to Erin’s plate - Heather also stated this to Simon that the plates were a different colour IIRC.
It’s not reasonable for someone to remember the exact colour of plates, especially after being in hospital for weeks and on the verge of dying. This doesn’t make Ian an unreliable witness at all IMO.

Agree.

 

[katydid23]

Erin Patterson murder trial day 20 – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

Detective discusses factory resets of ‘phone B’

Eppingstall says on one occasion during the police search, Patterson was in a room alone for a “good 20 to 30 minutes” while officers stood outside.

He says Patterson had a mobile phone on her during the search and was talking about making arrangements for her daughter.

Warren shows Eppingstall a “extraction report” of a mobile phone – “phone B” – which shows four factory resets were performed.

One entry shows a factory reset was performed at 1.20pm on 5 August. Eppingstall says this was when officers were at Patterson’s home.

Warren says if this time is in UTC time, the factory reset was done at 11.20pm. Eppingstall says this was when the phone was in his office.

Another factory reset is the following day 6 August at 5.16am. He says at this point the phone was locked up. Taking into account UTC time, the phone would have still been locked up.

Eppingstall says this is during the time police were at Patterson’s house for the search.

Jurors shown Erin Patterson's interview with police​

Jurors are shown Patterson’s record of interview with police from 5 August 2023.

Patterson was interviewed at the Wonthaggi police station, the court hears. The interview begins at 4.41pm.

Patterson is wearing a beige-coloured jumper.

Court hears Patterson tells interviewer ‘I’ve never been in a situation like this before’

The interviewer says Heather and Gail passed away, Don is on life support, and he says he doesn’t have more information on Ian.

“We’re trying to understand what has made them so ill,” one of the interviewers says.

He says he is trying to understand why Patterson is not unwell.

“I’ve never been in a situation like this before,” Patterson says:

I’ve been very helpful with the health department during the week … I do want to know what happened.

The interviewer says police are interested in the mushrooms and asks if she has foraged mushrooms.

Patterson replies: “Never.”

 

[katydid23]

Erin Patterson murder trial day 20 – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

Patterson tells interviewer estranged husband’s relatives ‘the only family I’ve got’, court hears

The questioning turns to Patterson’s relationship with her estranged husband, Simon, and his family.

Patterson says she wanted to “maintain those relationships … I loved them [her in-laws] a lot”.

They always said they would support me … even though Simon and I were separated.”

My parents are both gone. My grandparents are all gone. They’re the only family I’ve got.”

They’re the only grandparents my children have … that’s really important to me.”

She says she “loved” her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson.

“They’re good, decent people,” she says.

Asked why she left Leongatha hospital on 31 July, she says she needed to go home and pack some items for her daughter.

Patterson weeps in court while watching video of police interview

Our justice and courts reporter, Nino Bucci, is in the courtroom in Morwell where Patterson’s trial is taking place.

Patterson wept in court as she watched the video of her police interview on a small screen to her left in the dock.

Court hears Patterson tell police interviewer she did not own a dehydrator​

Asked during the interview if she owns a dehydrator, Patterson says she does not.

Asked about the Sunbeam dehydrator manual located by police, Patterson says she has manuals for lots of things.

The officers take Patterson through the seized items including the fruit platter, jug with brown liquid, computers and a black mobile phone.

The interviewer asks Patterson about the leftovers of the beef wellington located by police in a bin outside her home.

She says her children also ate the meal and she had offered to collect the leftovers herself while at the hospital.

 

[MrJ]

The interviewer says police are interested in the mushrooms and asks if she has foraged mushrooms.

Patterson replies: “Never.”

Well we know she lied about this. And the Asian grocer. What else is she lying about?

 

[katydid23]

Erin Patterson murder trial day 20 – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

Eppingstall says the investigation included searching data extracted from seized devices, and reviewing the medical records of the lunch guests.

He confirms Patterson was arrested and formally charged on 2 November 2023.

Warren shows the court a map of Loch that was previously shown during the evidence of telecommunications expert Dr Matthew Sorell.

Jury shown map of Loch and Outtrim areas

The jurors are then shown a map of the Outtrim area.

Sightings of suspected death cap mushrooms in Loch and Outtrim were posted to the citizen science website iNaturalist in the months before the lunch, the court previously heard.

Eppingstall says Outtrim is a “completely rural town” and there are no cafes or shops.

Eppingstall says on 8 August 2023 he attended Subway in Leongatha.

He says Simon told police that on evening after the lunch on 29 July 2023, Patterson dropped her son’s friend at home and then stopped at Subway in Leongatha.

Eppingstall says police obtained CCTV footage captured at 7.22 pm on 31 July 2023.

Jurors are shown the footage which begins with Patterson’s red four-wheel drive in the car park. Patterson’s son is then seen entering Subway. The red vehicle then drives out of the car park.

In the second clip, Patterson’s son leaves Subway minutes later. The final clip shows Patterson’s car pulling back into the Subway car park.


Police unable to track Patterson’s vehicle while son was at Subway, court hears

The court hears there was an 11-minute window between Patterson dropping her son at Subway and returning to pick him up.

Eppingstall says police tried to track Patterson’s vehicle but were unable to find any footage to determine where she had gone.

 

[katydid23]

Well we know she lied about this. And the Asian grocer. What else is she lying about?

What else was she lying about?
That she never had a dehydrator. [And when asked about the Sunbeam manual found in her kitchen pantry she said 'I have lots of manuals.' ]
And they have her back records showing the purchase of the dehydrator. And cctv of her tipping it.

And I think she probably lied about Simon confronting her at the hospital in front of the kids, supposedly asking her 'Is that [dehydrator] how you poisoned my parents? I think she made that up to explain why she ran home to dispose of it.

 

[Deleted member 363451]

Hmmm is it suspicious that I have always had a second phone for if my main one dies or needs repairs.

Sounds like commonsense to me.

If you do 3 factory resets, one while one of your phones is in the possession of the police, then that's suspicious...

 

[Deleted member 363451]

It seems to me that the defense is sticking with the possibility that EP did buy the mushrooms from an Asian market?

Yep!

 

[Deleted member 363451]

Agree.

I think that poor Heather twigged as to what had happened...

 

[Deleted member 363451]

2m ago

Erin speaks about relationship with in laws​

By Mikaela Ortolan​

Erin tells the officer: "I think Simon hated that I had a relationship with his family."

She then goes on to say she loved his family a lot and they had always been good to her.

"They always said to me they'd support me with love and emotional support even though Simon and I were separated and I really appreciated that because both my parents are gone," she says in the video.

"They're the only family that I've got and the only grandparents that my children have and I want them to stay in my kids' life and that's really important to me."

Well now her poor kids have no grandparents...

 

[JBowie]

2m ago

Erin speaks about relationship with in laws​

By Mikaela Ortolan​

Erin tells the officer: "I think Simon hated that I had a relationship with his family."

She then goes on to say she loved his family a lot and they had always been good to her.

"They always said to me they'd support me with love and emotional support even though Simon and I were separated and I really appreciated that because both my parents are gone," she says in the video.

"They're the only family that I've got and the only grandparents that my children have and I want them to stay in my kids' life and that's really important to me."

As the Brits would say, what a load of bollocks.

At the time she said all of that I bet she didn't imagine that her internet posts dissing SP and his family would be dug up.

 

[SouthAussie]

Jury shown video of detective speaking to Patterson about accessing mobile phone

Farrell says at the conclusion of the search he requested Patterson hand over her mobile phone. He says the pair spoke at 3.29pm and Patterson provided her mobile phone.

Farrell says Patterson provided a four-digit and six-digit number as possible pin numbers. But he said the phone did not require a pin.

The jury is then shown a video of Patterson speaking to Farrell at the conclusion of the search.

..... Farrell asks Patterson if a pin is required for the mobile.

Patterson replies “yeah” and gives two options. “I can’t remember which one,” she says.

When you wiped your phone, Erin, while they were searching your home, you took away the need for the pin.

imo

 

[MrJ]

As the Brits would say, what a load of bollocks.

At the time she said all of that I bet she didn't imagine that her internet posts dissing SP and his family would be dug up.

If she planned this she only planned the method but not the aftermath. So much for following true crime

 

[Old Soul]

I’m curious that the leftover beef wellingtons are retrieved from the bottom of EP’s outdoor bin by police on July 31, yet the jug of gravy and left over fruit platter from the July 29th lunch are still in EP’s refrigerator when police search her house on August 5th.
Why the haste to bin the Wellingtons when at that stage she purportedly didn’t know they had caused illness?

Patterson also denied owning a dehydrator or knowing anything about it when police told her they had found a Sunbeam dehydrator manual at her home.
‘I’ve got manuals for lots of stuff,' she said.
'I just keep them.'
So, she never owned the dehydrator but just kept the manual

Moment Erin Patterson tells cops why she invited her in-laws to lunch

Follow Daily Mail Australia's live coverage of accused mushroom chef Erin Patterson's murder trial here.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[MrJ]

Also…. she surely knows lying to police is a crime right?

 

[Kemug]

Umm .. I found it interesting, the somewhat ‘technical sounding’ questions asked by the Defence were questions Mr Fox-Henry was unable to answers.

Most likely that was because they were out of his investigation brief, or inapplicable, however I’m concerned his ‘one word answers’ may lead some to a lack of trust / confidence in his evidence.

EP pushed hard for the Trial to be held in Morwell, maybe she thought jury members drawn from those surroundings would be easier ‘fooled’. …

Ah yes, "stupid country people", now I get it!

 

[Kemug]

Ah thank you @SouthAussie , I had somehow missed that.

If she really was such a good cook (as per daughter), and wanted to do something "new and special", then why did she do individual ones? Making individual BWs according to the RT recipe would have required so much extra work - and likely extra wastage too.

I just cannot come up with a valid, innocent reason that lines up with everything else we know.

Plus the proper long BW in slices is much more special looking, IMO.

 

[Bats]

Gosh, the last of the prosecution's witnesses! What an epic list that was! I'm not expecting the defence to have many, if any. Perhaps closing arguments start tomorrow or Thursday?

 

[Kemug]

When I said 'collateral damage' I was thinking along the lines of her intentionally inviting 2 other people to make it seem less likely that she had any reason or motive to harm them. So they were 'collateral' as they were not the real target but they were included to try and muddy the waters?

RSBM
That is so evil!!

 

[Kemug]

Patterson ‘expressed surprise’ when told Heather Wilkinson had died, court hears​

Patterson’s defence lawyer, Colin Mandy SC, begins to cross-examine Farrell.

Mandy asks if Patterson was aware during the first search on 5 August 2023 that some of her lunch guests had died.

Farrell says Patterson was told Heather Wilkinson had died and she “expressed surprise”.

RSBM
As in "Oh dear, what a shame"?