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

[HoneyBunOne]

Nine seconds or less would let me either have a quick look at myself, and/or decide I need to hold on if the toilet isn't clean enough.
Another reason I've decided not to use a public toilet was that that there was no paper left.

Both good reasons, I can't believe I didn't think of those.

However, in a regular toileting situation, you may decide to hold on, but would you if you had the runs? I think I know this service station, and if I'm right, there's not much else around, and certainly no other toilets. If it was just a case of no paper, surely you'd ask the attendant for some? If the toilet was dirty and you have no other close option, you may want to try and hover and do your business without touching anything. I mean if you're really close to exploding, and you don't have other options than to soil your nice cream pants, maybe a dirty servo loo is a better choice.

I think to show that the lunch food was ok.

One and half beef wellingtons were thrown out, if the poisoning was unintentional and she was worried about wastage surely you’d keep the untouched Wellington (Simon’s) for her ravenous son to have reheated. He doesn’t seem fussy about what he eats. Or at least feed it to the dog

Good point. She was quite keen to tell Simon how expensive the meat was, and you wouldn't want to waste it. Do we know when the meat was purchased, and when the leftovers were thrown away? Maybe she could argue she was worried they had made people sick, but on the other hand, didn't she give the kids leftovers the day after the lunch, when she knew all the guests were ill - hospital admission type ill?

 

[Lisa4]

Forgive me for throwing this into the ring at this point, but haven't had the time to post until now, and am interested if others besides myself have ever wondered just how much (if at all) her reading of Agatha Christie novels influenced her?

To me, it all unfolds at first like a classic Agatha Christie plot: carefully chosen victims, a poisoning causing seemingly natural deaths, an emotional hook, and even a dinner party! The key character believes she’s halfway through a cleverly planned mystery - one she controls...

But once the victims' symptoms begin, she metaphorically "turns the page" and finds the rest of the book blank, with just a few sketchy, conflicting dotpoints to guide what comes next... no more clever next moves, no Poirot to outwit! Just the cold hard reality of real-life hospital protocols, public health queries, CCTV, phone evidence. She’s left flailing and improvising in panic, because fiction had prepared her for everything - except what actually came next.

Almost wrote a novel myself there! Apologies, I have wanted to get that out for a long time, so there it is.

 

[MsMarple]

2m ago

How time and dates are recorded on computer file systems​

By Judd Boaz​

Mr Fox-Henry goes over the different categories of information tied to computer files that can refer to time: created date/time, last modified date/time and last accessed date/time.

Created date refers to when a file was initially created.

Last modified date refers to the last time a file was edited or changed.

Last accessed date refers to the last time the computer tried to open the file.

If you've looked in the "Properties" category on your computer at home, these terms will look familiar.


A line on one of Mr Fox-Henry's presentation slides states: "the last accessed date and time is not a reliable source of user activity".

When asked to clarify this, Mr Fox-Henry says virus scanner software could potentially impact the last accessed date, but should not alter the other two categories.

 

[Bats]

2m ago

How time and dates are recorded on computer file systems​

By Judd Boaz​

Mr Fox-Henry goes over the different categories of information tied to computer files that can refer to time: created date/time, last modified date/time and last accessed date/time.

Created date refers to when a file was initially created.

Last modified date refers to the last time a file was edited or changed.

Last accessed date refers to the last time the computer tried to open the file.

If you've looked in the "Properties" category on your computer at home, these terms will look familiar.

View attachment 587517
A line on one of Mr Fox-Henry's presentation slides states: "the last accessed date and time is not a reliable source of user activity".

When asked to clarify this, Mr Fox-Henry says virus scanner software could potentially impact the last accessed date, but should not alter the other two categories.

I think the jury will be ready for another break shortly... this evidence is enthralling...not

 

[MsMarple]

5m ago

Emails and internet browsers​

By Kristian Silva​

We get into more technical territory now, EML (X) files, which relate to emails.

These artefacts contain three parts — a header, message body and an attachment.

The next slide turns to history artefacts, which show a record of internet browsing history and the associated database file.

"Common browsers include Google Chrome, Mozilla and Internet Explorer," he says.

Internet Explorer is now known as Microsoft Edge for our younger audience members.

Another term is raised — Favicon.

A favicon is the icon associated with a website displayed in the address and tabs of a browser.

I will break the third wall here — our readers can look up to the top of their screen to see the very nice ABC favicon (logo).

 

[MsMarple]

I think the jury will be ready for another break shortly... this evidence is enthralling...not

Poor jury. I know it’s necessary but Oy Vey!

 

[MsMarple]

Examining search history and cookies explained​

By Judd Boaz​

Slides are shown to the court explaining the various artefacts left over on a computer following the use of a search engine like Google.

In a nutshell, it is some of the random-looking numbers and letters that can appear in a URL when one conducts a search using a search engine.

The next slide covers cookies — small pieces of data that a website stores on your computer or device when you visit it.

By analysing cookies on a computer, forensic investigators can trace back to which websites a computer visited.

 

[Vortexaire]

I believe this is the phone that Erin allegedly reset while it was in police custody. So any GPS or other data on the device was likely purged.

If she used Google maps or some other service to find the mushroom patch then they could get the location data from the app provider, assuming that it hadn't been deleted by the time the subpoena was issued.

Thank you so much for the response. According to American law, Google would be legally obligated to keep the data for 10 years. So I am puzzled as to why the police have not done so already, they can even get the data under exigent circumstances.

 

[MsMarple]

Something must have been found if the expert is taking so much time educating the jury.

 

[Detechtive]

Something must have been found if the expert is taking so much time educating the jury.

I am thinking it is a favicon for Inaturalist.

 

[MsMarple]

Key Event
3m ago

Erin Patterson's devices seized by police​

By Judd Boaz​

The devices seized by police in the Erin Patterson case are raised by the prosecution.

Each time police seize an item, it is given a unique identifying number, referred to as a PaLM number.

The prosecution begins with a Cooler Master personal computer with the PaLM number 202308-C-0124-001, which it says was seized on August 5, 2023.

Mr Fox-Henry says he commenced his extraction of data from the computer on August 15.

5m ago

Caches, URLs and timelines​

By Kristian Silva​

The slide ticks over to caches — this is information that can include webpages, pictures and other resources.

"An example is your mobile phone caches information to allow you to recall where you were on that app," Mr Fox-Henry explains.

A few more terms to learn, including "IE In Private Recovery URLS".

These are URLs that can be recovered anywhere from a user's device, the presentation says.

"Windows Timeline Activity" refers to information about application usage, including start and end times and the duration a program was open for.

The slideshow draws to a close and we move onto the case at hand.

 

[Detechtive]

Digital devices seized during investigation​

The court heard a number of “digital devices” were seized by investigators in this case.
Mr Fox-Henry confirmed he examined some of these devices, while one of his colleagues examined several “portable handheld devices”.
Crown prosecutor Jane Warren is asking Mr Fox-Henry about a Cooler Master computer, which was seized on August 5 and examined by him on August 15.
He confirmed the examination involved “extraction processing”.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/the-mushroom-cook/erin-patterson-trial-live-updates-cctv-captures-accuseds-movements-day-after-fatal-lunch/live-coverage/278c0f326cf0c64d49fa0726724ec065

 

[Deleted member 363451]

Forgive me for throwing this into the ring at this point, but haven't had the time to post until now, and am interested if others besides myself have ever wondered just how much (if at all) her reading of Agatha Christie novels influenced her?

To me, it all unfolds at first like a classic Agatha Christie plot: carefully chosen victims, a poisoning causing seemingly natural deaths, an emotional hook, and even a dinner party! The key character believes she’s halfway through a cleverly planned mystery - one she controls...

But once the victims' symptoms begin, she metaphorically "turns the page" and finds the rest of the book blank, with just a few sketchy, conflicting dotpoints to guide what comes next... no more clever next moves, no Poirot to outwit! Just the cold hard reality of real-life hospital protocols, public health queries, CCTV, phone evidence. She’s left flailing and improvising in panic, because fiction had prepared her for everything - except what actually came next.

Almost wrote a novel myself there! Apologies, I have wanted to get that out for a long time, so there it is.

I've said on this forum before that it's just like something out of an Agatha Christie movie. No wonder it's attracted world wide interest.

 

[MsMarple]

Key Event
1m ago

Police search for 'death cap' on computer in Erin Patterson's house​

By Judd Boaz​

The prosecution tells the court that the seized personal computer had three drives; a 120GB Samsung SSD (solid-state drive), a 256GB Hitachi HDD (hard disk drive) and a 120GB Silicon Power SSD that was disconnected.

Mr Fox-Henry says he made a copy of the contents of each drive in the personal computer. He exported a copy of the entire contents to one external drive, and then ran a keyword search.

The search looked for the terms: "death cap", "death cap mushroom", "death cap mushrooms", "mushrooms" and "poison" on the copy.

He then exported all data relating to those terms to a second external drive, in an effort to narrow down the investigation.

 

[HoneyBunOne]

It's VERY bold. Homicide detectives get a search warrant for your cell phone, and while it is in their possession, you erase everything remotely?

I bet that didn't go over very well and may have made them even more certain they were on the right track. IMO

You could argue that it was a bold move, made by somebody who felt they were in control, or above the law. Someone who felt many were beneath them and that they was smarter than the average bear, able to talk, beg, plead or cry their way out of a situation. Someone used to manipulating things to suit their narrative.
All allegedly of course.

 

[MsMarple]

Key Event
1m ago

What police found on computer in Erin Patterson's home​

By Judd Boaz​

A report made by Mr Fox-Henry following the data extraction is shown to the court.

A list of artefacts labelled "past search queries" is shown.

The first record shows a search term: iNaturalist.

The records show a Bing search was done for the iNaturalist website on May 28, 2023.

This is about two months before the lunch.

iNaturalist is the citizen science website where we've heard witnesses in the trial say they posted the location of death cap mushrooms.

 

[Detechtive]

Key Event
1m ago

Police search for 'death cap' on computer in Erin Patterson's house​

By Judd Boaz​

The prosecution tells the court that the seized personal computer had three drives; a 120GB Samsung SSD (solid-state drive), a 256GB Hitachi HDD (hard disk drive) and a 120GB Silicon Power SSD that was disconnected.

Mr Fox-Henry says he made a copy of the contents of each drive in the personal computer. He exported a copy of the entire contents to one external drive, and then ran a keyword search.

The search looked for the terms: "death cap", "death cap mushroom", "death cap mushrooms", "mushrooms" and "poison" on the copy.

He then exported all data relating to those terms to a second external drive, in an effort to narrow down the investigation.

I just want to hear the results. It has been 11 minutes. This is torture!

 

[Scooby-Doo]

The hygiene company employee might well realise that something heavier than usual had been placed in the bin, but would you go through all the contents of the bag to find it? I certainly wouldn't.

They would watch to see what comes out when it's being emptied into the truck
They would have to be so careful if there were drug paraphernalia, syringes etc..

But there would be times other things could end up in there including the rubbish bin, with stolen items, like mail etc and accidental items, jewelry rings that slip off, etc.

 

[Old Soul]

Key Event
1m ago

What police found on computer in Erin Patterson's home​

By Judd Boaz​

A report made by Mr Fox-Henry following the data extraction is shown to the court.

A list of artefacts labelled "past search queries" is shown.

The first record shows a search term: iNaturalist.

The records show a Bing search was done for the iNaturalist website on May 28, 2023.

This is about two months before the lunch.

iNaturalist is the citizen science website where we've heard witnesses in the trial say they posted the location of death cap mushrooms.

I think ABC reported that the iNaturalist search was May 28, 2022, 14 months before the lunch

 

[Detechtive]

I think ABC reported that the iNaturalist search was May 28, 2022, 14 months before the lunch

The Herald Sun just changed theirs..

Seized device used to look up iNaturalist website: Expert​

The jury is now being shown the results of a forensic examination report relating to the three storage devices.
A page of the report called “parsed search queries” shows four records relating to the search term “iNaturalist” on May 28, 2022, about 7.20pm.
The jury has previously heard iNaturalist is a citizen science website where members of the public post sightings of plants, animals and fungi, including death cap mushrooms.
When asked about the records, Mr Fox-Henry said they “confirmed a Bing search was done for iNaturalist”.
Ms Warren asked: “In simple terms, does this record indicate that the search engine Bing accessed that URL on the 28 May, 2022?”
Mr Fox-Henry replied: “Yes.”

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/the-mushroom-cook/erin-patterson-trial-live-updates-cctv-captures-accuseds-movements-day-after-fatal-lunch/live-coverage/278c0f326cf0c64d49fa0726724ec065