1 hours ago
Good morning!
Welcome back to the Herald Sun’s live coverage of the trial of Erin Patterson.
Today is the eighteenth day in court, with proceedings set to kick off any minute now.
1 hours ago
Quick, I need a recap!
Didn’t get a chance to tune in
yesterday? Don’t worry – we’ve got you covered.
Here’s everything you need to know from court yesterday before proceedings get underway:
1. Senior digital forensics officer Shamen Fox-Henry was asked questions about a Samsung mobile phone seized from Erin’s house, particularly messages sent to a Facebook group chat in December 2022. In its opening address to the jury, the prosecution said the accused spoke to her online friends in Facebook group chats under the account names of Erin Patterson, ‘Erin Erin’ and ‘Erin ErinErin’.
2. One of the text messages sent by ‘Erin ErinErin’ about Simon read: “Don said they tried to talk to him but he refused to talk about it so they’re staying out of it but want us to pray together. I’m sick of this
I want nothing to do with them. I thought his parents would want him to do the right thing but it seems their concern about not wanting to feel uncomfortable and not wanting to get involved in their son’s personal matters are overriding that so
em.” Another message read: “His mum was horrified I had claimed child support. Why isn’t she horrified her son is such a deadbeat that I had no choice but to claim?”
3. Mr Fox-Henry was also asked questions about a Samsung tablet seized from Erin’s house. The jury were shown photos extracted from the device, including a photo of black dehydrator and two photos of mushrooms on the trays of the dehydrator. Four screenshots from an internet browser were also extracted, with three referring to ovarian cancer.
4. He confirmed he also examined a second Samsung mobile phone, which was handed over by Erin during the search warrant on August 5. The court heard four factory resets were conducted on the device on February 12, August 2, August 5 and August 8. A report shown to the jury shows the phone was “wiped locally by user” three times and “wiped remotely by user” once.
5. Troy Schonknecht, an environmental health officer from Monash City Council, explained to the jury how the council conducted an investigation after Erin told officials she had used dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer in the beef wellington meal. He visited 14 Asian grocers across Oakleigh, Clayton and Mount Waverley. He was unable to find any product fitting the exact description Erin had provided. He confirmed he did not visit any Asian grocers in Glen Waverley, despite Erin telling some officials the Asian grocer could have been located in that suburb.
6. Nurse Mairim Cespon told the court she monitored Erin’s bowel motions after she was admitted to Leongatha Hospital on July 31, two days after the lunch. Five bowel motions were recorded at 10am, 10.04am, 10.06am, 10.15am and 11.50am. Ms Cespon confirmed she recorded three of the bowel motions as “medium” and “liquid”, while the other two were “small” and “liquid”. She said Erin “became emotional” when she was told her children should be brought to hospital since they had eaten the leftovers of the lunch.
37 minutes ago
Liver transplant not enough to save Don Patterson, doctor says
The jury has entered the courtroom.
Dr Stephen Warrillow, an intensive care specialist from the Austin Hospital, has started giving evidence via video link.
He confirmed he treated Don, Gail, Heather and Ian in the days after the lunch.
Crown prosecutor Sarah Lenthall said she would first ask Dr Warrillow about Don, who was diagnosed with acute liver failure on July 31 before he arrived at the Austin Hospital.
“The Austin hosts the state liver transplant service,” he said.
Dr Warrillow told the court Don was intubated after he arrived and put on life support as he was given medication “to assist his comfort during that time”.
The court heard he had been diagnosed with amanita mushroom poisoning or toxic mushroom poisoning.
“The only possibility of saving his life was through a liver transplant,” Dr Warrillow said.
He confirmed a liver transplant was completed, but Don continued to deteriorate.
“We had no other treatments to offer, no other therapies. He was dying.”
The court heard Don died on August 5, a week after the lunch on July 29, 2023.
32 minutes ago
Gail was in 'state of advanced shock' before death, doctor says
Dr Warrillow is now being asked about Gail who, like her husband, continued to deteriorate after arriving at the Austin Hospital.
The court heard she had also been diagnosed with amanita mushroom poisoning or toxic mushroom poisoning.
He said her liver was “essentially not working at all” by August 2 and she was in a “state of advanced shock” with multiple organ failure.
Dr Warrillow confirmed a liver transplant was considered, but not undertaken.
“The view of all the contributing senior specialists … was that she was too sick to undergo the necessary surgery,” he said.
She died a day before her husband on August 4.
25 minutes ago
'Not survivable': Heather was too unwell for potentially life-saving surgery
Dr Warrillow said Heather, like her sister, was “rapidly” deteriorating after arriving at the Austin Hospital.
The court heard she had also been diagnosed with amanita mushroom poisoning or toxic mushroom poisoning.
He confirmed a liver transplant was considered, but not undertaken for the same reasons as Gail.
“Ultimately no, she was too unwell to undergo the complex … surgery required for a liver transplant,” he said.
The court heard the doctors ultimately concluded her condition was “not survivable”.
She died on the same day as her sister on August 4.
13 minutes ago
'We thought he was going to die': Doctors on saving Ian
Dr Warrillow said Ian, the only lunch guest to survive, was “extremely unwell” on August 2 with advanced multi-organ failure.
Ian is sitting in the body of the court, surrounded by family, as Dr Warrillow gives evidence.
The court heard his condition improved over August 6 and 7.
“There was some slow and important improvement over the next several days,” Dr Warrillow said.
“It was very slow because he was coming from a situation of extreme critical illness.”
Ms Lenthall asked Dr Warrillow how close Ian came to dying.
“We thought he was going to die. He was very close,” he said.
The court heard he was discharged from the ICU on August 21 before he returned home on September 21.
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