Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #11 *Arrest*

[drsleuth]

1m ago22.39 EDT

Erin Patterson says she 'played up the emotion to get support'​

Barrister Colin Mandy SC takes Erin Patterson to another message on 6 December 2022 to her Facebook friends when she wrote “at least I know they’re [Simon’s parents] a lost cause.”

In another message Patterson wrote “I’m sick of this ” and “so em”.

I did, I wrote that

Mandy asks why she sent the message.

Patterson sighs and begins to sniff before she answers.

I needed to vent.

She says the alternative was to “go into the paddock and tell the sheep”.

Asked if she meant the words she used, Patterson says “no” as she becomes visibly emotional.

I regret the language I used.

Patterson says she knew her Facebook friends would rally around her.

I probably played up the emotion a bit to get that support.

Erin Patterson trial day 25 – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

Master manipulator IMO

 

[JBowie]

"An emotional Erin Patterson told the jury of her regret, saying that she wished she had never written that message and felt ashamed about it. “

IMO, more likely she wishes it wasn't entered into evidence in this case.

 

[Marg944]

We have another sketch…..

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/courts-law/erin-patterson-trial-alleged-mushroom-poisoner-set-to-continue-giving-evidence/news-story/893acae94adbeb06096726bc61946b6c

 

[JLZ]

And it sounds like the son at least was 14 at the time of the flying lessons/grandparents and aunts death. That's plenty old enough not to be "frightened" by the situation/visiting the relatives in ICU, being pulled out of school to be tested.

It would be, but then you factor in a hypochondriac hospital-phobic manipulative mother, and his emotional state is anyone's guess.

 

[drsleuth]

12.40pm

‘At his core he was a decent human being’: Erin on Simon post-separation​

By​

Erin Patterson is now talking about a time when she asked her estranged husband for a favour after the couple’s separation.

She says it was the kind of favour she felt she could ask of Simon, even though they were not in a good spot in their post-separation relationship.

The favour was to remove a fallen tree. “”We had that conflict before we went to New Zealand and we hadn’t resolved it specifically in the way you saw that happen in October with the apologies and whatnot.

“But I knew at his core he was a decent human being, and he would possibly help me if he could in that regard,” she told the jury.

The court heard Simon Patterson responded to the request, saying he would always be her husband but was in Brisbane and unable to help.

Day 25, as it happened: Patterson concedes death cap mushrooms were in beef Wellington she fed guests

Accused killer cook Erin Patterson has conceded death cap mushrooms were in a beef Wellington she fed her lunch guests after telling a jury she often foraged for fungi and enjoyed buying exotic varieties because they tasted better.

www.theage.com.au

 

[JBowie]

I hope the jurors are thinking "OMG, when will this sob story end?"

 

[MrJ]

1m ago
Erin asked about mushrooms and foraging

By Joseph Dunstan

Erin puts on her glasses as she's shown messages sent to her Facebook friends where she talked about buying a food dehydrator and sharing a photo of mushrooms on the dehydrator's shelves.

"Looks like they're at the end of the cycle," Erin says of the mushrooms shown on shelves taken from the dehydrator.

"They're before going in," she says of another photo of sliced button mushrooms.

Mr Mandy asks Erin if she developed an interest in wild mushrooms.

"Yeah I did, yes," Erin says.

She says that interest began in early 2020, when going on walks with her children during the first COVID lockdown.

She says she first noticed lots of them "popping up" at the Korumburra Botanic Gardens during those walks and her interest was drawn to them.

Erin tells Mr Mandy she's always enjoyed eating mushrooms.

"They taste good and they're very healthy," she says.

 

[drsleuth]

5 minutes ago - 12:39 PMMax Corstorphan

Patterson reveals eating disorder struggles​

Erin Patterson has told a could about her struggles with body image and an eating disorder.

“I tried every diet under the sun.

“It’s been a roller coaster of the years,” she said, describing her eating habits.

“When I was a kid, mum would weigh us every week to make sure we weren’t putting on too much weight.”

Ms Patterson said she went through phases of “not eating” then “bingeing”.

“I have never had a good relationship with food, a healthy relationship,” Ms Patterson said.

Ms Patterson described bingeing as “everything you can get your hands on until you’re sick.

Ms Patterson said she would then “bring it back up again”.

She said this health issue was a “private thing”, something she would do when Simon Patterson or the kids were not around.

Ms Patterson told the court she had done this since her 20s, sometimes “daily”, sometimes “monthly”.

She said “nobody” knew about it in 2022, breaking down.

1 minute ago - 12:43 PMMax Corstorphan

‘Loved mushrooms’: Patterson explains food dehydrator use​

Erin Paterson has told the court that she informed her Facebook friends that she had bought a food dehydrator and that she “loved mushrooms”.

Ms Patterson confirmed she shared an image of mushrooms she had dehydrated online.

Ms Patterson said she “was experimenting with different ways” to get the “best result” for dehydrating.

Ms Patterson confirmed she had an interest in wild mushrooms, something that started in early 2020.

Accused mushroom killer testifies about fatal lunch

RECAP: Erin Patterson has returned to the witness box to discuss the fatal lunch that left three people dead.

thenightly.com.au

 

[drsleuth]

1m ago12.44 AEST
Barrister Colin Mandy SC shows the jury messages from 16 December 2022 between Simon and Erin Patterson, while she was on a trip to New Zealand with their children.

Erin says at this point the child support and school fees issue had been sorted.

Erin says that when she returned from New Zealand, she had a good relationship with Simon and his father, Don Patterson.

She recalls attending a Patterson family event with the kids upon their return which was “great”.

Mandy shows the court messages between Erin and Simon on 18 December 2022 where she asks Simon to help because a tree had fallen across a fence at her property and one of her goats was in a neighbour’s yard.

Mandy says the tone in the couple’s messages by 18 December 2022 is conciliatory.

“It is, that’s true,” Patterson replies.

Erin Patterson trial day 25 – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

 

[drsleuth]

11 minutes ago

Erin wanted Simon's parents to side with her over him: Court
Mr Mandy asks if Erin ever expressed her frustration to Don and Gail.
She said she didn’t and the dispute didn’t keep “bubbling along” but she did eventually apologise to them after she returned from New Zealand.
“They were doing nothing but trying to support us,” she said.
She said she apologised for “trying to involve them in something that they didn’t need to be worried about”.
Erin tells the court she “wanted them to agree with me, that I was right and Simon was wrong, and that wasn’t fair”.
“They’d helped us mediate issues in the past, but that was long before Gail had been unwell, and I shouldn’t have done this to them at this point or ever,” she said.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/the-mushroom-cook/erin-patterson-trial-live-mushroom-cook-returns-to-the-witness-box/live-coverage/d38ddeff9157a7fe0ede32b695044a4f#/entry/32013192

 

[MrJ]

Just now
Erin says she regularly bought dried mushrooms at Asian grocers

By Joseph Dunstan

Mr Mandy asks Erin how frequently she'd do shopping around Mount Waverley, Oakleigh and Clayton.

She says she'd shop there when she had the kids up at the Mount Waverley home and that she bought dried mushrooms in Asian grocers.

"I'd use them in curries or pasta dishes or soup, spaghetti," she says.

"They just taste more interesting, more flavour," she says when asked about dried vs fresh mushrooms.

 

[Detechtive]

We have another sketch…..


View attachment 591052

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/courts-law/erin-patterson-trial-alleged-mushroom-poisoner-set-to-continue-giving-evidence/news-story/893acae94adbeb06096726bc61946b6c

I wouldn't want that sullen face at my party either.

12.40pm

‘At his core he was a decent human being’: Erin on Simon post-separation​

By​

Erin Patterson is now talking about a time when she asked her estranged husband for a favour after the couple’s separation.

She says it was the kind of favour she felt she could ask of Simon, even though they were not in a good spot in their post-separation relationship.

The favour was to remove a fallen tree. “”We had that conflict before we went to New Zealand and we hadn’t resolved it specifically in the way you saw that happen in October with the apologies and whatnot.

“But I knew at his core he was a decent human being, and he would possibly help me if he could in that regard,” she told the jury.

The court heard Simon Patterson responded to the request, saying he would always be her husband but was in Brisbane and unable to help.

Day 25, as it happened: Patterson concedes death cap mushrooms were in beef Wellington she fed guests

Accused killer cook Erin Patterson has conceded death cap mushrooms were in a beef Wellington she fed her lunch guests after telling a jury she often foraged for fungi and enjoyed buying exotic varieties because they tasted better.

www.theage.com.au

Hire someone to remove it? Why is it so pressing to get Simon to work on her property while she is in NZ?!

Also, this flies in the face of her telling her friends he is abusive, coercive, and a deadbeat dad.

 

[Megnut]

Key Event
1m ago
Erin Patterson shares body image issues

By Joseph Dunstan

Mr Mandy says he'll now move to ask Erin about her body image, and asks her why she had an issue.

"I've had it ever since I was a teenager, as long as I can remember," Erin says.

"I tried every diet under the sun ... it's been a rollercoaster over the years.

"When I was a kid, Mum would weigh us every week to make sure we weren't putting on too much weight and so I went to the extreme of barely eating then, to through my adulthood going the other way and binging, I suppose, for want of a better word.

"I never had a good relationship with food, a healthy relationship."

Erin becomes visibly emotional as she says she was bulimic, binge eating two to three times a week through her 20s.

She says nobody knew about it, but says "everybody" knows now.

As the evidence turns to the discussion of body image, a reminder you can access the Butterfly Foundation if this raises any issues for you

Reach The Butterfly Foundation on 1800 33 4673 or webchat.

Rbbm

She never had a healthy relationship with food....

Food. Power.

Man, she isn't helping herself AT ALL.

JMO

 

[LinasK]

IMO, more likely she wishes it wasn't entered into evidence in this case.

Bingo! Now the whole world gets to see the real Erin on display- weight issues and everything.

 

[MrJ]

Key Event
Just now
Erin begins picking mushrooms in 2020

By Joseph Dunstan

Erin's asked about her 2020 discovery of mushrooms growing in the Korumburra area.

"The first time I noticed them I remember because the dog was eating some and I picked all the mushrooms that I could see because I wanted to try to figure out what they were to see if that might be a problem for him," she says.

Erin says she discovered that "it's hard to figure out what a mushroom is, except some obvious examples".

She said some species were edible, but there was another species she was concerned about, which she says she believes is called inocybe.

Inocybe is a genus of mushrooms, covering more than 1,000 species.

 

[Detechtive]

Bingo! Now the whole world gets to see the real Erin on display- weight issues and everything.

Why is her eating disorder even relevant?! It's like she is making excuses for her weight, too. Nobody cares. IMO

 

[Deleted member 363451]

Key Event
1m ago
Erin Patterson shares body image issues

By Joseph Dunstan

Mr Mandy says he'll now move to ask Erin about her body image, and asks her why she had an issue.

"I've had it ever since I was a teenager, as long as I can remember," Erin says.

"I tried every diet under the sun ... it's been a rollercoaster over the years.

"When I was a kid, Mum would weigh us every week to make sure we weren't putting on too much weight and so I went to the extreme of barely eating then, to through my adulthood going the other way and binging, I suppose, for want of a better word.

"I never had a good relationship with food, a healthy relationship."

Erin becomes visibly emotional as she says she was bulimic, binge eating two to three times a week through her 20s.

She says nobody knew about it, but says "everybody" knows now.

As the evidence turns to the discussion of body image, a reminder you can access the Butterfly Foundation if this raises any issues for you

Reach The Butterfly Foundation on 1800 33 4673 or webchat.

 

[MrJ]

1m ago
Erin tests wild mushrooms and eats them

By Joseph Dunstan

Erin says she found field and horse mushrooms in the paddock near her home and "eventually" consumed them.

"It was a process over several months in the lead-up to it, but when I got to a point where I was confident about what I thought they were ... I cut a bit off one of the mushrooms, fried it up with some butter, ate it, and then saw what happened," she says.

"They tasted good and I didn't get sick."

1m ago
Prosecution makes an objection

By Joseph Dunstan

Part-way through the questioning, the prosecution asks to raise a matter in the absence of the jury and the public hearing is paused.

We'll take a break and be back with more soon.

 

[drsleuth]

3 minutes ago - 12:48 PMMax Corstorphan

‘More flavour’: Patterson explains love for ‘exotic’ mushrooms​

Erin Patterson told the court she “loved” mushrooms, explaining, “they taste good and they are very healthy”.

She went on to detail that she had used a variety of mushrooms, some purchased from markets, forming a liking for “exotic” mushrooms as they had “more flavour”.

She went on to talk about her interest in wild mushrooms, something that developed further during the first COVID lockdown.

Ms Patterson went on to say that she “picked” mushrooms on one of her properties that she saw her dog eating, explaining she wanted to identify what her pet had consumed.

She said this made her realise it was hard to identify mushrooms.

Accused mushroom killer testifies about fatal lunch

RECAP: Erin Patterson has returned to the witness box to discuss the fatal lunch that left three people dead.

thenightly.com.au

 

[drsleuth]

3 minutes ago
HIGHLIGHT
Erin 'never had a good relationship with food'
Mr Mandy now turns to Erin’s self-image issues.
“Did you have any issue with your body image?” he asks.
“I’ve had it ever since I was a teenager. As long as I can remember,” she replies.
She said she had tried “every diet under the sun” and her eating habits had been a “roller coaster” over the years.
“When I was a kid, mum would weigh us every week to make sure we weren’t putting on too much weight and so I went to the extreme of barely eating, then to through my adulthood going to other ways and binging,” she said.
“I never, never had a good relationship with food, a healthy relationship.”
Erin said she engaged in binge eating in her 20s, sometimes two or three times a week.
She said nobody knew about the binge eating but now “everybody” did.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/the-mushroom-cook/erin-patterson-trial-live-mushroom-cook-returns-to-the-witness-box/live-coverage/d38ddeff9157a7fe0ede32b695044a4f#/entry/32013516