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

[Jess D]

I honestly don’t believe that for a second. Her story is full of holes and if this was a boat I
Would be jumping ship right about now. IMO

I hope you're right. I don't have much faith in juries, I'm afraid...

 

[Detechtive]

Sorry, been hectic and no time to keep up.
Has it come up why she felt the need to include the strong/funny smelling dried Asian mushrooms in this particular meal when they were not in the recipe and she had loads of woolworths mushrooms?

This is funny. She bought enough mushrooms from Woolworths in the week prior to the meal that she could have fed a small country, but no, she still uses the smelly / foul mushrooms for the "special meal". Give me a break. I feel personally insulted at this point.

 

[Baby baby Jane]

I know you're in the USA Katy, where social welfare is very different to here. In Aus, child support and family tax benefit is generally NOT means tested. It is income-based. So yeah, theoretically someone with $5-8m in assets could still get it.

But i think the important point here is that it was *only* 15k a year. It is not a lot of money when you consider the kids school fees were 40k+ a year. Simon was paying those prior. Her math is illogical. I think she threatened the child support and family tax benefit to make him comply, rather than having done the math - because, she was an accountant, she surely knew she wouldn't be eligible for much from Simon, but I think she tried to threaten him which didn't work.. he seemed disengaged and called her bluff (perhaps, finally?) "Go right ahead Erin, you will be worse off if you take that tactic with me..." (is what i imagined him projecting to her).

In additional to the financial impact for Erin, IMO Simon finally changing status to Separated was emotionally hurtful for her.
Their relationship has included long periods of living apart … she expected that to be their marriage forever. Always hope of getting back together, he always loves me…etc

Simon indicating moving on, and his parents acceptance of this (despite religious respect of marriage til death), IMO was the trigger for Erin. Their long relationship becoming separated and ending & those hypocrital Christians!! The promised marriage forever! IMO this was a big trigger for Erin.

 

[SouthAussie]

She doesn't need to trust the hospital system to simply tell them the truth.

I'd go so far as to say that if a person didn't like hospitals you would think they would be jamming it down people's throats - "I foraged some mushrooms, please check for that while you are checking" - rather than have the 'untrustworthy' hospitals flim-flamming around and possibly "misdiagnosing" (or not) her in-laws. Like she thinks they did with her daughter.

imo

 

[Jess D]

This is funny. She bought enough mushrooms from Woolworths in the week prior to the meal that she could have fed a small country, but no, she still uses the smelly / foul mushrooms for the "special meal". Give me a break. I feel personally insulted at this point.

It's strange that. I know she's told us all how much she loves mushrooms, but I'd love to know what she did with the other .75 kg of mushrooms she bought?

 

[Scuffy35]

In additional to the financial impact for Erin, IMO Simon finally changing status to Separated was emotionally hurtful for her.
Their relationship has included long periods of living apart … she expected that to be their marriage forever. Always hope of getting back together, he always loves me…etc

Simon indicating moving on, and his parents acceptance of this (despite religious respect of marriage til death), IMO was the trigger for Erin. Their long relationship becoming separated and ending & those hypocrital Christians!! The promised marriage forever! IMO this was a big trigger for Erin.

But she was always the instigator of the separations. What did she expect would happen?

 

[Jake18]

ErinErinErin… your 4 year old is so constipated as to be hospitalized and x-rayed and somehow makes you a very very good and concerned parent and you both suffered trauma? Please tell us the doctor recommended remedy? More fibre?

This is just another parenting experience, Erin, you are just like the rest of us. (Even ovarian mass … scary, but she’s fine)

I think her reaction - if that’s what happened - demonstrates terrible parenting. Children take their emotional cues from their parents. It sounds like the 4 year old was so constipated she needed an inpatient stay for a bowel washout, hence the ng tube.

An emotionally regulated way of approaching it would be to tell her daughter the nasogastric tube had to go in so she could get some special medicine into her tummy to soften all the hard poo and make it come out easily. And that when all the poo was out she would stop feeling so crampy and sore.Even though the tube would be uncomfortable going in it would be fine once it was in and Mummy would hold her hand while the nurses did it.

Not - it was the worst ever and my daughter was HELD DOWN and I can never go back to hospital and it was so traumatic.

Rather than being given the message that the hospital was where her bowel problem started to get better, that little girl would have learnt from Erin that hospitals are scary, horrific and terrifying.

 

[SouthAussie]

He takes Patterson to a photo, previously shown to the jury, she sent to her Facebook friends. The photo shows mushrooms inside a dehydrator.

Mandy asks what type of mushrooms are shown in the photo.

“I’m pretty sure they were Woolies mushrooms. Just your basic button,” she says.

Is this the photo that Tom May said had the characteristics of death cap mushrooms?

imo

 

[Jake18]

Is this the photo that Tom May said had the characteristics of death cap mushrooms?

imo

That’s what I thought it would be. That was a very dangerous photo for Erin. Tom May was very credible

 

[Jess D]

But she was always the instigator of the separations. What did she expect would happen?

I agree that this was one of the triggers for her. I know it's not logical, but for a long time her and Simon still holidayed together and she was till included in his family functions. Even if she didn't want to be with him full-time, she didn't want anyone else to be with him full-time either. For all we know Simon might have started seeing someone. Her defence aren't likely to let that be raised in court, as it might go towards her intent...

 

[JBowie]

It is REALLY a shame that she feels she needs to discuss her 11 yr old child's gastric health in public---and for what? How is this relevant to the poisonous lunch?

Am wondering why the prosecution isn't asking the judge how any of this is relevant.

 

[Salah11]

But she was always the instigator of the separations. What did she expect would happen?

She was always in control until Simon decided to take back the power. Erin didn’t like the fact he was no longer under her thumb. IMO

 

[Detechtive]

She was always in control until Simon decided to take back the power. Erin didn’t like the fact he was no longer under her thumb. IMO

100% this!

And this, is the real motive for murder. Not only to get rid of Simon, but his entire support base, IMO.

 

[JLZ]

So far nothing I have heard makes me think she is an awful person. It just makes her human.
Just a human being with all our complexities and imperfections.
I'm not interested in throwing stones.

Maybe some on the jury might have the same opinion.
I would not be surprised.

I think you're approaching this backwards. Have you heard anything to make you think she murdered people? After you've made that call, you can reflect on her character, or not. Either way she'll be human, complex and imperfect.

 

[JLZ]

In additional to the financial impact for Erin, IMO Simon finally changing status to Separated was emotionally hurtful for her.
Their relationship has included long periods of living apart … she expected that to be their marriage forever. Always hope of getting back together, he always loves me…etc

Simon indicating moving on, and his parents acceptance of this (despite religious respect of marriage til death), IMO was the trigger for Erin. Their long relationship becoming separated and ending & those hypocrital Christians!! The promised marriage forever! IMO this was a big trigger for Erin.

I suspect that on some level before Simon declared himself separated Erin thought that her marriage was a brilliant success on her own original design, and that Simon recognized his privilege in being part of it.

 

[Kemug]

I wouldn't be surprised if Simon had met someone. That might also be why the family invites to her had tapered off a bit.

RSBM
I wouldn't be surprised if Simon has sworn off women for life.

 

[katydid23]

Key Event
1m ago
Erin asked Don and Gail Patterson for mediation help

By Joseph Dunstan

Mr Mandy is taking Erin Patterson to December 2022, and a Signal message exchange between her and Simon that starts on December 6.

The first is quite a lengthy one from Simon which notes that Erin had asked to catch up with his parents to discuss details of the separation.

Mr Mandy asks Erin why she was asking Don and Gail over for a chat.

"I was struggling to achieve good communication with Simon about a few things and I was wanting or hoping Don and Gail might help mediate that a little bit and help us solve that problem," Erin says.

"They'd done it before."

1m ago03.11 BST

Erin Patterson says son struggled in ‘a lot of aspects of his life’​

Barrister Colin Mandy SC takes Erin to messages exchanged with her estranged husband Simon on 6 December 2022.

In one message, Simon says he understands Erin has invited his parents to her house the prior day to discuss how their son is going and “finances for our kids”.

Erin says she asked Don and Gail Patterson for a discussion because she was “struggling to achieve good communication with Simon about a few things.”



Erin says her in-laws had previously meditated between the couple.

She says her son was struggling in “a lot of aspects of his life” including school.

Erin also wanted to discuss the school fees for the children.

She says prior to the child support disagreement in late 2022, Simon had been paying their school fees.

After this, Simon wanted her to pay all of the school fees, Erin says.

Erin says when Don and Gail visited on 5 December 2022 they offered to pay the children’s school fees if money was an issue.

“Which wasn’t what I needed,” she says.

She says they encouraged the couple to discuss the issue between them.


They didn’t want to become official mediators.

Australia mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson ‘regrets’ telling Facebook friends she was ‘sick of’ parents-in-law Gail and Don, court hears

Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder over a fatal 2023 beef wellington lunch. Follow live

www.theguardian.com

"She says her son was struggling in “a lot of aspects of his life” including school."

WTH? WHY is she saying things like that about her teen son? She's throwing him into the spotlight for no apparent reason. She is very selfish, imo. The last thing he wants/needs is to be thrown into the middle of this ugly mess, through no fault of his own.

And she didn't need to do that. It was unnecessary but once again she wants to be a victim. She wants to blame Simon, as usual.

 

[Jess D]

So far nothing I have heard makes me think she is an awful person. It just makes her human.
Just a human being with all our complexities and imperfections.
I'm not interested in throwing stones.

Maybe some on the jury might have the same opinion.
I would not be surprised.

We have only heard a soft sell from her today though, haven't we? It's all been about poor old Erin and her weight, and hypochondria and how much she loves her kids and how good Simon's family was to her etc. etc. We saw the real Erin in her exchanges with her online friends, when she was cursing and belittling Simon and his family. That's the Erin who had a rage and resentments against those who she believed had wronged her.

 

[katydid23]

1m ago
Erin's 'cheer squad' Facebook friends

By Joseph Dunstan

Erin says she felt "heard and validated and understood" by her Facebook friends when she shared frustrations about the family.

She says they responded to her frustrations with empathy.

"I knew that the women would probably support me being annoyed about those things and so I said that to them knowing that they would latch on … and become, like a cheer squad for your problem, if that makes sense?"

"Yeah," says Mr Mandy.

She says the message was private, and looking at the expletive-laden outburst now her voice cracks as she expresses regret.

"I wish I'd never said it. I feel ashamed for saying it and I wish that the family didn't have to hear that I said that," she says.

"They didn't deserve it."

DAMAGE CONTROL 101

 

[Jess D]

RSBM
I wouldn't be surprised if Simon has sworn off women for life.