Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #12 *Arrest*

[Deleted member 363451]

1m ago
Photos taken by Erin Patterson shown to court

By Joseph Dunstan

The court is then shown photos of the dehydrator, which Dr Rogers says were taken on one of Erin's phones, with a last modified date of April 30, 2023.

There is some confusion, with Erin saying she's unsure which phone she was using at the time.

Erin says it was probably a Samsung A23 model phone (Phone A in this trial) that she was using in April 2023.

Dr Rogers says the images were taken by a phone that was in a pink case. Erin says that'd be the one.

More photos are shown of sliced mushrooms sitting on a dehydrator tray which is balanced on electronic scales, sitting on a kitchen bench.

Erin agrees it looks like all the objects in the photo are from her Leongatha home.

Dr Rogers asks how many sets of scales Erin owned at the time, to which Erin replies "at least one".

The weight on the scales is recorded as 255.8 grams, Dr Rogers suggests. Erin says that sounds right.

Dr Rogers appears to take issue with Erin Patterson's responses to questions about photos she is alleged to have taken.

On several instances now, Ms Patterson has said "I assume so" or "presume so" when asked if she took them on a particular device.

Erin says this is only because she has no "specific memory" of taking some of these photos.

Selective memory...

 

[drsleuth]

now03.05 BST
Patterson says she put mushrooms into spaghetti, lasagna, stews and brownies
Rogers turns to prior evidence that Patterson told Simon she conducted a blind taste test with muffins cooked using dehydrated mushrooms. The court previously heard she remarked that their youngest child, who did not like mushrooms, preferred a muffin with dried mushrooms in it.
Under questioning by Rogers, Patterson agrees she did the blind taste test and says afterwards she told her daughter the muffins contained mushrooms.

“I said to her surprise there were mushrooms in it,” Patterson says.

Rogers asks what else Patterson put mushrooms in. She says she put them in spaghetti, lasagna, stews and brownies.

Patterson says: “I was trying to get extra vegetables into my kids’ bodies.”

Erin Patterson trial day 27 – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

 

[LinasK]

In a message to a Facebook friend, Erin had written she was only using the dehydrator for mushrooms.

Bingo! Another lie she's caught in. No apples, bananas, tomatoes or any other veggies...

 

[MrJ]

She's calling Tom May a liar now.

Key Event
1m ago
Erin denies photos are of death cap mushrooms

By Joseph Dunstan

The prosecutor then takes the court to another photo of what appears to be mushroom matter sitting on a tray.

The prosecution suggests that this new photo has different mushrooms than the ones previously pictured, and Erin agrees.

Dr Rogers says Tom May's evidence was that the mushrooms depicted on the tray were "consistent with Amanita phalloides [death cap mushrooms]".

Dr Rogers suggests these were death cap mushrooms that Erin had foraged in Loch after seeing a post on iNaturalist. Erin says "that's not correct".

 

[Detechtive]

If that were true, and her children weren't babies, why wasn't she trying to hide healthier vegetables like Broccoli in their food??? Why the sole focus on hiding mushrooms? I think the alleged murder plot has been a long time in the making.

If you were doing it to hide vegetables in your kids food, why would you tell them immediately that you were doing that with your first mushroom experiment? Wouldn't you continue to do so without notifying them?

I say this as someone who used to puree vegetables in casseroles and stews etc because one of my kids didn't like the texture of cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, etc, but my child was under 8 years old and it was texture based and otherwise he'd never eat anything healthy. Not one a teen and one a preteen who have to be 'surprised' with hidden vegetables.

This is just BIZARRE reasoning! IMO

 

[drsleuth]

12.03pm

Erin Patterson asked to raise her voice during prosecution grilling​

By​

Senior Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers rose to her feet within a second of Erin Patterson’s defence lawyer ending his examination.

On her lectern is a blue binder folder filled with A4 paper notes. In quick succession, she took the witness through a string of exhibits. Within five minutes, more than a dozen had been flicked through on screens in the courtroom.

Invoices and photographs were used as the crown prosecutor repeatedly asked the accused if she had lied.

With about five metres between them, Rogers’ voice carries easily across the room.

Erin Patterson was asked to raise her voice.

Patterson sits in the witness box with a tissue in her left hand, fiddling with glasses in her right.

Erin Patterson murder trial day 27 as it happened: ‘You thought the lunch guests would die’: A rare invitation and a ‘lie about cancer’

It was rare for Erin Patterson to host guests; having four people over for a meal was not an ordinary, casual event for the mother of two.

www.theage.com.au

 

[Scooby-Doo]

Erin denies photos are of death cap mushrooms​

The prosecutor then takes the court to another photo of what appears to be mushroom matter sitting on a tray.

The prosecution suggests that this new photo has different mushrooms than the ones previously pictured, and Erin agrees.

Dr Rogers says Tom May's evidence was that the mushrooms depicted on the tray were "consistent with Amanita phalloides [death cap mushrooms]".

Dr Rogers suggests these were death cap mushrooms that Erin had foraged in Loch after seeing a post on iNaturalist. Erin says "that's not correct".

 

[drsleuth]

1m ago03.09 BST
Patterson is shown photos of electronic scales.

One photo, showing kitchen scales underneath mushrooms laid on a tray, was extracted from a tablet police seized from Patterson’s house. Another photo of digital scales was taken by police during a search of Patterson’s house on 5 August 2023 – a week after the lunch.

Rogers asks Patterson how many electronic scales she owned on 5 August 2023.

“I don’t know. At least one,” she says.

Erin Patterson trial day 27 – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

 

[MrJ]

Key Event
Just now
Justice Beale calls for a break

By Judd Boaz

Dr Rogers asks Erin a long question with several propositions in it, and Justice Beale interjects asking her to break it down.

She reattempts it, but Justice Beale again interrupts and calls for a break.

We'll be back soon.

 

[LinasK]

If you were doing it to hide vegetables in your kids food, why would you tell them immediately that you were doing that with your first mushroom experiment? Wouldn't you continue to do so without notifying them?

I say this as someone who used to puree vegetables in casseroles and stews etc because one of my kids didn't like the texture of cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, etc. But my child was under 8 years old. Not one a teen and one a preteen!

This is just BIZARRE reasoning! IMO

Exactly! The only time I ever hid food was when my daughter was a baby/infant and I hid Broccoli in her applesauce. She actually grew up to like the taste of Broccoli. She never liked mushrooms, even if we ordered pizza with them in the stuffed layer.

 

[drsleuth]

6 minutes ago - 12:08 PMMax Corstorphan

‘These were death cap mushrooms that you foraged,’ Prosecution alleges​

The prosecution has shown Erin Patterson photos of her food dehydrator in her kitchen, with mushrooms on its shelves.

Ms Patterson accepted it was her dehydrator and “believed” she took the photo.

“Who else could it have been?” the prosecution asked, before Ms Patterson explained she “didn’t recall” taking the photos but understood it was likely taken by her.

“I suggest these were death cap mushrooms that you foraged,” the prosecution said.

“That is not correct,” Ms Patterson replied.

4 minutes ago - 12:10 PMMax Corstorphan

The court has been sent on a short morning break.

We will return with Erin Patterson’s cross-examination in a few minutes.

Ex ‘would have had beef Wellington too’ if he’d come

LIVE UPDATES: Erin Patterson says she would have served ex-husband Simon Patterson a beef Wellington, too, if he had turned up to the deadly lunch.

thenightly.com.au

 

[Gavel Rash]

So more than one set of scales, multiple phones, deleted data, vague answers to clear evidence of dehydrater disposal.
Very suss.

 

[Detechtive]

Exactly! The only time I ever hid food was when my daughter was a baby/infant and I hid Broccoli in her applesauce. She actually grew up to like the taste of Broccoli. She never liked mushrooms, even if we ordered pizza with them in the stuffed layer.

Mushrooms are one of those foods I find a lot of people either love or hate. Similar to Avocado. Similar to Asparagus or coriander. And let's be real, they're not that nutritious, they are not essential for health, unlike vegetables.
None of her reasoning makes any sense to me.

 

[drsleuth]

​

12.09pm

Dehydrator, scales, and death caps: Cross-examination continues​

By​

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers is asking accused triple murderer Erin Patterson about the phone she was using at the time an image of a dehydrator retrieved by police from a Samsung tablet at her house was taken.

After some back and forth about what phones she had at the time, Patterson agrees she would have taken the image with a phone in a pink-coloured case that she had with her when she was in the hospital after the lunch.

Rogers has now taken Erin to an image of mushrooms on a dehydrator tray placed above a scale, which shows a weight of 255.8g.

The prosecutor has also shown the accused an image of a scale on a kitchen shelf taken by police on August 5, 2023.

Asked how many scales she owned at the time, Erin said, “I don’t know, at least one”.

Patterson agreed that the scales in the mushroom images were the same as the ones police took a photo of on August 5, 2023.

Rogers has reminded Erin of evidence from a mycologist. Here is a little of the cross-examination:

Rogers: I suggest to you that these were death cap mushrooms that you foraged on 28 April 2023.

Patterson: That’s not correct.

Rogers: And or before May 4, 2023.

Patterson: That’s not correct.

Rogers: I suggest these were the death cap mushrooms you found on April 28, 2023, when you went to Loch after seeing Christine McKenzie’s post.

Patterson has not answered the question following an objection from her lawyer that there were multiple propositions.

The court has now gone into a morning break.

Erin Patterson murder trial day 27 as it happened: ‘You thought the lunch guests would die’: A rare invitation and a ‘lie about cancer’

It was rare for Erin Patterson to host guests; having four people over for a meal was not an ordinary, casual event for the mother of two.

www.theage.com.au

 

[MrJ]

Erin has changed her story many times. And yet she says she's telling the truth.

 

[LinasK]

Erin has changed her story many times. And yet she says she's telling the truth.

I lied and lied and lied. But you should believe me now, I'm telling the truth...

 

[drsleuth]

Erin couldn't lie straight in bed. Can't even answer simple questions.

 

[Detechtive]

I lied and lied and lied. But you should believe me now, I'm telling the truth...

Believe everything I say about the mysterious suspicious deaths of 3 people, but don't believe me about anything else.

 

[MrJ]

Jury warned about possible extension in trial proceedings​

By Joseph Dunstan​

After calling the morning break, Justice Christopher Beale addresses the jury about the timeline of the trial, which is nearing the end of its sixth week.

He says it's expected that Erin Patterson's evidence will extend through the end of this week and into next week, when the court will only sit Tuesday to Friday due to the King's Birthday public holiday on Monday.

After that, Justice Beale says he'll need to have some legal discussions with the defence and prosecution in the absence of the jury.

He says those discussions will consider whether there is to be any more evidence in the case and the directions he should provide to the jury when the trial nears its end.

He says there's a "possibility" that after that there will be more evidence. After that, there will be closing addresses from prosecution and defence, which he says could run for a couple of days each.

Then his final address to the jury could take a couple of days, before the jury retires to deliberate.

He uses the saying "how long's a piece of string" to note that it's not possible to anticipate how long the jury will need to deliberate, but adds they should take "all the time you need".

Based on this rough outline, the trial could be extending into late June. With those things noted, he invites the jury to go and "enjoy a cup of tea or coffee" in the break while they mull that over.

There's a moment of laughter in the courtroom, before the hearing adjourns.

 

[drsleuth]

12.19pm

‘How long is a piece of string?’: Justice offers a glimpse of the remaining trial times​

Before the jury makes its way out of the courtroom for a break, Justice Christopher Beale takes the opportunity to address the jurors about how much longer evidence in the case might take, in case they need to make any personal arrangements.

Beale said Patterson’s evidence would likely be in the witness box for the remainder of this week and next week.

“After all the evidence is completed, we’ll they hear closing addresses from the prosecution and the defence,” he said.

Beale said each closing address could take a couple of days.

He said he would then deliver his final directions to the jury, which involved directions about the legal principles that apply to the case, as well as a summary of the key issues, evidence, and arguments in the case.

Beale told the jury they would then be sent off to deliberate, a process that could vary in length.

“How long is a piece of string?” he said.

Erin Patterson murder trial day 27 as it happened: ‘You thought the lunch guests would die’: A rare invitation and a ‘lie about cancer’

It was rare for Erin Patterson to host guests; having four people over for a meal was not an ordinary, casual event for the mother of two.

www.theage.com.au