Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #13 *Arrest*

[Detechtive]

Erin Patterson questioned over what her children ate the day after fatal lunch​

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC begins to ask Erin Patterson about evidence regarding what her children ate the day after the lunch.

In a pre-recorded police interview, Patterson’s children said their mother told them they were eating leftovers from the meal the following night. Patterson agrees she told her children they were eating leftovers for dinner on Sunday 30 July 2023.

Patterson says she told her children they were eating “leftovers” but not lunch leftovers.

Australia mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson tells court she thought beef wellington recipe was ‘the perfect dish’ for dried mushrooms

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

www.theguardian.com

 

[Two SCents]

What a strange way to word your response.

Dr Rogers' question used past tense, she's picking up on that.

Dr Rogers asks Ms Patterson if she loved her kids.

 

[MsMarple]

Okay, so she told the kids she was giving them leftovers but she didn’t specifically tell them lunch leftovers, even though she actually did feed them lunch leftovers.

WTH is the point of that answer? Is it to make her kids look like liars? Is it an attempt to discredit anything they said that contradicted her narrative? Wow.

 

[Detechtive]

Crown says Erin lied about feeding leftovers to her children​

Court has resumed after the morning break.

Dr Rogers is now taking Erin to her testimony that her children ate leftovers of the beef wellington for dinner on July 30, the day after the lunch.
Erin told the jury last week she prepared a sixth beef wellington, which she said she gave to her children after scraping off the mushrooms and pastry, leaving the steak.
She agrees that she “probably” told Dr Chris Webster or nurse Mairim Cespon at Leongatha Hospital on July 31 that her children did not have symptoms.
Dr Rogers suggests that the “last thing” she would have been thinking about if she thought they had eaten a fatal poison was whether they would be “panicked or stressed”.
“I didn’t think they had eaten a fatal poison,” Erin replies.
“It was made clear the issue was mushrooms and they had not eaten the mushrooms.”
She adds: “I wanted to understand the concern and the risk to them.”
Dr Rogers: You love your children, correct?
Erin: I still love them.
Dr Rogers suggests that she lied to Dr Webster, Ms Cespon and other medical personnel about her children eating the leftovers of the beef wellington, but she denies this.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecr...f/#/entry/32161593#liveblog-entry-32161593cal

 

[MrJ]

FFS

Key Event
Just now
More questions on leftovers fed to Erin's children

By Joseph Dunstan and Mikaela Ortolan

Ms Patterson is questioned over why she served leftovers from the lunch to her children if she was aware it had made some of the lunch guests unwell.

Dr Rogers: "I suggest that you told well over a dozen people, including your son and daughter, health professionals, child protection workers, police and a friend, that you had fed your children the same meal that you had served at lunch."

Ms Patterson: "I was pretty clear that it was the meal, minus the mushrooms and pastry."

Dr Rogers: "But isn't it the fact that on Sunday, the 30th of July, you found out that at least Don and Gail were unwell?"

Ms Patterson: "Yes I did find out about that."

Dr Rogers: "So why did you proceed to feed the same meal to your children when you knew, or suspected, that the meal that you'd served had made them ill?"

Ms Patterson: "I didn't know or suspect that."

The court is then shown a transcript of Ms Patterson's son's interview, where he told police that Ms Patterson told him that his grandparents were unwell and she suspected it might've been the Saturday lunch.

"I think he's confused, I didn't say that to him on the Sunday. And it's not clear when he's saying that I said that to him," she says, adding that there were further conversations at hospital on the matter.

Dr Rogers: "So is it your evidence that he's wrong about that aspect of his evidence?"

Patterson: "No, I think that it's not clear from his evidence when he's saying I said that to him."

 

[Scooby-Doo]

Ms Patterson is questioned over why she served leftovers from the lunch to her children if she was aware it had made some of the lunch guests unwell.

Dr Rogers: "I suggest that you told well over a dozen people, including your son and daughter, health professionals, child protection workers, police and a friend, that you had fed your children the same meal that you had served at lunch."

Ms Patterson: "I was pretty clear that it was the meal, minus the mushrooms and pastry."

Dr Rogers: "But isn't it the fact that on Sunday, the 30th of July, you found out that at least Don and Gail were unwell?"

Ms Patterson: "Yes I did find out about that."

Dr Rogers: "So why did you proceed to feed the same meal to your children when you knew, or suspected, that the meal that you'd served had made them ill?"

Ms Patterson: "I didn't know or suspect that."

The court is then shown a transcript of Ms Patterson's son's interview, where he told police that Ms Patterson told him that his grandparents were unwell and she suspected it might've been the Saturday lunch.

"I think he's confused, I didn't say that to him on the Sunday. And it's not clear when he's saying that I said that to him," she says, adding that there were further conversations at hospital on the matter.

Dr Rogers: "So is it your evidence that he's wrong about that aspect of his evidence?"

Patterson: "No, I think that it's not clear from his evidence when he's saying I said that to him."

 

[MsMarple]

now12.34 AEST
Erin Patterson denies she knew her children’s lives were not at risk

Rogers says Patterson told multiple medical staff at Leongatha hospital that she fed her children leftovers of the beef wellington with the pastry and mushrooms scraped off.

Rogers says while at Leongatha hospital, Patterson says she did not want to take her children out of school when medical staff said they needed to be tested due to eating leftover beef wellington.

Rogers says the “last thing” Patterson would have been worried about was pulling her children out of school if she thought they had eaten a fatal poison.

Patterson says:

I didn’t think they’d eaten a fatal poison because it was made clear to me the issue was mushrooms and they hadn’t eaten the mushrooms.

I wanted to understand the concern and the risk to them.

Patterson agrees on 31 July 2023 she told Dr Veronica Foote, a GP at Leongatha hospital, that she scraped off the mushrooms and pastry from the beef wellington she fed her children.

Under questioning by Rogers, Patterson denies she did not want her children to be tested because she knew their lives were not at risk.

 

[MrJ]

Key Event
2m ago
We now move to mobile phone data

By Joseph Dunstan

Dr Rogers then pivots to asking Ms Patterson about mobile phone data from Ms Patterson's phone that suggested she went to Loch on April 28, 2023. Dr Rogers's question identifies this date as a Monday.

"I don't mean to be argumentative, but I think the 28th of April was a Friday," Ms Patterson says.

It appears she's correct and so the day is removed from the question about April 28.

Dr Rogers suggests that Ms Patterson went to the site where death cap mushrooms had been flagged by a user on iNaturalist and stayed there for an hour. Ms Patterson disputes this.

Dr Rogers suggests that Ms Patterson found death cap mushrooms in Loch on April 28, 2023, and within two hours went to a homewares store to buy a dehydrator.

Ms Patterson says the only part that's true is the purchase of the dehydrator occurred on that date.

 

[Yh5r]

Ms Patterson says she ate a kilo of the mushrooms.

How is that believable?=? I could believe her story of eating 2/3 of the cake, 1 kg of mushrooms however?? Not a chance, it's not a binge food at all...

 

[MsMarple]

3m ago12.34 AEST
Erin Patterson says she ‘didn’t know or suspect’ beef wellington had made Don and Gail Patterson sick when she gave leftovers to children

Rogers says Atkinson gave evidence that Patterson said her children consumed leftovers on Sunday night for dinner.

Atkinson recalled Patterson saying she had removed the pastry and mushrooms, Rogers says.

Patterson agrees.

Rogers says Patterson told child protection worker Katrina Cripps her children only ate the meat from the beef wellington because they did not like mushrooms.

Patterson agrees she said this.

Rogers says Patterson told over a dozen people including her kids, child protection workers and medical staff that she had fed her kids the same meal.

Patterson says she was “pretty clear it was the meal minus the mushrooms and pastry,”

Rogers says on Sunday 30 July 2023, Patterson found out Don and Gail were unwell. Patterson agrees.

“So why did you proceed to feed the same meal to your children when you knew or suspected the meal you had served had made them ill?” Rogers says.

“I didn’t know or suspect that,” Patterson says.

 

[Yh5r]

Key Event
2m ago
We now move to mobile phone data

By Joseph Dunstan

Dr Rogers then pivots to asking Ms Patterson about mobile phone data from Ms Patterson's phone that suggested she went to Loch on April 28, 2023. Dr Rogers's question identifies this date as a Monday.

"I don't mean to be argumentative, but I think the 28th of April was a Friday," Ms Patterson says.

It appears she's correct and so the day is removed from the question about April 28.

Dr Rogers suggests that Ms Patterson went to the site where death cap mushrooms had been flagged by a user on iNaturalist and stayed there for an hour. Ms Patterson disputes this.

Dr Rogers suggests that Ms Patterson found death cap mushrooms in Loch on April 28, 2023, and within two hours went to a homewares store to buy a dehydrator.

Ms Patterson says the only part that's true is the purchase of the dehydrator occurred on that date.

Another smart comment by EP - for the purpose of the question, it's irrelevant what day of the week it actually was.
It shows how detailed EP's thoughts are and yet again beggars belief how a person with that type of brain can't remember a shop she purchased from or a surgery she booked in for..

 

[Detechtive]

Another smart comment by EP - for the purpose of the question, it's irrelevant what day of the week it actually was.
It shows how detailed EP's thoughts are and yet again beggars belief how a person with that type of brain can't remember a shop she purchased from or a surgery she booked in for..

That small win would have emboldened her, though. IMO

 

[Detechtive]

Erin peppered with questions about meal fed to kids​

Erin is being peppered with more questions about the meal she fed her children.

Dr Rogers: I suggest you told well over a dozen people … that you had fed your children the same meal you had served at lunch.
Erin: I was pretty clear it was the meal minus the mushrooms and pastry so not the same, but yes.
Dr Rogers: But isn’t it the fact that on Sunday, July 30, you found out that at least Don and Gail were unwell?
Erin: Yes, I did find out about that.
Dr Rogers: So why did you proceed to feed the same meal to your children when you knew or suspected that the meal you (prepared for Don and Gail) made them ill?
Erin: I didn’t know or suspect that.
Dr Rogers took Erin to the evidence of her son, who told an investigator in a recorded interview that she told him Don and Gail were unwell.
“She thought it might have been the lunch,” Erin’s son told the investigator.
Dr Rogers: Do you agree that you told him that Don and Gail were unwell on Sunday night?
Erin: I may well have.
Dr Rogers suggests that she knew what she fed her children on Sunday night did not contain death cap mushrooms.
“It didn’t contain any mushrooms,” she replies.
Dr Rogers: You told the lie about feeding leftovers to your children, I suggest, because it gave you some distance from a deliberate poisoning.
Erin: I don’t see how it could, but I disagree anyway.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/the-mushroom-cook/erin-patterson-trial-live-day-7-of-the-mushroom-cook-on-the-stand/live-coverage/de6fc4d3d7fad818d3197b46b26ea22f#/entry/32162645

 

[Gavel Rash]

Wow I’d almost say the prosecution is actually stumbling here. Specially by getting prime dates wrong and also filling in transcript to suit their accusations as opposed relevant clear gotchas.
Erin’s ability to deflect every question with an answer that has possibility is quite intriguing

 

[Detechtive]

Wow I’d almost say the prosecution is actually stumbling here. Specially by getting prime dates wrong and also filling in transcript to suit their accusations as opposed relevant clear gotchas.
Erin’s ability to deflect every question with an answer that has possibility is quite intriguing

Agreed.

I really wish they would point out that if the kids did eat those leftovers, they would have been poisoned so it can't be true.

 

[L_B]

Dr Rogers: You love your children, correct?
Erin: I still love them.

Dr Rogers' question used past tense, she's picking up on that.

Dr Rogers asks Ms Patterson if she loved her kids.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

The risk of being found guilty if innocent has proven over time to not actually be so small.
It has happened and is still happening.

 

[MrJ]

Key Event
1m ago
Erin says she may have 'passed through' Outtrim

By Joseph Dunstan

The prosecutor then puts to Ms Patterson that further mobile phone tower data suggests she went to the Loch township on the morning of May 22, 2023.

"It looks like I did do that, yes," Ms Patterson says.

But she disagrees that she went to the reserve with the purpose of finding death cap mushrooms at the location previously uploaded to the iNaturalist site.

On the same day, expert analysis of mobile phone data suggested Ms Patterson's phone was in the Outtrim area just before midday.

But Ms Patterson says she didn't do that.

Dr Rogers suggests she went to Neilson Street, where fungi expert Tom May had flagged death cap mushrooms in an iNaturalist pin published the day before. Ms Patterson disagrees with this.

The prosecutor asks her again if she went to Outtrim.

"I don't believe, how do I put it. I didn't go to Outtrim to Neilson Street and I don't remember going to Outtrim as a destination, that's what I'm saying," Ms Patterson says.

Did you "pass through", Dr Rogers asks.

"That is possible, because you can pass through Outtrim on the way to Wonthaggi or Phillip Island, I think it is," she says.

 

[Scooby-Doo]

They are a bit slow with the updates, will be another break for lunch shortly

 

[Detechtive]

"That is possible, because you can pass through Outtrim on the way to Wonthaggi or Phillip Island, I think it is," she says.

Why is she saying "She thinks it is" re Phillip Island, when her kids go to school there? She is familiar with Phillip Island.