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

[Brooklyn127]

"Disinterested" Witnesses the accused has tried to dispute

• Dr Morgan
• Kylie Ashton, RN
• Dr Chris Webster
• Dr Tom May (mycologist)
• Health Dept Mgr Sally Atkinson
• CP officer Katrina Cripps
• A number of police personnel
• A paramedic
• ? who else

These witnesses have no stake in the outcome.

Her children. Who love her. Who do have a stake in the outcome.

 

[katydid23]

"Ms Patterson had told the court she didn't disclose this to the lunch guests because she was embarrassed, but let them believe there was treatment she might require for cervical cancer in the future, so she knew they'd be there to help with the kids if she underwent a surgery."


So her plan was to tell her family that she was having chemotherapy or radiation treatments so she could cover up her liposuction appointment?

Because there was NO bariatric surgery planned. That was just another lie.

And what about her kids? Were they going to be told she was having cancer treatments?

Or what---are they told the truth but told not to tell the grandparents?

WHAT WAS SHE THINKING?

That plan is psychotic. It is not normal in any way. TOTAL gaslighting and completely toxic behaviour.

 

[JBowie]

She may be fairly familiar with adding mushrooms to things?....that sounds bad doesn't it haha. ..but seriously, she might be.

“I’ve been hiding powdered mushrooms in everything. Mixed it into chocolate brownies yesterday, the kids had no idea” Patterson said in one message to the group that was shown in court.

‘I’ve been hiding powdered mushrooms in everything’: Erin Patterson’s Facebook messages revealed

Victorian trial hears from online friends who say murder accused discussed her dehydrator and asked for advice on cooking beef wellington

www.theguardian.com

 

[JBowie]

Because there was NO bariatric surgery planned. That was just another lie.

Yep, the prosecution could easily have called for evidence of any such consultation or referral to associated specialists, but they didn't and I guess that's because they had (or were obtaining) her records from the skin clinic.

 

[JBowie]

The prosecution does appear to be a bit sloppy in its questioning but it's still pretty solid overall. And it's definitely getting the results they are after.

As I mentioned earlier, we do not get the full transcript -- just what reporters and/or editors choose to print, so it may not be as random/disjointed/"sloppy" as it may seem from what we are fed. I think she knows her way around:

Dr Rogers has prosecuted many major trials in the Supreme Court and has regularly appeared as counsel for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Court of Criminal Appeal.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

If I was following an unfamilar recipe, I would trust the recipe and not taste.

I'm averse to tasting. maybe because I have been both anorexic and bulimic, in the past, a long time ago now and I don't want to go back. So I don't want to start "liking" food to the extent I used to, and tasting it might set me back.

The less I have to do with tasting food, apart from eating to live, the better

 

[Lisa4]

Yes, that's a fair point @Lisa4
If its an ingredient i was familiar with, then perhaps i wouldn't. I think some people may not necessarily try it in the haste of preparing a meal.



She may be fairly familiar with adding mushrooms to things?....that sounds bad doesn't it haha. ..but seriously, she might be.

Fair point too @Bats re not tasting again during the haste of meal prep...
However as another mushroom lover, I'd just have to have another taste of that duxelle mix.
Even if i was too busy in the moment or forgot to do a final taste test, Id absolutely be scraping out the last of it, or licking the spoon! Cooks privilege

Re being familiar with adding mushrooms... I just can't make that fit here. These were by her own admission an unusual ingredient, not a form or type of mushroom she was regularly using. (Smelled funny...) So I just can't buy that one sorry @Bats!

 

[Brooklyn127]

If I was following an unfamilar recipe, I would trust the recipe and not taste.

I'm averse to tasting. maybe because I have been both anorexic and bulimic, in the past, a long time ago now and I don't want to go back. So I don't want to start "liking" food to the extent I used to, and tasting it might set me back.

The less I have to do with tasting food, apart from eating to live, the better

Wow! So sorry! But so happy you are doing better.

 

[katydid23]

​

The prosecution has alleged Patterson didn't want her kids at the lunch because she wanted to keep them away from the toxic meal.
Patterson has denied telling her daughter she can't be at the lunch.
The jury was also reminded of Patterson's son's evidence.
Patterson's son said his mum didn't invite him or his sister to the lunch.
'No, mum said she just wanted it to be the five of them,' he said.
'She wanted to talk about personal stuff.'
Patterson said her son was incorrect.
'I don't remember saying I just wanted it to be the five of us,' Patterson said.
Dr Rogers suggested Patterson didn't want her kids anywhere near the lunch because she knew she'd be serving up a toxic meal.
'Incorrect,' Patterson said.


Some of her denials are just so unnecessary and dumb.

Why try and say her kids 'misunderstood' her and they were welcome to stay for lunch?

There has already been believable solid testimony that this luncheon was for an adult conversation. We saw texts between EP and Simon and EP and Gail, and that was made clear. The jury saw those texts.

And the kids, sincerely and honestly testified and were 100% believable in their understanding that the 5 adults were going to have a grown-ups-only lunch.

But then EP walks that back, rather clumsily, and claims the kids were confused, they were welcome to stay home, etc etc.

It just makes it hard to believe much of anything she says when she keeps re-writing history like that.

'I don't remember saying I just wanted it to be the five of us,'

So the kids made that up then? Why is she saying that now?

 

[Lord Peter Flimsy]

Reading some of her answers I began to wonder if this was just a load of shiitake mushrooms?

 

[Lisa4]

If I was following an unfamilar recipe, I would trust the recipe and not taste.

I'm averse to tasting. maybe because I have been both anorexic and bulimic, in the past, a long time ago now and I don't want to go back. So I don't want to start "liking" food to the extent I used to, and tasting it might set me back.

The less I have to do with tasting food, apart from eating to live, the better

Oh no, sorry to hear that @TootsieFootsie. Also glad you are doing better now.

But she had done a pre taste, so people who cook and taste do find it puzzling to not taste again. However she feasibly could have been too rushed and forgot, I guess... see my post to @Bats above.

And still none of that explains how she didn't get sick(*liver damage) from her own beef wellington

 

[JBowie]

Reading some of her answers I began to wonder if this was just a load of shiitake mushrooms?

I keep thinking of us being given 'the mushroom treatment': kept in the dark and fed on manure.

 

[katydid23]

When cooking, who tastes something, determines it is bland, adds a funky ingredient, and then doesn't re-taste it for balance?

And the way she described it made NO sense. She said the Duxelles were bland so she sprinkled the pungent funny smelling dried mushrooms on top of the Duxelles and pressed them in all through rest of them. And never tasted any.

I am not a gourmet chef, but am a fair cook. I would NEVER add an unknown ingredient like that to my entire batch of Duxelles and go ahead and make 6 individual BW's.

Wouldn't one taste a small batch of the Duxelles with the Asian mushrooms first, and then add it to the rest after a taste test?

 

[MrJ]

'Are you making this up as you go along, Ms Paterson?' asks Dr Rogers.
'My father was the King of Prussia and my mum was a tour manager for Daryl Braithwaite', Ms Patterson replies.

 

[katydid23]

Who claims to put ammonia / cat pee smelling mushrooms in a meal and claims they ate it and fed it to their kids.

Except now, IIRC, she is walking that back. Apparently she just today said something like:

I said I fed my kids leftovers but never said they were leftovers from lunch.

 

[Lisa4]

I keep thinking of us being given 'the mushroom treatment': kept in the dark and fed on manure.

Never mind @JBowie, it's turning you into a real fungi

 

[Warshawski]

I’m curious to hear others thoughts about why Erin asked Simon to drive her to the hospital on the Monday morning.
(Simon has testified that she told him she was worried she’d poo herself, which she now predictably refutes).

She had already driven her children to their bus stop (I don’t know where) and drove back home without incident. The hospital is reportedly only about 10 minutes from her Leongatha home, so why did she want Simon’s help?

A few ideas:

• Her usual controlling behaviour.
• An opportunity to gain information from Simon about the condition of the other guests.
• A chance to find out if any relatives had shared her fake cancer news.
• An opportunity to find out if any of the guests or doctors had raised questions/expressed suspicions about the lunch.
• An opportunity to tell Simon any preliminary lies about the lunch that might support her narrative.
• A chance to show Simon how unwell she was and elicit sympathy.
• Testing if Simon would prioritize her demands over his own family’s needs.
• A belief that Simon might support her if the doctors asked any uncomfortable questions about the lunch.
• An opportunity to offer Simon a tasty morsel of leftovers….

And then miraculously, after getting herself safely to hospital, she changed her mind about needing saline and insisted that she must dash back home to pack her daughter’s ballet bag…..amongst other things

All of the above I would agree with.

 

[Jess D]

I don’t know, unless that date was significant over 2 years ago, I wouldn’t remember what day of the week it was. But Erin remembers. It was significant to her.

It must be significant to her as she remembers little else. Lol

 

[Scooby-Doo]

'No, mum said she just wanted it to be the five of them,' he said.

'She wanted to talk about personal stuff.'

Patterson said her son was incorrect.

'I don't remember saying I just wanted it to be the five of us,' Patterson said.

Dr Nanette Rogers suggested Patterson didn't want her kids anywhere near the lunch because she knew she'd be serving up a toxic meal.

'Incorrect,' Patterson said.

Patterson accused of keeping her kids away from lunch​

The prosecution has alleged Patterson didn't want her kids at the lunch because she wanted to keep them away from the toxic meal.

Patterson has denied telling her daughter she can't be at the lunch.
The jury was also reminded of Patterson's son's evidence.

Patterson's son said his mum didn't invite him or his sister to the lunch.
'No, mum said she just wanted it to be the five of them,' he said.
'She wanted to talk about personal stuff.'

Patterson said her son was incorrect.
'I don't remember saying I just wanted it to be the five of us,' Patterson said.

Dr Rogers suggested Patterson didn't want her kids anywhere near the lunch because she knew she'd be serving up a toxic meal.
'Incorrect,' Patterson said.

Prosecution: 'I suggest this is a story you made up'​

Patterson was reminded about evidence she gave where she went foraging for mushrooms with her children.

'I think they even found a couple [of mushrooms] for me at one point,' Patterson previously told the jury.

Dr Rogers reminded Patterson of her son's evidence where he said he'd never been foraging or searching for mushrooms with his mum or dad.

The son said he remembered seeing mushrooms growing while on walks with his mum and sister in 2020 and 2021 but didn't remember picking any.

The son said his mum took a photo of a wild mushroom but he said 'he never knew' his mum to go foraging or picking wild mushrooms.

Patterson's daughter also said she'd never gone picking mushrooms and had never seen one while with her mum.

Dr Rogers suggested Patterson's children never knew her mum to forage for wild mushrooms.
'I suggest this is a story you have made up for this jury, agree or disagree?' Dr Rogers said.
'Disagree,' Patterson replied.

Patterson accused of hiding death caps in food​

Dr Rogers suggested Patterson didn't chop up the death caps but blitzed the lethal mushrooms into a powder.
'I disagree,' Patterson said.
Dr Rogers suggested she powdered the death caps to hide them in food.
'I disagree,' Patterson said.
Dr Rogers reminded Patterson she had previously ground non-lethal mushrooms into a powder and hid them in muffins which she fed to her daughter.
'I did do that once yes,' Patterson said.

Patterson bought dehydrator same day she allegedly picked death caps​

Patterson was reminded that telecommunications expert Dr Matthew Sorell gave evidence her phone pinged near a basestation which meant a possible visit to Loch on April 28.
Dr Rogers suggested Patterson was in Loch on that date.
'I don't know [if I was in Loch that day],' she said.
Dr Rogers suggested Patterson went to a death cap sighting zone previously posted on iNaturalist.
'Incorrect,' Patterson said.
Dr Rogers suggested Patterson read the iNaturalist post put up on April 18.
'Disagree,' Patterson said.
Dr Rogers suggested Patterson drove specifically to Loch to find death caps on April 28.
'Disagree,' Patterson said.
'And I suggest you found some, then within two hours went and bought the dehydrator,' Dr Rogers said.
'I did buy that that day yes,' Patterson said, but denied she bought it to dry death caps.

Patterson asked why she would serve her kids the leftovers​

Patterson has been quizzed on why she served her kids leftovers from a lunch despite being aware some guests were sick.
'It was the same lunch yes,' Patterson said.
'Even though you thought you had food poisoning from the same lunch?' Dr Rogers asked.
'I didn't think that,' Patterson said.
Dr Rogers has suggested Patterson told various health officials, medical staff and police she served her kids the same meal eaten by her lunch guests.
Patterson said it was minus the mushrooms and pastry so 'it wasn't the same' meal.
Dr Rogers also asked if Patterson knew some lunch guests were sick then why would she serve leftovers to her kids.
Dr Rogers suggested Patterson lied about serving her children the leftovers minus mushrooms and pastry.
The jury previously heard evidence Patterson told child services officer Katrina Cripps she cooked two Wellingtons which she put aside for her kids.
Patterson disagreed.

Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial LIVE updates

Follow Daily Mail Australia's live coverage of accused mushroom chef Erin Patterson's murder trial here.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Ellery84]

Plus didn't she have 2 or 3 scales to weigh things, or some such?

Priorities.