Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #14 *Arrest*

[Detechtive]

Children were not served leftovers: Crown​

Dr Rogers said Erin’s son also gave evidence about the conversation he had with his mum the night after the lunch, on July 30, about Don and Gail’s illnesses.
He said she “thought it might have been the lunch”.
Dr Rogers also said Erin told Dr Muldoon at Monash Medical Centre she had not presented earlier for treatment because she thought she had a case of food poisoning.
“Why then would the accused feed the leftovers (to her children) … knowing it had or even believing it might have led to the hospitalisation of … the guests?” she asked.
However, Dr Rogers said there was no reason for the jury to doubt that the children ate steak, beans and mashed potato that evening.
“But not the steak that had been cooked in mushroom paste,” she said.
Dr Rogers added Erin’s reluctance to have them brought to hospital for medical assessment stemmed from the fact she knew they had not consumed death caps, not because she wanted to understand the concerns of the doctors and nurses.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/the-mushroom-cook/erin-patterson-trial-live-closing-addresses-expected-in-mushroom-murder-trial/live-coverage/299fa80376bd369a989157187008c323#/entry/32247900

 

[MrJ]

Just now
Accused's statements about leftovers a 'lie to help cover her tracks', prosecutor alleges

By Joseph Dunstan

Dr Rogers then moves to the evidence heard about the collection of lunch leftovers from Erin Patterson's Leongatha home by police, while she was still at hospital on the Monday after the lunch.

She tells the jury that Ms Patterson had little choice but to assist authorities in collecting the leftovers, which Dr Rogers says consisted of a previouslywhole beef Wellington.

"What was this leftover beef Wellington?" Dr Rogers asks rhetorically, before suggesting it was a Wellington prepared in the hope that Simon would attend the lunch.

She says it was not the remnants of the children's leftover meal from Sunday, as Ms Patterson had told the court in her evidence.

Dr Rogers again emphasises the prosecution case is that Ms Patterson did not feed her children leftovers from the meal and lied about this to several medical professionals and police.

"The only reason the accused would tell such a lie was because she knew she had included death cap mushrooms in the beef Wellington eaten by the lunch guests and if she said she had also fed it to her children it would deflect any suspicion that she had deliberately done so," the prosecutor says.

She says the accused believed people would more readily accept the deadly lunch was a "shocking accident" if she had also fed it to her "beloved children".

"This was a lie to help cover her tracks. It is another example of what I anticipate His Honour will direct you about, incriminating conduct," Dr Rogers says.

 

[JBowie]

They seemed to have timing on their side.

IMO, this display would have alerted any cop:

 

[Detechtive]

IMO, this display would have alerted any cop:

Good point.

 

[Detechtive]

'Not even a forensic toxicologist could do that in a lab': Crown disputes children's meals​

Dr Rogers said the “first time we see any effort made” by Erin to have her children medically assessed was hours after she’d first been warned of the danger they might have ingested toxic mushrooms.
Dr Rogers said the “perfectly reasonable explanation” for why she hadn’t rushed her children to hospital was because she knew they hadn’t eaten death cap mushrooms.
“The evidence strongly suggests that if the children had eaten leftover meat from the poisoned beef wellington, they too would have at least experienced some symptoms,” she said.
The jury heard the meat part of the leftovers retrieved from the bin at Erin’s home tested positive for death cap toxins.
Dr Rogers said this was evidence that the amatoxins had penetrated, or remained, on the cooked meat.
“The accused attempted to explain why the children weren’t sick by repeatedly saying she’d scraped the mushrooms off, however scientific evidence suggest simply scraping it away would not have been enough to remove the toxins,” she said.
Dr Rogers told the jury to reject explanations from the defence that the mushrooms paste simply “couldn’t be separated” from the meat that was tested at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine.
“It is impossible, we suggest to you, that the accused could have served up a piece of leftover steak with all of the mushroom paste removed,” she said.
“Not even a forensic toxicologist managed to do that in a lab.”

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/the-mushroom-cook/erin-patterson-trial-live-closing-addresses-expected-in-mushroom-murder-trial/live-coverage/299fa80376bd369a989157187008c323#/entry/32248079

 

[MrJ]

IMO, this display would have alerted any cop:

How do we know this isn't her right now being confronted by Dr Rogers making the prosecution's closing statement?

 

[Detechtive]

How do we know this isn't her right now being confronted by Dr Rogers making the prosecution's closing statement?

I noticed in todays coverage that nobody talked about her attire. Maybe they are sick of reporting on her paisely shirt, striped shirt, pink shirt, dowdy brown cardigan and ugly sandals. IMO

 

[Shortfusepsb]

I noticed in todays coverage that nobody talked about her attire. Maybe they are sick of reporting on her paisely shirt, striped shirt, pink shirt, dowdy brown cardigan and ugly sandals. IMO

She should be sentenced to 10 years for bad taste, just on that mental picture.

 

[JBowie]

How do we know this isn't her right now being confronted by Dr Rogers making the prosecution's closing statement?

I think the court artist would be very happy to depict it.

 

[L_B]

I noticed in todays coverage that nobody talked about her attire. Maybe they are sick of reporting on her paisely shirt, striped shirt, pink shirt, and ugly sandles. IMO

I read somewhere (maybe it was here and by you haha) but my memory is terrible like Erin's and I do not recall that one of her supporters was bringing her clothes? Maybe they stopped.

 

[JBowie]

I noticed in todays coverage that nobody talked about her attire. Maybe they are sick of reporting on her paisely shirt, striped shirt, pink shirt, dowdy brown cardigan and ugly sandals. IMO

I guess a prisoner has a limit to how much 'outside' cloting they have access to.

 

[Detechtive]

I read somewhere (maybe it was here and by you haha) but my memory is terrible like Erin's and I do not recall that one of her supporters was bringing her clothes? Maybe they stopped.

Her main supporter is bringing her clothing - she is also her POA (Power of attorney). I wonder why she wasn't a defence witness.... :/

 

[MrJ]

1m ago
Alleged origins of mushrooms raised by prosecution

By Joseph Dunstan and Judd Boaz

The pace of Dr Rogers's address to the jury has not slowed, as the prosecutor moves to address the evidence the court has heard over the origins of the mushrooms included in the meal.

Ms Patterson has told the court the bulk of the mushrooms used in the lunch were largely from Woolworths, as well as some dried mushrooms bought from an Asian grocer.

In her evidence to the trial, Ms Patterson said she now believed foraged mushrooms may have been mixed up in the same container the Asian-grocer mushrooms were in.

Dr Rogers tells the jury Ms Patterson's account given to various people about the Asian grocer where she apparently bought dried mushrooms used in the dish had changed in the days after the lunch.

She notes that in subsequent interviews, the possible suburbs in Melbourne where the Asian grocer could have been located changed.

"As time went on, her description of the Chinese food store shifted and grew broader, " she tells the court.

 

[SouthAussie]

I am glad that Dr Rogers is voicing the opinion that the 6th beef wellington was for Simon. Leave nothing as guesswork for the jury.



Rogers says the leftover beef wellington was “clearly intended for Simon Patterson”.

“Had Simon changed his mind ... he too would have been served the sixth poisoned beef wellington,” she says.

Rogers turns to the source of the mushrooms. She says medical staff were “desperate” to know the source of the mushrooms so they knew how to treat the four lunch guests who were unwell.

Erin Patterson mushroom trial day 32 – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

 

[JBowie]

Her main supporter is bringing her clothing - she is also her POA (Power of attorney). I wonder why she wasn't a defence witness.... :/

Interesting. Speculating that maybe the defence did not want Dr Rogers to have her in the stand.

 

[Detechtive]

Interesting. Speculating that maybe the defence did not want Dr Rogers to have her in the stand.

Absolutely.

 

[Detechtive]

The court previously heard Patterson prepared six individual beef wellingtons.​

Rogers says the leftover beef wellington was “clearly intended for Simon Patterson”.

“Had Simon changed his mind ... he too would have been served the sixth poisoned beef wellington,” she says.

Rogers turns to the source of the mushrooms. She says medical staff were “desperate” to know the source of the mushrooms so they knew how to treat the four lunch guests who were unwell.

She says Patterson’s story about the Asian grocer “kept changing”, Patterson was not forthcoming with the Department of Health, and that expert evidence suggests death cap mushrooms are highly unlikely to appear on store shelves.

Patterson first told Dr Chris Webster on 31 July 2023 that she had purchased the mushrooms from Woolworths. Later that day Patterson told Simon’s brother, Matthew, that she recalled buying the mushrooms from an Asian grocer in the Oakleigh area, Rogers says.

Erin Patterson mushroom trial day 32 – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

 

[Detechtive]

Erin Patterson lied ‘over multiple days to multiple people’: prosecutor​

ByMarta Pascual Juanola
Erin Patterson’s actions after the July 29, 2023 lunch are now the focus of prosecutor Nanette Rogers’ closing address to the Supreme Court jury sitting in Morwell.

Rogers accused Patterson of telling lies about giving her children beef Wellington leftovers with the mushrooms scraped off, told lies about the mushrooms coming from Woolworths and an Asian grocer, lied about her reasons for getting rid of the dehydrator and had been “deliberately concealing” her usual mobile phone from police.

“Both children gave evidence that it was the accused who told them they were eating leftovers from the day before,” Rogers told the jury.

She said that the first time the accused told anyone else that the children ate leftovers from the lunch was when she first presented to Leongatha Hospital on Monday, July 31, 2023. Rogers said what followed was a series of lies told “over multiple days to multiple people”.

“On Sunday, July 30, 2023, [estranged husband] Simon Patterson told the accused … that all four lunch guests were crook and taken to hospital. The accused confirmed this when she spoke with Katrina Cripps, the child protection practitioner,” Rogers said.

Patterson knew her lunch guests were unwell, Rogers said, and claimed she was also ill.

“It would have been apparent that this illness suffered by the lunch guests was something to do with the food at the lunch,” Rogers said.

Rogers said Patterson later told Dr Laura Muldoon that she had not presented to hospital before the morning of July 31, 2023, as the mother of two thought she had a case of food poisoning.

Rogers accused Patterson of telling lies about giving her children beef Wellington leftovers with the mushrooms scraped off, told lies about the mushrooms coming from Woolworths and an Asian grocer, lied about her reasons for getting rid of the dehydrator and had been “deliberately concealing” her usual mobile phone from police.

“Why did she feed them [her children] the meat portion of that meal if she didn’t know that mushrooms were an issue [and] would be the most [usual] suspect of food poisoning?” Rogers said to the jury.

Patterson’s reluctance to have her children medically assessed was further evidence she did not serve the leftovers to them, the prosecutor said.

“Her key concern apparently was that children were not panicked or stressed,” Rogers said.

Rogers said Dr Chris Webster could not have been more blunt when he told Patterson that her children could be “alive and scared, or dead”.

“She knew that they had not eaten death cap mushrooms at all. Her reluctance to have her children medically assessed is another piece of conduct by the accused which we say is incriminating conduct,” Rogers said.

The evidence strongly suggested that if the children ate the meal they would have at least experienced some symptoms, the prosecutor told the jury.

Erin Patterson murder trial: Accused ‘lied’ to multiple people, and repeatedly changed her story on sourcing mushrooms, prosecutor tells jury

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC, is arguing to the jury that accused killer Erin Patterson faked a cancer diagnosis to her lunch guests and deliberately deviated from a beef Wellington recipe.

www.theage.com.au

 

[MrJ]

I dare say the day of the week strategy was intentional based on this.

1m ago
Erin's inability to recall Asian grocer's location 'beggars belief', jury told

By Joseph Dunstan and Judd Boaz

Dr Rogers tells the jury that "even if you could accept" that the precise location of an Asian grocer might not be easily remembered, you would think you'd do everything you could to try and recall it "for the sake of your very ill family members and for the sake of anyone else who might be exposed".

The prosecutor tells the jury that instead, the accused "sat on her hands while Don, Gail, Ian and Heather were all in comas".

The prosecutor tells the jury that during Ms Patterson's considerable time in the witness box, they would have observed her "remarkable memory" as she recalled dates, evidence and details with ease.

Dr Rogers notes that last week, when discussing a date in April 2023, Ms Patterson even corrected her on what day of the week it had been.

She also tells the jury that Ms Patterson had seemingly described to health officials in great detail the off-brand packaging she had allegedly bought the mushrooms in, despite disposing of it months earlier.

Dr Rogers then tells the jury "it simply beggars belief" that Ms Patterson "could not recall the shop or even the suburb" where she had purchased the mushrooms when asked in the aftermath of the lunch.

 

[Shortfusepsb]

"She also tells the jury that Ms Patterson had seemingly described to health officials in great detail the off-brand packaging she had allegedly bought the mushrooms in, despite disposing of it months earlier."

Brilliant.