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

[Detechtive]

Leftover beef Wellington was made for estranged husband, jury told​

ByMarta Pascual Juanola
Prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC, has told jurors they should reject Erin Patterson’s suggestion she served her children leftovers of beef Wellington with the mushrooms scraped off, and that instead the leftovers were found by police in a bin at her Leongatha home.

“The prosecution suggests that this is the beef Wellington that the accused [went] to the trouble of making [and] was intended for Simon Patterson,” Rogers said in her closing address.

Rogers said Erin Patterson gave evidence that if her estranged husband had attended lunch on July 29, 2023 she would have served him a beef Wellington too.

“The prosecution case is had Simon Patterson changed his mind and decided to attend the lunch after all, he too would have been served that sixth, poisonous beef Wellington,” the prosecutor said.

She said the only reason Erin Patterson would lie about feeding the leftovers to her children was “because she knew she had included death cap mushroom in the beef Wellington and thought that if she said she had also fed it to her children [it] would deflect any suspicion”.

There was no other reasonable explanation as to why she Patterson would tell such a lie, Rogers said.

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

 

[Detechtive]

The Asian grocer 'lie'​

Dr Rogers has now moved on to the second alleged lie, namely lying about all the mushrooms in the beef wellington coming from Woolworths and an Asian grocer.
She said the prosecution suggests this is a lie for three reasons:

Her story about the Asian grocer kept changing;
She was not forthcoming with the Department of Health; and
Death caps are highly unlikely to appear on store shelves.
She said Erin’s story “evolved” between July 31 and August 2.
Dr Rogers said Erin told Dr Chris Webster at Leongatha Hospital about 8.05am on July 31 she bought the mushrooms from Woolworths.
She said Simon’s brother Matt Patterson then called her about 10.30am and she told him she also bought dried mushrooms from a Chinese grocer in the Oakleigh area.
The jury heard she spoke to Dr Veronica Foote around the same time and told her the dried mushrooms came from a Chinese grocer in Melbourne, but did not provide any suburbs.
Dr Rogers said Erin then spoke to Dr Conor McDermott from Austin Health about 10.50am and said the button mushrooms came from Woolworths and the dried mushrooms may have come from a Chinese grocer in Oakleigh.
“And she said for the first time it might have been Glen Waverley instead,” she added.
The jury heard she had a conversation with two paramedics about 2.40pm and said the dried mushrooms came from an Asian grocer in Melbourne.
Dr Rogers said she then told Dr Muldoon at Monash Medical Centre about 4pm the dried mushrooms, possibly shiitake, may have come from an Asian grocer in Glen Waverley.
Finally, she told public health director Rhonda Stuart from Monash Health about 6pm the dried mushrooms may have come from an Asian grocer in Oakleigh or Glen Waverley.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/the-mushroom-cook/erin-patterson-trial-live-closing-addresses-expected-in-mushroom-murder-trial/live-coverage/299fa80376bd369a989157187008c323#/entry/32248433

 

[MrJ]

Dr Rogers is on fire today.

Key Event
1m ago
Asian grocer lie 'apparent' in responses given by accused, prosecution says

By Joseph Dunstan

Dr Rogers tells the jury that while Ms Patterson told police in an interview a week after the lunch that she'd been "very helpful" to health authorities, this was not the case.

The prosecutor says the health official leading the response to the death cap poisoning outbreak, Sally Ann Atkinson, had tried contacting Ms Patterson on the Monday and again on the Tuesday but struggled to reach her during this time.

"The accused did not respond, even though the children were at school that day, she was non-responsive to these important questions," she says.

She says this then compelled Ms Atkinson to get help from a child protection worker who was physically meeting with Ms Patterson.

"She was not forthcoming with the Department of Health because the story she was telling about the Asian grocer was not true," Dr Rogers says.

"Every time she was pressed about the details, that lie became more and more apparent."

She says the evidence before the jury is that it is very unlikely that death cap mushrooms would come from a shop because foraging a commercial volume of death caps would be difficult.

Dr Rogers also tells the jury that if there were death cap mushrooms in the supply chain in Victoria, others people could be expected to fall ill.

She also dismissed the idea that death caps could be found in a Chinese shop, as expert evidence revealed death cap mushrooms do not grow in China.

 

[Detechtive]

Rogers says on 1 August 2023 - three days after the lunch - Paterson told Department of Health official Sally Ann Atkinson that she purchased fresh mushrooms from Woolworths in Leongatha and dried fungi from an Asian shop in Clayton, Mount Waverley or Oakleigh. Patterson said the dried mushrooms were purchased in April 2023, the court hears.

Rogers says this was the first mention of Clayton or Mount Waverley.

She says Patterson later spoke to child protection worker Katrina Cripps, but says she did not mention Mount Waverley despite naming it to Atkinson six hours earlier.

Rogers says Patterson “sat on her hands” and was slow to respond to the enquiries from the Department of Health as they investigated the source of the mushrooms.

Erin Patterson mushroom trial day 32 – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

 

[Deleted member 194006]

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.

There we have it! Someone here predicted that Dr Rogers mixing up her days was not an accident, rather a clever strategy she would use in her closing statement to show Erin’s “failing memory” was all a lie

 

[MrJ]

Key Event
1m ago
Re-drying of mushrooms dubbed 'ridiculous and obvious lie' by prosecution

By Joseph Dunstan

Dr Rogers then turns to the issue of Erin Patterson's dehydrator, which the court has heard was dumped in a tip and was found to contain death cap mushroom residue.

She says Ms Patterson's claim of dehydrating the already-dried mushrooms purportedly purchased from an Asian grocer was a "ridiculous and obvious lie she came up with under cross-examination".

The prosecutor tells the jury that the accused did this "to keep alive the possibility that the Asian grocer mushrooms might still be the source" of death cap mushrooms in the meal.

She says it was "just a fiction" that was repeated "over and over again", all while the accused knew she had dehydrated the death caps in her dehydrator.

"She continued to peddle this false story about the mushrooms coming from an Asian grocer," Dr Roger says, telling them they should reject the idea that panic spurred the lie.

 

[Monstradamus]

They seemed to have timing on their side. If it wasn't for swift action (eg: the bank statements in the days after the poisoning) they wouldn't have been able to recover the dehydrator - it would have been buried in landfill, imo.

Seems as though there were quite a few things like this which worked in their favour, and i don't think that was luck. I think they determined quite quickly that there was something not right about this.

Lucky the tip didn't on sell the dehydrator in their recycling shop to some poor unsuspecting consumer.

 

[Detechtive]

Erin's memory 'remarkable' on everything but the source of the mushrooms​

Dr Rogers said it “simply beggars belief” that Erin couldn’t remember the Asian grocer she had bought the mushrooms from, given she had owned a home in the area for some time.
As she was questioned about the dried mushrooms, Dr Rogers said Erin’s account “shifted and grew broader”.
“You would think you would do everything you could to remember the store, but the accused sat on her hands while Don, Gail, Heather and Ian were all in comas,” she said.
Dr Rogers said Erin’s memory when giving her evidence had been “remarkable”.
“She recalled dates, evidence and details as she was asked questions over several days,” she said.
“She could even recall that April 18, 2023, was a Friday and not Monday as I had put to her.
“But in August 2023 she could not recall the shop or suburb she bought the mushrooms from.
“It simply beggars belief.”
Dr Rogers said Erin’s evidence that she had been “very, very helpful” with the Department of Health was “not truthful”.
“(The accused) was initially not responsive to the Department of Health,” she said.
Dr Rogers took the jury through the multiple unanswered text messages and phone calls made to Erin by health officials.
“We suggest she was not forthcoming with the Department of Health because the story she was telling about the Asian grocer was not true,” she said.
Dr Rogers further suggested that Erin’s description of the packaging was “strange” given she seemed to eventually recall specific details about the size and label, “yet drew a complete blank on the shop she bought them from the suburb”.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/the-mushroom-cook/erin-patterson-trial-live-closing-addresses-expected-in-mushroom-murder-trial/live-coverage/299fa80376bd369a989157187008c323#/entry/32248433

 

[Deleted member 363451]

1m ago
Prosecution questions Erin's behaviour after lunch further

By Joseph Dunstan

Dr Rogers later highlights the evidence of one medical professional, who told the court that Ms Patterson had insisted she had scraped the mushrooms off the meal when told the children must be assessed.

"You might think that this is an extraordinary response from a mother, who by that stage had known for hours that her children required urgent medical assessment," she says.

"How could she possibly think that the hassle of taking them out of school was a reason to disregard all the medical advice about the risk to their lives?"

Dr Rogers tells the jury there was a "perfectly reasonable" explanation for why a "doting mother" might be reluctant to have her children medically assessed, after being told they'd potentially eaten a lethal dose of death cap mushrooms.

"She knew that they had not eaten death cap mushrooms at all," Dr Rogers says.

She says the prosecution asserts this is another piece of incriminating conduct.

Dr Rogers summing up of Erin's lies and inconsistencies is just brilliant!

 

[Deleted member 363451]

Rogers says the day after the lunch - Sunday 30 July 2023 - Simon called Patterson and told her the four lunch guests were sick and had been admitted to hospital.​

She says Patterson testified she fed her children the meat from the beef wellington lunch despite knowing her lunch guests were unwell. She says meat would be the more usual suspect of food poisoning.

Rogers says it is not in dispute that her children ate steak for dinner on Sunday evening but stresses it was not the steak that had been used in the beef wellington meal.

She points to Patterson’s reluctance to have her children medically assessed at hospital after she told medical staff she had fed them leftovers from the meal.

Rogers says:

How could she possibly think the hassle of taking them out of school was a reason to disregard all the medical advice about the risk to their lives?

There is a perfectly reasonable explanation ... she knew 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 that we say is incriminating conduct.

Erin Patterson mushroom trial day 32 – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

Erin knew damn well that the steak hadn't caused her lunch guests to get sick. As Dr Rogers said, she wouldn't have given her kids the meat if she had of thought that...

 

[Detechtive]

Rogers says during her time in the witness stand Patterson demonstrated “remarkable memory” of deaths and evidence.​

She says it “beggars belief” that Patterson could not recall the shop or suburb where she purchased dried mushrooms from.

She recalls the jury has heard evidence from Dr Camille Truong that it was impossible for death cap mushrooms to be bought from a shop as they cannot be cultivated.

She tells the jury:

We suggest you can be satisfied that her story about buying dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer was fiction.

Rogers says Patterson told this lie despite knowing she had dehydrated death cap mushrooms in her Sunbeam dehydrator.

Erin Patterson mushroom trial day 32 – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

 

[MrJ]

Sad news, everyone.

1m ago
That's it for today's hearing

By Joseph Dunstan

As crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC begins to delve deeper into the dumping of the dehydrator after the lunch, Justice Beale declares that's a good point to wrap up the hearing for the day.

Dr Rogers will continue delivering the prosecution's closing address to the jury tomorrow.

After that, the jury will hear the closing address from defence barrister Colin Mandy SC.

 

[Shortfusepsb]

Strategy wise, it would be best for Prosecution closing to really hit their straps tomorrow (Tuesday), and summarise Wednesday morning before handing over to the Defence closing to run Wednesday afternoon, and into Thursday or Friday.

The logic for this is that jurors are most attentive mid-week, especially on Tuesday and Wednesday. That is when focus is sharpest, note-taking is more active, and fatigue from the trial is at its lowest. It makes sense for the Prosecution to hammer home their key themes during that period.

Dragging too far into Thursday or Friday risks juror fatigue. Attention drops, minds drift to weekend plans, and big points might not land as well. Leave that jury headspace for the Defence to push up hill.

If the Defence push the Jury through to Friday adjournement and leave the Jury to ponder the their final word over the weekend, or, even if the Defence closes their argument Thursday or Friday, if permitted, the Prosecution can then return with a sharp and strategic rebuttal to leave their final impression before deliberations begin.

 

[Jake18]

She is doing a great job. I like the comparisons between how unwell the guests were becoming and what Erin was doing - driving around, feeding the leftovers to her children

 

[HoneyBunOne]

Agree, from what we know, she was surely also looking to kill S?

I, just until I read this, agreed. But what if he also had a special serve, one with a much smaller amount of death caps? A serve that would make him ill but maybe not kill him? If he died, oops, if not maybe she could nurse him back to health (good practice for her new career) and he'd fall back into her arms, minus his pesky extended family.

 

[Detechtive]

Erin tried to 'deflect blame' to Asian grocer: Crown​

Dr Rogers reminded the jury death cap toxins were detected in samples taken from Erin’s dehydrator and how Erin testified that she dehydrated the dried mushrooms from the Asian grocer after she purchased them.
“If the accused purchased death caps from an Asian grocer which were already dehydrated … why would remnants of them later be found in her dehydrator?” she asked.
“Why would she dehydrate mushrooms which were already dried?”
Dr Rogers said the jury could reject this dehydrating claim as a “ridiculous and obvious” lie, suggesting Erin told this lie to keep alive the possibility the mushrooms from the Asian grocer may be the source of the death caps.
She told the jury her Asian grocer story was a “fiction” since she knew all along that she had dehydrated death caps in her dehydrator.
But Dr Rogers said she lied to “deflect blame”.

The prosecution’s closing address will continue tomorrow.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/the-mushroom-cook/erin-patterson-trial-live-closing-addresses-expected-in-mushroom-murder-trial/live-coverage/299fa80376bd369a989157187008c323#/entry/32249300

 

[Deleted member 363451]

I, just until I read this, agreed. But what if he also had a special serve, one with a much smaller amount of death caps? A serve that would make him ill but maybe not kill him? If he died, oops, if not maybe she could nurse him back to health (good practice for her new career) and he'd fall back into her arms, minus his pesky extended family.

He may not have fallen back into her arms if he had met a new lady friend...

 

[JBowie]

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.

Bing!

 

[Monstradamus]

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

It's odd that her POA/friend didn't testify. She had no Defense witnesses except herself. Very telling.
Do you believe that EP's FB friends provided all evidence available, or held back?

 

[MrJ]

I really want them to address the cancer and gastric bypass/liposuction!

Key Event
13m ago
The four pillars of the prosecution's closing argument

By Judd Boaz

Today, crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC outlined the case against Erin Patterson.

Dr Rogers told the jury that Erin Patterson employed four deceptions over the course of several months, leading to the deaths of three of her relatives.

The prosecutions says these were:

1.The fabricated cancer claim that Ms Patterson told her guests when she invited them to the meal
2.The lethal doses of poison that Dr Rogers says she "secreted in the home-cooked beef Wellingtons"
3.The illness that Ms Patterson pretended to have after the lunch to make it seem as though she also suffered from death cap poisoning
4.The sustained cover-up Ms Patterson embarked on to "conceal the truth" after the lunch
During the proceedings, Dr Rogers outlined each of these alleged deceptions, at time pointing to what she referred to as "obvious" lies made by Ms Patterson.

Dr Rogers was part-way through examining the fourth alleged deception before court adjourned, and will continue her closing argument tomorrow.