Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #7 *Arrest*

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

Well if the 4th victim had died would the police have found out about the individual pies and her smaller orange plate?

Probably that sort of detail would never have been known.

If her ex had turned up was she thinking to take the life of five people? She cannot have imagined anything except the rest of her life in prison as a consequence.

JMO MOO

 

[SouthAussie]

Why didn't she just hide it somewhere in a remote barn or throw it in a deep lake?

Perhaps ...

"What are you doing with the dehydrator, mum"

"Oh, I am just taking it outside" (where I might be being watched because a number of people are in the hospital very sick, after a lunch I served them).

Whereas if she disposed of it in a legitimate way, along with a few other things, she could maybe claim - to the children - that it was broken.
Their children are not really very young and totally gullible, age-wise, one of them is old enough for flying lessons. The recommendation for that, when I looked at a flying school's website, is no younger than 14. Link

imo


Later that afternoon, Patterson left her home to drive one of her children to a flying lesson in a town about an hour away.

Erin Patterson ‘hiding’ dehydrated mushrooms ‘in everything’, court hears

The mother is accused of killing three people with poisonous death cap mushrooms.

7news.com.au

 

[JennieM]

Well if the 4th victim had died would the police have found out about the individual pies and her smaller orange plate?

One of the victims had told her nephew about the plates before she died.

Alleged victim 'asked why Erin Patterson had a different colour plate'
​

Katy Watson and Simon Atkinson
Reporting from court

Heather Wilkinson spoke to her nephew Simon Patterson after she felt ill, and told him that Erin Patterson had put her food on a noticeably different plate at the lunch, the prosecutor says.

Simon was told Erin's plate had colours on it, the prosecution says.

"Does Erin have a shortage of crockery? I have been wondering about it since yesterday," Ms Wilkinson said, according to the prosecutor.

Erin Patterson: Trial begins for Australia woman accused of toxic mushroom lunch

Erin Patterson, from Victoria, is facing three counts of murder and one of attempted murder over the alleged beef wellington poisoning in July 2023.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[drsleuth]

One of the victims had told her nephew about the plates before she died.

Alleged victim 'asked why Erin Patterson had a different colour plate'​

​

Katy Watson and Simon Atkinson
Reporting from court

Heather Wilkinson spoke to her nephew Simon Patterson after she felt ill, and told him that Erin Patterson had put her food on a noticeably different plate at the lunch, the prosecutor says.

Simon was told Erin's plate had colours on it, the prosecution says.

"Does Erin have a shortage of crockery? I have been wondering about it since yesterday," Ms Wilkinson said, according to the prosecutor.

Erin Patterson: Trial begins for Australia woman accused of toxic mushroom lunch

Erin Patterson, from Victoria, is facing three counts of murder and one of attempted murder over the alleged beef wellington poisoning in July 2023.

www.bbc.co.uk

That was Simon she told, Erin's Ex.

I wonder if alarm bells were going off in his head, considering his previous health issues?

 

[JennieM]

Four steps to decide attempted murder charge too​

Tiffanie Turnbull
Live reporter

The judge says there are four things the jury needs to be sure of on the attempted murder charge.

That charge relates to Ian Wilkinson, who was seriously unwell for weeks after the lunch, but recovered.

The prosecution must prove:

• That Ms Patterson consciously, voluntarily and deliberately served Mr Wilkinson a poisoned meal
• That her actions went beyond simply preparing to kill Mr Wilkinson, and that they were “immediately” – as opposed to “remotely” - connected to killing him
• That she intended to kill him
• And that she had no lawful justification or excuse for her actions

Judge walks jurors through steps

Katy Watson
Australia correspondent, reporting from court​

More now about what the judge is doing now - he's going through what's called a jury checklist.

Justice Beale is explaining to the jury that the law requires conduct that attracts criminal responsibility to be "willed conduct" - words like conscious and voluntary rule out circumstances where someone is sleep-walking and are not aware of what they are doing.

He’s also talking about intention - has the prosecution proved that at the time of the alleged conduct, the accused intended to kill or cause really serious injury to the deceased?

There’s a series of questions where they have to answer yes or no, at which point they can move on to the next one - trying to work out if the accused is guilty or not guilty.

What the jury need to decide
​

Tiffanie Turnbull
Live reporter

The judge is outlining what the "elements" of each charge are - essentially what the jury has to be satisfied of, beyond a reasonable doubt, to deliver a verdict of guilty.

For murder, there are four:

• That Erin Patterson caused the deaths by serving a poisoned meal
• That her conduct was conscious, voluntary and deliberate
• That she intended to kill or cause very serious injury
• And that she killed the deceased without lawful justification or excuse

The judge says the second one is going to be key.

He says Ms Patterson's defence is that "she didn't deliberately serve up a poisoned meal".

Erin Patterson: Trial begins for Australia woman accused of toxic mushroom lunch

Erin Patterson, from Victoria, is facing three counts of murder and one of attempted murder over the alleged beef wellington poisoning in July 2023.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[ch_13]

One of the victims had told her nephew about the plates before she died.

Alleged victim 'asked why Erin Patterson had a different colour plate'​

​

Katy Watson and Simon Atkinson
Reporting from court

Heather Wilkinson spoke to her nephew Simon Patterson after she felt ill, and told him that Erin Patterson had put her food on a noticeably different plate at the lunch, the prosecutor says.

Simon was told Erin's plate had colours on it, the prosecution says.

"Does Erin have a shortage of crockery? I have been wondering about it since yesterday," Ms Wilkinson said, according to the prosecutor.

Erin Patterson: Trial begins for Australia woman accused of toxic mushroom lunch

Erin Patterson, from Victoria, is facing three counts of murder and one of attempted murder over the alleged beef wellington poisoning in July 2023.

www.bbc.co.uk

That reminds me of something. Going way back to the statement that was released on her behalf shortly after the deaths...

According to her statement, Ms Patterson served the meal and allowed the guests to choose their own plates. She then took the last plate and ate a serve of the beef Wellington herself.

So, that seems like it was a false statement, as the victims were later questioning why Erin's plate was different.

Woman who cooked suspected poisoned meal details where she bought mushrooms

The woman who cooked a meal that is believed to have contained poisonous mushrooms and led to the deaths of three people gives a lengthy written statement to police detailing her account of what happened, and revealing she was hospitalised after the incident.

www.abc.net.au

 

[JLZ]

I'm completely baffled by this case. It's so confusing.

People are saying murderers often forget to plan for the aftermath but bearing in mind how much planning went into this event, that sounds really unlikely.

Such a time consuming and elaborate plan, yet the person who orchestrated it takes the dehydrator to a recycling centre and pays for that in her own name. Why didn't she just hide it somewhere in a remote barn or throw it in a deep lake? Also 'forgets' that she's publicly published comments about owning and using a dehydrator?

She was crafty and manipulative enough to serve herself a totally different meal right in front of everyone on an orange plate without being challenged but abjectly fails to consider any planning for the aftermath? It makes no sense.

The only way I can make it make sense is a) profound mental illness - some sort of psychosis and magical thinking; b) she didn't think anyone would die - if nothing of note was going to happen, she didn't need to cover anything up; c) she lives in an environment where even if several people do die, nobody cares or investigates; d) she no longer cared what became of her and decided to harm / kill people and let the consequences unfold, no anxiety about rest of life in prison etc;

JMO MOO

Mainly in response to your last paragraph:

In the beginning she complained that she was being painted as a witch. I wonder if that was what she wanted and somehow expected: that she'd get a local reputation to the effect that things too bad to be specified happened to people who crossed Erin. She got her timing wrong, by a few centuries.

 

[tmar]

True, and from what people have said about her Patterson has also considered herself a very smart woman. As she sits through this prosecution she may have to adjust that viewpoint.

I wonder how much this court case costs EP?
I hope loads!

 

[katydid23]

The hours after the lunch​

The court has heard it was arranged for the children to go to the cinema on the day of the lunch.

A friend of one of the children also joined them at the cinema.

About 2.25pm, Simon Patterson picked the children up and they returned to Patterson’s home.

Patterson dropped her child’s friend home about 7pm.

“Around midnight, on Sunday the 30th of July, Heather and Ian started to suffer nausea, diahrrhea and vomitting,” Rogers said.

“They mostly stayed in separate rooms, but did come together to talk.”

The court heard Don and Gail went to the hospital that evening with the same symptoms.

After speaking on the phone to Don, Simon drove to Ian and Heather’s house to tell them to go to hospital.

During his visit, Heather said: “I noticed Erin put her food in a different plate. Her plate had colours. I wondered why that was.”

Erin Patterson ‘hiding’ dehydrated mushrooms ‘in everything’, court hears

The mother is accused of killing three people with poisonous death cap mushrooms.

7news.com.au

I'll be interested to see if investigators looked to see if EP only had 4 big grey plates OR if she had more, but didn't use them.

 

[drsleuth]

Day 2 : 1/5/2025


9.55am

The key players in Erin Patterson’s murder trial​

By​

The murder trial of accused killer mushroom cook Erin Patterson has started. As we wait for evidence on day two, let’s have a look at the key players.

Below is a family tree showing the relationship between Erin Patterson and the alleged victims, as well as a breakdown of each person.

9.55am

First prosecution witnesses to give evidence​

​

The first witnesses for the prosecution are expected to give evidence in court today, following the delivery of opening addresses by the prosecution and defence teams to the jury yesterday.

As regular readers of this masthead will know, the Supreme Court trial is being heard in the Latrobe Valley justice precinct in Morwell, about 150 kilometres east of Melbourne.

This is because the precinct is the closest suitable court to where the alleged crimes occurred.

If you have been following the case, you can read some of our earlier reporting on the trial here.

10.03am

​

Erin Patterson’s estranged husband Simon Patterson has just arrived at the Latrobe Valley justice precinct ahead of the start of proceedings this morning.

Here’s the picture award-winning Age photographer Jason South took of him walking into the courthouse.

Mushroom cook’s husband Simon gives evidence on marriage struggles, plate colour, cancer claims: Trial day two, as it happened

The first witness for the prosecution, Erin Patterson’s estranged husband Simon Patterson, was called to the stand on day two of the mushroom murder trial. Here’s how the day unfolded.

www.theage.com.au

 

[JBowie]

Mainly in response to your last paragraph:

In the beginning she complained that she was being painted as a witch. I wonder if that was what she wanted and somehow expected: that she'd get a local reputation to the effect that things too bad to be specified happened to people who crossed Erin. She got her timing wrong, by a few centuries.

I'm wondering if EP is high on the narcissism scale, if so then she would be vindictive towards anyone who slighted her.

 

[drsleuth]

Erin Patterson doesn't have 'high self-esteem', murder trial hears — as it happened

The jury in Erin Patterson's murder trial hears the accused tried to persuade her estranged husband to attend the lunch where four guests ate meals containing death cap mushrooms. Look back on how the hearing unfolded in our live blog.

www.abc.net.au

1m ago

Welcome to today's coverage of the trial​

By Judd Boaz​

Court reporter Kristian Silva will be bringing us regular updates from the Supreme Court trial of Erin Patterson.

Ms Patterson is accused of murdering three of her relatives and the attempted murder of another, through a poisoned lunch at her Leongatha home.

She has always maintained her innocence.

Yesterday, we heard the opening arguments from both the prosecution and the defence.

Today, it is expected we will hear from witnesses related to the case.

8m ago

Six things we learned yesterday in the mushroom trial​

By Judd Boaz​

The first day of the trial saw both the prosecution and defence make their opening arguments to the jury.

Here are six things we learned on Wednesday:

1. 1.Erin Patterson invited Ian and Heather Wilkinson and Don and Gail Patterson to her home in 2023 for a lunch to discuss a cancer diagnosis. But defence and prosecution agree her claim of a cancer diagnosis was false.
2. 2.The prosecution says that at the lunch, the guests noticed that Ms Patterson put her food on a smaller, different-coloured plate to theirs.
3. 3.While the four guests were quick to attend hospital, the prosecution says Ms Patterson was extremely reluctant to receive treatment, checking herself out of hospital when she could.
4. 4.The defence says initial statements made to police by Ms Patterson — that she did not own a food dehydrator, that she had bought mushrooms from an Asian grocer and that she had not foraged for mushrooms — were lies brought on by her panicking.
5. 5.But Ms Patterson's lawyer says what happened was "a tragedy and a terrible accident" and his client is innocent of murder.
6. 6.The prosecution will not offer any motive for the alleged murder charges, with a motive unnecessary for a conviction.

 

[tmar]

The prosecution said she had been on a forum where it was reported by experts that death caps were found and on one occasion she was there (at Loch) that very day, had bought a mushroom dehydrator 2 hours later, and at the other location reported by the experts, she was there the next morning according to her phone ping/gps tracking.

This surely indicates, she wanted to pick death caps.
We now know the result.

 

[drsleuth]

Erin Patterson trial live updates: mushroom cook’s murder trial continues in Victoria’s supreme court

Victorian woman has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in South Gippsland in 2023

www.theguardian.com

19m ago10.03 AEST

Good morning​

Hello and welcome to Guardian Australia’s live coverage of the Erin Patterson trial, which is expected to restart at 10.30am this morning.

Patterson is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson by feeding them a beef wellington dish allegedly laced with death cap mushrooms in July 2023. The lunch took place in the regional Victorian town of Leongatha, in Australia’s south-east.

Patterson is also accused of attempting to murder Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, who recovered from the lunch after becoming ill.

She has pleaded not guilty to murdering or attempting to murder the relatives of her estranged husband, Simon Patterson.

The trial is expected to run for five to six weeks. The supreme court trial is being held in Morwell in Victoria’s Gippsland region.

 

[JBowie]

​

Erin Patterson’s estranged husband Simon Patterson has just arrived at the Latrobe Valley justice precinct ahead of the start of proceedings this morning.

Here’s the picture award-winning Age photographer Jason South took of him walking into the courthouse.

View attachment 582833

Mushroom cook’s husband Simon gives evidence on marriage struggles, plate colour, cancer claims: Trial day two, as it happened

The first witness for the prosecution, Erin Patterson’s estranged husband Simon Patterson, was called to the stand on day two of the mushroom murder trial. Here’s how the day unfolded.

www.theage.com.au

His testimony, when called, should be be electric. Allegedly poisoned 3 times and possibly avoided a terminal dose by not attending the lunch.

Will be very interesting to hear his description of her character, etc.

 

[whiskia]

I'm wondering if EP is high on the narcissism scale, if so then she would be vindictive towards anyone who slighted her.

Wasn't her profile pic a witch on a broomstick on facebook?? Can't remember where I saw that but am pretty sure it was the case...?

 

[JBowie]

Wasn't her profile pic a witch on a broomstick on facebook?? Can't remember where I saw that but am pretty sure it was the case...?

I don't recall seeing that. Can you find a link?

 

[drsleuth]

His testimony, when called, should be be electric. Allegedly poisoned 3 times and possibly avoided a terminal dose by not attending the lunch.

Will be very interesting to hear his description of her character, etc.

I think he might be first up today!

 

[katydid23]

Defendant said her children ate meal but with mushrooms scraped off - prosecutionpublished at 12:34​

12:34​

Katy Watson
Australia correspondent, reporting from court

We are getting more details of Erin Patterson's visit to the hospital.

The prosecution says the accused repeatedly declined to stay and kept saying she was not prepared to be admitted, just coming to be checked.

Ms Patterson said her children hadn’t been present at the lunch but had eaten some of the leftovers the next day, the court hears - but that the mushrooms had been scraped off as the children didn’t like mushrooms.

Medical staff said the children needed to be brought to the hospital as a matter of priority because they’d eaten the food, albeit with the mushrooms scraped off, the prosecution says.

The jury are shown a photo of Erin at hospital, with her hands in the air, talking to a nurse.

Erin Patterson: Trial begins for Australia woman accused of toxic mushroom lunch

Erin Patterson, from Victoria, is facing three counts of murder and one of attempted murder over the alleged beef wellington poisoning in July 2023.

www.bbc.com

I would have immediately taken my children to the hospital, even if the mushrooms were scraped off and even if they hadn't shown any signs of illness. They weren't served leftovers until the next day, so they could have gotten sick later----I think it is suspicious that she didnt heed the doctor's warning to sign herself and her kids into treatment just for safety's sake.

Makes me think she knew there wasn't a problem...

 

[drsleuth]

1m ago

What are we expecting in court today?​

By Tim Callanan​

The first witness are due to be questioned in court at the Latrobe Valley Law Courts in Morwell.

We don't yet know who exactly will be called to give evidence on day two of the trial but Crown Prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC said in her opening remarks yesterday that there were "a lot" of witnesses.

It's expected that Ian Wilkinson, who was gravely ill after eating poisonous mushrooms at the lunch organised by Ms Patterson, will give evidence.

We're also expecting to hear from Ms Patterson's estranged husband Simon Patterson.

Medical staff who treated the people who were ill and died after the lunch will be called, as well as police who investigated the case.

Erin Patterson doesn't have 'high self-esteem', murder trial hears — as it happened

The jury in Erin Patterson's murder trial hears the accused tried to persuade her estranged husband to attend the lunch where four guests ate meals containing death cap mushrooms. Look back on how the hearing unfolded in our live blog.

www.abc.net.au