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

[drsleuth]

Key Event
1m ago

Estranged husband says Erin Patterson is 'very intelligent'​

By Kristian Silva​

Simon Patterson is asked by the prosecution about his estranged wife.

He says she's "witty" and has worked towards many qualifications.

"Erin’s very intelligent," Mr Patterson says.

"She's quite witty and can be quite funny.

"I guess some of the things that attracted me to her in the first place was her intelligence."

He says his wife is a qualified accountant and air traffic controller.

"She studied various courses while we were married including a vet science course. I know she had studied legal courses as well," he says.

When asked how she interacts with others, Mr Patterson says it was "very rare" for her to invite people over to their home in their early years of marriage.

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

 

[drsleuth]

1m ago11.22 AEST
Simon describes Patterson as “very intelligent”:

“I guess some of the things that attracted me to her in the first place was definitely her intelligence. She’s quite witty and can be quite funny.”

He says during the pair’s marriage, she performed home duties and also undertook studies including legal and science courses.

Rogers asks if it was rare for Patterson to invite guests over to the family home.

Simon replies: “very rare”.

He says after the pair’s separation, wider family gatherings involving his siblings and parents were not held.

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

 

[drsleuth]

11.24am

‘Intelligent, witty, and funny’: Simon Patterson talks about his marriage to Erin​

​

Erin Patterson was intelligent, witty, and funny. These are the first things her estranged husband, Simon, says he noticed about her.

In courtroom 4 of the Latrobe Valley justice precinct in Morwell, Simon began to paint a picture of how he and Erin first fell in love.

“I guess one of the things that attracted me to her in the first place was definitely her intelligence,” he told the jury.

Erin and Simon Patterson.

Before their marriage, he said, she worked as an accountant and a qualified air traffic controller. She loved to learn and study, he said. She undertook a veterinary science course and also did some legal studies work.

Simon also offered insights after they were married. He told the jury it was “very rare” for Erin to invite people to their home, instead often choosing to gather as a family at his parents, Don and Gail’s house, or Simon’s brother Matthew’s house.

“After we separated ... I can confidently say we never had any wide family gathering with all my siblings and my parents at Erin’s place,” Simon said.

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

 

[katydid23]

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/courts-law/erin-patterson-trial-jury-set-to-hear-crowns-case-against-alleged-lunch-poisoner/news-story/cc109ac4276a75ec77788fbc4c390c7d

She allegedly said she purchased 500g of sliced button mushrooms from Woolworths and also used a packet of dried mushrooms purchased from a Chinese grocer in the Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh in April 2023.

The prosecutor said Ms Patterson was later moved to Monash children’s hospital where Simon and their two children attended.

The children were examined and found to not be ill, Dr Rogers said.

Ms Patterson was interviewed by the hospital’s public health director, allegedly saying she could not remember where the dried mushrooms were purchased and denied she used foraged mushrooms.

Alleged mushroom poisoner checked out of hospital against advice, jury told

Dr Rogers told the jury Ms Patterson self-presented to hospital at 8am on Monday, July 31 – two days after the lunch.

She said Ms Patterson complained about gastrointestinal symptoms and was advised she had potentially ingested a lethal dose of death cap mushrooms.

“The accused repeatedly said she needed to leave… she was adamant that she would not stay,” the prosecutor said.

She left at 8.10am against medical advice, Dr Rogers said.

The prosecutor told the court Leongatha Hospital’s Dr Chris Webster took the step of calling police for a welfare check, who visited her home.

Ms Patterson returned to the hospital at 9. 45am, Dr Rogers said.

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So she rocks up @ 8am & wanting to leave by 8:10am , why even go???

About the Woolworths mushroom story---did LE ever go to Woolworths and have them take their mushrooms off the shelf and then test some?

 

[drsleuth]

7m ago

Erin and Simon Patterson's marriage survived early six-month separation​

By Joseph Dunstan​

The court hears that in the earlier stages of the marriage, Simon and Erin Patterson had a separation of roughly six months.

"What I understood from Erin is that … she was struggling inside herself," Mr Patterson says.

Mr Patterson says they engaged in some marriage counselling and he ended up landing a job in regional Western Australia.

That job came with a home, and Mr Patterson says his wife moved back in with him after he'd settled there.

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

 

[drsleuth]

3m ago11.32 AEST
Simon is detailing to the court the early years of the couple’s marriage.

In 2007, the pair travelled to Western Australia where they lived for two years. Their first child was born in 2009.

During this time, they separated for about six months, Simon says. They returned to Victoria in 2013. Their second child was born in 2014.

Simon says they purchased a house in Korumburra. They lived there until 2015, when the couple separated. Patterson then decided to buy herself a “separate house and move into it”, also in Korumburra, Simon says. She moved into the house alone.

Under examination by Rogers, Simon agrees the split in 2015 was a “permanent separation”:

“It was strained, there was tension in it.”

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

 

[katydid23]

2.37pm

Mushrooms initially smelt funny, jury told​

​

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC, has resumed her opening address to the jury after the court stopped for a lunch break.

Rogers told the jury that on August 1, 2023, a toxicologist registrar reviewed Erin Patterson at Monash Medical Centre, and found there was no clinical or biochemical evidence of death cap mushrooms. Erin was later discharged, Rogers said.

Sally Ann Atkinson, from Victoria’s Department of Health, spoke to Erin for 4½ hours on August 1 before she was discharged from hospital.

In that conversation, Rogers said, Erin told Atkinson that the lunch had consisted of beef Wellington, mashed potato and beans served with gravy from a reheated packet. Erin said she’d purchased most of the ingredients – including most of the mushrooms – from Woolworths in Leongatha, but she also bought some dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer in either Clayton, Mount Waverley or Oakleigh.

Rogers said Erin described the mushrooms as smelling funny, but they were OK when she used them, so she had stored what was left for several months until she came to use them again.

Wait---2 things about the bolded above:
---They smelled funny but she used them anyway?
---Earlier she said she had only used the dried mushrooms that one time---so is she speaking about the fresh mushrooms? And they smelled funny but she stored them for 'SEVERAL MONTHS before using them again?

Erin told Atkinson the recipe for the beef Wellington required one kilogram of mushrooms simmered down into a paste, so she decided to use the mushrooms bought from the grocer and rehydrated them before chopping them into pieces and adding them to the rest of the mushrooms.

Erin Patterson trial LIVE updates: Alleged Leongatha mushroom cook reported eating half her lunch, pushed to be released from hospital, doctors say

Erin Patterson is facing trial after pleading not guilty over a fatal mushroom lunch. Today, Nanette Rogers, SC, will present the prosecution’s case against Patterson.

www.theage.com.au

 

[drsleuth]

Key Event
4m ago

Simon Patterson becomes emotional discussing strained marriage​

By Kristian Silva and Judd Boaz​

Simon Patterson says Erin inherited $2 million from her late grandmother's estate, which was distributed in multiple instalments.

He confirms their separation was made permanent in late 2015.

"It was strained, there was tension," he says of the relationship, saying they'd gone to see a family counsellor.

Mr Patterson is asked by Dr Rogers how he felt about about his marriage to Erin Patterson.

"I was always keen to have a good relationship, a good marriage," he says.

"Erin decided to buy herself a separate house and move into it."

Mr Patterson says at the time, she had not given him a reason for the separation.

He says she later communicated to him that their relationship was "toxic".

Dr Rogers then asks if the multiple separations were always initiated by Ms Patterson.

Mr Patterson takes long pauses during his answer as he processes the question.

"That's a difficult one to answer. I was … I'll put it this way, she would leave each time … it was always her leaving me," he said.

He then asks for tissues as emotion overwhelm him, but declines to take a break from his testimony.

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

 

[Detechtive]

9 minutes ago

Erin received large inheritance from grandmother
Simon said Erin’s grandmother left her a large estate after she died.
“She got a substantial inheritance of roughly $2m,” he said.
He said the money was gradually “dispersed” over about eight years.
“They dribbled it out really slowly, the executors, and so there was more than one payment,” he said.
In 2015, when Erin bought her home, she had received about half the inheritance, he said.
He said they permanently separated towards the end of that year.
“It was strained,” he said.
“I was always keen to have a good relationship, have a good marriage and a good, strong family to bring up the kids in. But that was not a view shared by Erin,” he said.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/the-mushroom-cook/inside-the-courtroom-mushroom-cook-erin-patterson-faces-court-for-day-3-of-murder-trial/live-coverage/40468f819264499f33fcf34f1e0cec7b

 

[drsleuth]

1m ago11.40 AEST
Under examination by Rogers, Simon agrees he indicated to Patterson that he wanted to reconcile the marriage.

The pair separated numerous times until late 2015, the court hears.

“When we lived together, it was always her leaving me,” he says.

He agrees the relationship remained friendly after the separation in 2015 and managed the care of their children well.

Simon appears to become emotional and requests tissues as he says “it’s good to be friends with the person you’re married to. He says he is “struggling to answer the question”.

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

 

[drsleuth]

3m ago11.42 AEST
Patterson received a “substantial” inheritance of about $2m when her grandmother passed away in 2006, Simon says.

“They dribbled it out really slowly, the executors,” he says.

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

 

[drsleuth]

11.39am

‘[Erin] was struggling inside herself’: Inside the Patterson marriage​

​

In the years after they were married, Simon and Erin packed up their lives in a four-wheel-drive and, with a young child, coupled with a tent and a young baby, set off to explore Australia.

For several months, they travelled across the northern half of Australia. When the family got to Townsville, Erin decided to fly to Perth with their child without Simon, the jury was told.

There, Erin secured a rental property. When Simon also travelled to Perth, he stayed at a caravan park nearby.

“[Erin] was struggling inside herself,” Simon told the jury.

The couple eventually reconciled and moved in together. At the time, Simon had gotten a job as a civil engineer in York, a city in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt region about 100 kilometres inland from Perth.

The jury heard that during the family’s time in WA, Erin and Simon separated and reconciled several times before moving back to Victoria in 2013.

Once in Victoria, they lived together in Bena before buying a house in Mason Street, Korumburra.


“Erin decided to buy herself a separate house and move into it,” Simon said. Erin Patterson, the jury was told, had received a $2 million inheritance from her grandmother after her death. Simon said the inheritance was “dispersed very well gradually over about eight years”.

Simon said there was tension leading up to their separation towards the end of 2015, but he remained hopeful they would reconcile.

“I was always keen to have a good relationship, have a good marriage and a good, strong family to bring up the kids,” he said.

Asked by the prosecution whether it was always Erin who decided to leave the relationship, Simon responded that it was “hard” to put into words.

“When we lived together, it was always her leaving me. However, there were a couple of times when we tried to reconcile, and I stayed with her for a short, short period, and then went back to my home, I guess,” he said.

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

 

[drsleuth]

now11.47 AEST
The court is now taking a 15 minute break. Simon will then recommence his evidence.

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

 

[Detechtive]

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/the-mushroom-cook/inside-the-courtroom-mushroom-cook-erin-patterson-faces-court-for-day-3-of-murder-trial/live-coverage/40468f819264499f33fcf34f1e0cec7b

 

[drsleuth]

Key Event
6m ago

Rift between Erin and Simon Patterson intensifies​

By Kristian Silva and Judd Boaz​

The timeline is moving closer to the date of the 2023 lunch.

As of 2022, the couple were living in separate houses and their children were staying with Erin, although both parents were caring for the children.

Simon says their relationship declined when Erin became angry that he had listed their status as “separated” on his tax return.

“She said that mattered for a family tax benefit, or something of that nature, and she would be obliged to claim child support off me which had never happened before,” he says.

“She was upset about it.”

Mr Patterson says he was unsure how Ms Patterson had discovered the information on his tax return.

The discovery led to an argument and a growing rift between the two, Mr Patterson tells the court.

Further disagreements sprouted from the payment of school fees — which Mr Patterson says he had always previously paid — and medical bills.

When a medical bill for one of their children arrived and Mr Patterson refused to pay it, their relationship broke down further.

“I was sure she was very upset about that,” he says.

6m ago

Court adjourns for a break​

By Judd Boaz​

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC began to change the subject of her questioning, at which point Justice Beale interjected and called for a break.

During the questioning, Erin Patterson has shown little emotion.

We'll return shortly with more coverage of Simon Patterson's testimony.

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

 

[katydid23]

While true, it sure helps a Prosecution case if a feasible motive can be suggested based on tendered evidence such as emails, letters, etc.

Without a proposed motive, the Defence will likely (surely?) take the line: "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury: What possible motive would the defendant have for wanting to kill all of these people, her extended family?"

I wonder if they will admit into evidence some of the mean things she reportedly said about them in her FaceBook posts to friends?

 

[Detechtive]

Key Event
6m ago

Rift between Erin and Simon Patterson intensifies​

​

By Kristian Silva and Judd Boaz​

The timeline is moving closer to the date of the 2023 lunch.

As of 2022, the couple were living in separate houses and their children were staying with Erin, although both parents were caring for the children.

Simon says their relationship declined when Erin became angry that he had listed their status as “separated” on his tax return.


Mr Patterson says he was unsure how Ms Patterson had discovered the information on his tax return.

The discovery led to an argument and a growing rift between the two, Mr Patterson tells the court.

Further disagreements sprouted from the payment of school fees — which Mr Patterson says he had always previously paid — and medical bills.

When a medical bill for one of their children arrived and Mr Patterson refused to pay it, their relationship broke down further.





6m ago

Court adjourns for a break​

​

By Judd Boaz​

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC began to change the subject of her questioning, at which point Justice Beale interjected and called for a break.

During the questioning, Erin Patterson has shown little emotion.

We'll return shortly with more coverage of Simon Patterson's testimony.

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

So she got an inheritance of $2m from her grandmother, and then another one from her mother later? And she wanted him to pay child support, medical bills and also school fees while she presumably kept all of the marital assets?

Why would she be annoyed about him saying he is separated on his tax return 7 years after they were separated?

 

[drsleuth]

11.50am

The tax mistake that altered a marriage dynamic​

Crying in the dock, Simon Patterson was asked repeatedly if he needed a break. He told the jury that if it was OK, he would like to continue talking about his marriage.

After asking for a tissue, he told the court that he and Erin once shared a largely friendly relationship after their separation. Often, they would exchange text messages about politics and other interesting topics.

They even continued to share family holidays, he said. They went overseas and interstate, and tried to remain amicable.

Then, he said, something changed.

Simon recalled that one afternoon in late October or November in 2022, he was dropping off the children when Erin pulled him aside for a private chat.

She sat in the car with Simon and said she had discovered that his tax return for the previous financial year noted they were separated. “Before that we hadn’t gotten the government involved in the fact we were separated at all before,” Simon said.

“She said that mattered, I think, for the Family Tax Benefit, something of that nature. And so, she would be obliged to claim child support off me, which had never happened before.”

Simon told the court his tax status was changed as a result of a miscommunication between him and his accountant. He said Erin rejected his efforts to revert it.

From then on, Simon said, communication became more functional and less “chatty”.

“That was probably the first thing that made me feel that there was a substantial change in our relationship, that before that, our habit for years was to message each other a lot, in a chatty way, and the chatty nature of it pretty much stopped,” Simon said.

Simon said that a few weeks later, Erin applied for child support.

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

 

[katydid23]

3.39pm

Patterson did factory resets of phone​

By​

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC, is detailing how Erin Patterson carried out three separate factory resets on her phone, including one remotely after it was seized by police on August 6, 2023.

Rogers has told the jury that during a police interview, Erin told officers she had never dehydrated food, she did not own a dehydrator and did not know anything about a dehydrator in her house. She later said she could have owned one years ago.

Erin’s medical files were also examined by an intensive care specialist who found “no evidence that the accused suffered an acute illness on 30 July [2023], and no evidence that she developed a liver injury or suffered significant liver damage. Her vital signs and other test results were not suggestive of other acute illness or injury.”

Erin Patterson trial LIVE updates: Alleged Leongatha mushroom cook reported eating half her lunch, pushed to be released from hospital, doctors say

Erin Patterson is facing trial after pleading not guilty over a fatal mushroom lunch. Today, Nanette Rogers, SC, will present the prosecution’s case against Patterson.

www.theage.com.au

BBM :

She did a factory Reset remotely, while it was in LE's possession??? That is a bold move!!!!

 

[Detechtive]

She did a factory Reset remotely, while it was in LE's possession??? That is a bold move!!!!

Curious how she did this, because at the time that LE were searching her home, she was being questioned and charged by police. Did she do it in the interview room?