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

[drsleuth]

1m ago04.05 BST
On the morning of 31 July, Erin calls Simon and asks to speak, the court hears.

Simon says he tells Erin he has only had a couple of hours sleep and requests to speak later.

Patterson was “indignant” with his response, Simon says.

“She said, somewhat sarcastically, I’ll sort out my own problems,” he says.

She says she has frequent diarrhoea, about every 20 minutes, and she thought she should go to hospital.

She was worried she may have an accident if she drove herself to the hospital due to the duration of the car trip, Simon says. Erin requested Simon drive her to the hospital.

“I said no I won’t, I suggested she get an ambulance,” he says.

“I suggested she should go to hospital.”

Erin Patterson trial day three – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

 

[Bats]

Simon already set forth some possible motives, as he described their animosity and tension trying to co-parent and trying to deal with financial issues. Custody issues and co-parenting problems are a main motive behind some murders.

When the judge delivers the 'charge' you will see that motive will be inconsequential to the Jury's verdict.

I agree with you but the jury will be told that motive is not a requirement.

 

[drsleuth]

By Joseph Dunstan​

We'll bring you more details when the jury returns to court.

If you're keen to catch up on Wednesday's hearing, you can listen to the details on the ABC's Mushroom Case Daily podcast.

Individual wellingtons, coloured plates, and a false cancer claim - ABC listen​

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]

1m ago04.05 BST
On the morning of 31 July, Erin calls Simon and asks to speak, the court hears.

Simon says he tells Erin he has only had a couple of hours sleep and requests to speak later.

Patterson was “indignant” with his response, Simon says.

“She said, somewhat sarcastically, I’ll sort out my own problems,” he says.

She says she has frequent diarrhoea, about every 20 minutes, and she thought she should go to hospital.

She was worried she may have an accident if she drove herself to the hospital due to the duration of the car trip, Simon says. Erin requested Simon drive her to the hospital.

“I said no I won’t, I suggested she get an ambulance,” he says.

“I suggested she should go to hospital.”

Erin Patterson trial day three – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

Wondering how him driving or her driving has any affect on toilet urgency.

 

[tmar]

You mean she wanted him to take her to prove that to others so they would not be suspicious of her?

yes

 

[katydid23]

I believe that only can happen in court in front of judge and jury.

Do you do depositions ? Because I think they can do a pretrial deposition, where both sides are present with the witness, and both sides and set forth questions. But the witness can also have their own attorney with them, to prevent any hostile questioning.

And then the deposition can be played at the trial as testimony.

 

[drsleuth]

3m ago04.13 BST
While on route to Dandenong hospital to visit his parents, Erin calls Simon, the court hears.

Simon says Erin tells him she had been to Leongatha hospital and had told medical staff that she had fed their children leftovers from the lunch meal.

He recalls Erin saying she wanted to pick the children up from school so they could be tested. Simon tells Erin he is happy to pick up the children, jurors are told.

“She was really keen for the children to be taken to the same hospital she was at,” Simon says.

1m ago04.14 BST
The court has now adjourned for a lunch break and will return at 2.15pm.

Simon Patterson will then continue giving evidence.

Erin Patterson trial day three – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

 

[drsleuth]

11:55 AM
May 01, 2025

Erin Patterson’s estranged husband becomes emotional giving evidence

Adriana Mageros
Simon Patterson has become emotional on the witnesses stand as he opened up about his marriage and periods of separation from Erin Patterson.
The court earlier heard the pair had separated at various stages throughout their marriage, once for six months which came while they were living in Western Australia.
They had embarked on a trip across northern Australia a few years after they got married in 2007 and the birth of their son and first child, the court heard.
While in Perth, Ms Patterson had secured a rental property while Mr Patterson stayed in a caravan park.
The pair moved to Victoria in 2013 after periods of reconciliation.
Mr Patterson said there was a time when he could see Ms Patterson was “struggling inside herself”, adding they had also sought out some marriage counselling.
Crown prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers SC asked Mr Patterson how their separations would come about.
“Did you always leave Erin, or was it her leaving you?” she asked.
Mr Patterson took a lengthy pause before giving his answer to the court, which he said was difficult to put into words.
“That’s a difficult one to answer,” Mr Patterson replied.
“It’s a hard thing to word… When we lived together, it was always her leaving me, however there were a couple of times where we tried to reconcile and I stayed with her for a short period and then went back to my home, I guess.”
At this point, Mr Patterson asked the court for some tissues as he became emotional.
The judge asked if Mr Patterson would like to take a break, but the witness said he was able to continue his testimony.
“Did you continue to care for her (Erin)?” the prosecution asked during further questioning about their relationship.
Mr Patterson replied: “Yes, very much so.”
He said he was always willing to maintain a “good relationship” for the sake of their children.

https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/crime/erin-patterson-first-witnesses-set-to-give-evidence-as-accused-mushroom-cooks-triple-murder-trial-continues-in-victoria/live-coverage/a999d6bf71d47c79d591aa74041f89de

 

[drsleuth]

1.15pm

Subway, school pick-up and diarrhoea: Simon speaks of his estranged wife’s day after the lunch​

​

Simon Patterson continues to tell the jury about Sunday, July 30, 2023, the day after the beef Wellington lunch at Erin’s home.

That same day, Simon spoke with Erin over the phone and told her about his parents’ illness, the jury heard.

Erin Patterson and Simon Patterson.Credit: Jason South

Simon told the court that Erin said she’d had diarrhoea herself after the meal, and that it had made it difficult to drive one of their children’s friends home to Korumburra. “She was worried that she’d poop her pants,” Simon said.

“She said she’d gone to Subway ... and she didn’t want to get out of the car then because she was worried she might have an accident at that time.”

The following morning the jury heard Erin had called Simon asking to have a chat about 7am.

When Simon responded that he had 2 hours’ sleep and to chat later, he said Erin became “indignant”.

“She said something like a bit sort of sarcastically, you know, I’ll sort out my own problems, or some something to that effect,” Simon said.

Simon said Erin told her she had continued to have diarrhoea, and asked for a lift to the hospital.
“I suggested she get an ambulance,” Simon said.

Later that morning, Simon said Erin and he spoke on the phone again. During that conversation, Erin said she had been admitted to Leongatha Hospital and that she had fed leftovers to the children.

“She said the hospital had said: ‘Well, the kids need to be checked out too, given there’s a bunch of people sick from this meal’. And so she said the kids needed to be picked up from school, and she was keen to drive to their school and pick them up and take them to hospital, get to get checked out,” Simon said.

Simon Patterson said he had told her it made no sense for her to pick up the children from school if she was unwell and offered to pick them up himself. “After I said: ‘I’m glad that you’re feeling healthy enough to make that drive’ she paused ... and then that’s when ... the conversation turned and she accepted that it did make sense.”

Simon said that after Erin discharged herself from Leongatha hospital, “she got home, and she said she lay on the floor, and fell asleep for about 45 minutes”. After that, he recalls, she drove herself back to Leongatha hospital.

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]

Here's an article:

The mushroom cook behind the toxic beef wellington that poisoned four people, leaving three of them dead, was an “experience fungi forager”, according to a source close to the family.

According to the Daily Mail Australia, Erin Patterson was known to often and expertly pick wild mushrooms around Victoria’s Gippsland region.

A friend of Patterson’s family revealed Erin was “very good at foraging” and at identifying different mushroom varieties.

“The Patterson family (including Erin and estranged husband Simon) would pick mushrooms each year when they were in season,” the friend said. [bbm]

Deadly mushroom twist: Chef an 'experienced' fungi forager, says friend

A family friend has revealed more about the woman who fatally fed her former in-laws.

www.nzherald.co.nz

This defense narrative seems to be:

YES, I foraged for the mushrooms. And prepared a mushroom heavy dish for my guests.

But I never told them I foraged for the mushrooms.

It was just a coincidence that 7 people ate that meal, and only 3 people survived with no ill affects.

And then when her in-laws became sick, instead of trying to save them, by revealing the death cap possibility to the doctors, she ran around covering her tracks instead?



Her dog didn't even get served the lethal leftovers?

I had labradors and I absolutely would have given them leftover beef wellington if I had any.

Thanks for that, but I am wondering if the Prosecution is saying that police forensics found evidence that EP had actually Googled "where are death caps growing at the moment" or something similar.

Had she done that then IMO that's dynamite.

One of her phones was never located and the other phone was remotely reset by her while it was in less possession.

So LE never got a chance to recover those kinds of incriminating searches, I guess.

But the dehydrator that she threw away had traces of death caps, and her finger prints. So we know she did have some foraged mushrooms at some point and then covered it up.

 

[Scooby-Doo]

Erin Patterson has bought and sold at least six properties in Gippsland and Melbourne since 2014.

Mushroom cook Erin Patterson sells off Melbourne townhouse

The three-bedroom property has a price guide of $960,000 to $1.05 million and is scheduled for auction.

www.nine.com.au

 

[drsleuth]

3m ago

The house that hosted the lunch​

By Judd Boaz​

On Wednesday, the prosecution detailed Erin Patterson's Leongatha home, where she had lived since late 2022.

Erin Patterson's Leongatha home. (ABC News: Michael Lorigan)
The five-bedroom home is situated on approximately three acres, with a dining room hosting a six-seater table on the ground floor.

Erin Patterson hosted four people over lunch at her home. (ABC News)
The prosecution says the dining room sits parallel to the island kitchen bench, where it is alleged Ms Patterson had been cooking before the guests arrived on the day of the lunch.

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]

Her victims prayed for her.

As they sat with her and prayed for her to heal from cancer, she knew they were soon going to experience Death Cap poisoning.

 

[drsleuth]

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/courts-law/erin-patterson-trial-jury-set-to-hear-first-piece-of-evidence-in-mushroom-murder-trial/news-story/2d8ffa71c9b531ca9698380af8a4fa94

Entering the courtroom shortly before 11am, he did not look at Ms Patterson as he walked to the witness box, less than 10m from where she is sitting in the dock at the rear of the court.
Instead the civil engineer glanced around at the faces of the packed courtroom.

 

[katydid23]

It almost sounds like (all allegedly) there was a plan to make everyone sick but especially the estranged husband AND herself, but just a touch. Then everybody would be sick, some might die, it wouldn't look like a murder because mass casualties/illnesses.

I wonder if she had minimums symptoms from handling the mushrooms or if she purposefully licker the spoon, so to speak. Exposure just not fatal exposure. Underplayed it, afraid to risk overplaying. Perhaps she hoped to get sick, just not too sick, but sick enough for it all to look accidental.

Why she continued on with the dinner party when her guest of honor couldn't be there, that I don't understand. Maybe she thought, even without him there, she could win him back. Play on his sympathy, sad accident, sick but survived, plus "cancer"....

I wonder if there's a history of manipulation...

JMO

It may have been vengeance on her part. She was so angry at him and this would really hurt him. IMO

 

[katydid23]

Erin has already scored 2 small wins. Firstly managing to reset her phone whilst the police were present.

That remote resetting of her phone might not be a win for her as far as the jury is concerned. They might see that as incriminating?

Secondly the dropping of the charges of attempted murder of Simon.

Her many admitted lies and the colour of the dinner plates prove nothing.

Admitted lies prove very incriminating here, imo. She admits to foraging for mushrooms, dehydrating them, throwing away the dehydrator, which then is shown to have traces of death caps on it. That is all very incriminating. I don't see how it 'proves nothing.'

it proves that she picked the mushrooms, fed them to the 4 victims , AND ONLY TO THEM, and then repeatedly lied about it and covered it up.

And she didn't want her children to receive examinations or treatment once it was learned that those meals were lethal. THAT MEANS SHE ALREADY KNEW HER CHILDREN WERE NEVER SERVED THE MUSHROOMS.

Which means she purposely prevented them and herself from eating the wild mushrooms. Why would she do that if it was accidental?

Her odd behaviour at the hospital and refusal to have the children tested may just point to an aversion to medical treatment.

NO< if your children were thought to have ingested lethal poison, you don't deny them treatment because you have an aversion to doctors.

I'm trying to stay open minded here in terms of "beyond reasonable doubt". Too soon to reach any conclusion.

 

[Detechtive]

I wonder why he felt uncomfortable going to lunch when his parents were going? If anyone's parents were going to something like this, wouldn't you want to go as well to be there?

Maybe because they were estranged and fighting over financial affairs.

 

[katydid23]

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

Yes, because it was her mother-in-law that initially described the small colourful plate.

 

[Megnut]

As they sat with her and prayed for her to heal from cancer, she knew they were soon going to experience Death Cap poisoning.

Respectfully edited by me

As they sat with her and prayed for her to heal from a cancer that she didn't even have, she knew they were soon going to experience Death Cap poisoning.

 

[katydid23]

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

There were some interviews with previous co-workers at her Air Traffic Controller job that she was not very likeable because she was arrogant, thought she was 'above' everyone else, smarter, and she distanced herself.

I'll try and find those because it would be interesting now.

Also there were posts she made in a FB friend group where she belittled the locals in her small town, including her in-laws, making fun of their naive simpleton ways, etc.

We had them in the earliest threads here.