Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #8 *Arrest*

[JBowie]

Was she planning to reuse it later to poison Simon?

Maybe, but that assumes that she expected Simon would be gullible enough to consume another meal made by her after his previous experiences, including 16 days in an induced coma.

 

[Ellery84]

What was she building with the Lego?? … what was on her mind?? one doesn’t just “play Lego”
Was she was just clucking random pieces together or
Building an object?

IDK what kind of LEGO she was playing with that day, but LEGO do have a botanicals range, which might be quite attractive to spinster types. IMO

 

[Ellery84]

Maybe, but that assumes that she expected Simon would be gullible enough to consume another meal made by her after his previous experiences, including 16 days in an induced coma.

Was Simon in an induced coma for 16 days?

 

[Ellery84]

I do too.
In my opinion, the fake cancer diagnosis was craftily designed to be heard only by people who would end up dead.

Were the grey plates going to be dumped an hour away whilst son was up in a plane?
Or at Koo Wee Rup-
Oh kids, run ahead and order me a coffee … while I dump this bag in the skip behind these shops …

Of interest, here’s a little map between Leongatha and Koo Wee Rup.

So she’s gone between 1.5 and 3 hours without using a bathroom on that trip. It’s a fairly lengthy round trip. IMO.

I note that one must pass through Loch on the way from Leongatha to Koo Wee Rup.

How frequently did her son have flying lessons, one might wonder?

 

[Ellery84]

Maybe, but that assumes that she expected Simon would be gullible enough to consume another meal made by her after his previous experiences, including 16 days in an induced coma.

Fortunately Simon Patterson appears to be cat-like, with at least 9 lives up his sleeve.

 

[Spectrix]

Maybe, but that assumes that she expected Simon would be gullible enough to consume another meal made by her after his previous experiences, including 16 days in an induced coma.

It seems to me that her thoughts did not align very well with reality as it was.

Lets say that her original plan involved poisoning all five lunch guests at once. Did she think they'd all just die and no questions would be asked?
I say this, as it appears that she was not at all prepared for the barrage of questions by the health authorities - hence the panic, disposing of the dehydrator, hiding of iPads and USB drives, getting rid of her primary phone and SIM.

Let's also consider what she'd do if her original plan had panned out as she expected, would she have stopped, or might she have targeted the rest of the extended family as well?

JMO

 

[Bats]

Yes the onus is on the prosecution, but it is the defences job to create reasonable doubt. It is not simply to sit idly by while Erin proves her case. Technically you are correct, but how it happens in reality is different. And the defence is required to cast doubt on the claims by the prosecution in a good defence strategy.

Her defence team do not necessarily need to question any witnesses in order to shed doubt on the prosecution's case.

They can sit idle if they wish. She is already presumed to be innocent.

Actually, it can be quite powerful when presenting a closing argument.
In other words, the reasonable doubt can be as simple as, " the prosecution has not satisfied the criteria for murder as outlined by the judge."

 

[JBowie]

Was Simon in an induced coma for 16 days?

In a social media post seen by the publication, Mr Patterson revealed he almost died as a result of the mystery illness.

“I collapsed at home, then was in an induced coma for 16 days through which I had three emergency operations mainly on my small intestine, plus an additional planned operation,” he wrote.

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/courts-law/exhusband-of-mushroom-mum-erin-patterson-almost-died-from-sudden-gut-illness/news-story/db6624ef427b9d965b50e7f1fd163206

 

[Ellery84]

In a social media post seen by the publication, Mr Patterson revealed he almost died as a result of the mystery illness.

“I collapsed at home, then was in an induced coma for 16 days through which I had three emergency operations mainly on my small intestine, plus an additional planned operation,” he wrote.

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/courts-law/exhusband-of-mushroom-mum-erin-patterson-almost-died-from-sudden-gut-illness/news-story/db6624ef427b9d965b50e7f1fd163206

Thank you for jogging my memory!

Just pulled a nice little quote from the article which really sums up Erin’s delightful personality:

Speaking outside her large home, in Victoria’s Gippsland region, the stay-at-home mum said: “What happened is devastating and I’m grieving too.”

Asked by a reporter how she was feeling, Ms Patterson said: “I’m going s***house. Thanks for asking”.

She then loaded luggage into a car and drove away.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Teen son of mushroom cook’s sad claim​

Teen son of mushroom cook’s sad claim

The teenage son of alleged mushroom poisoner Erin Patterson made a tragic claim about his parents to police, a jury has been told.

au.news.yahoo.com

 

[Little Jack]

I'm frustrated that the interview with ian did not specify what type of plates dessert was served on and where the dinner plates went between courses. Why was he not asked this??

 

[ch_13]

Her defence team do not necessarily need to question any witnesses in order to shed doubt on the prosecution's case.

They can sit idle if they wish. She is already presumed to be innocent.

Actually, it can be quite powerful when presenting a closing argument.
In other words, the reasonable doubt can be as simple as, " the prosecution has not satisfied the criteria for murder as outlined by the judge."

This is undeniably true.

However, the defense team has some real problems here, and I don't think sitting idle is a viable option. From opening statements, it seems that they've already conceded two important facts:

• The victims died from death cap toxin.
• The poisoning occurred during the meal served by Erin.

Furthermore, the state has said they will show the following:

• Erin lied about having cancer, the supposed reason for the lunch meeting.
• She used a naturalist website to determine where death caps could be found, drove to that location and also purchased a dehydrator at the same time.
• She was the only person at the lunch who did not suffer the effects of the toxin. Nor did the children, who purportedly ate the leftovers.
• After the meal she repeatedly lied about where the mushrooms were sourced from.
• She tried to refuse medical intervention for her and her children.
• She threw away the dehydrator and lied about it to the police.

And that's not even going into all the family dynamics which may provide the jury with a motive.

If the prosecution can provide evidence for all the facts I listed above, then they will have shown means and opportunity, as well as consciousness of guilt. Assuming so, I don't think the defense can simply sit back and argue that the state didn't prove their case. They will need to provide an alternative set of facts. I'm not sure what they will do, but they have to do something.

 

[ch_13]

I'm frustrated that the interview with ian did not specify what type of plates dessert was served on and where the dinner plates went between courses. Why was he not asked this??

From The Guardian recap...

He says it was a “help yourself” serving arrangement for the cake and fruit, with plates on the table.

Ian says he cannot remember if the same plates from lunch were used.

Erin Patterson trial day six – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

 

[Eloise]

Unless there's something very remarkable about them, there's no way I could ever describe other people's dinner plates. Even when I've just eaten off them. Maybe I'll take more notice now...

 

[Little Jack]

From The Guardian recap...

He says it was a “help yourself” serving arrangement for the cake and fruit, with plates on the table.

Ian says he cannot remember if the same plates from lunch were used.

Erin Patterson trial day six – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

I missed this. Arghhhhhhhh of all the things for him to forget, if only he had been sure.

 

[Little Jack]

Unless there's something very remarkable about them, there's no way I could ever describe other people's dinner plates. Even when I've just eaten off them. Maybe I'll take more notice now...

really? I think I would always notice.

 

[Centaurus]

really? I think I would always notice.

haha, same! I've actually looked at the bottom of people's plates before to see who made them. lol

 

[Elley Mae]

Haven’t posted here for a bit but have tried to keep up.
It would be easy enough to have more meat then needed for the lunch meal and have it cooked ahead of time, to have some leftover for the meal the next day for dinner with potato and broccoli for the kids.

If its true that she (Erin) powered mushrooms to add to dishes without others knowing then that could be what she did.
Lying about cancer and sending the kids to the movies on the fateful lunch day was convenient.
I do wonder what the reason was, had Simon been there and died as well what could her gain have been?
How did the kids get back from the movies for the son to have to help in clearing the table of dishes?

 

[JBowie]

Ian says he cannot remember if the same plates from lunch were used.

But who reuses dirty dinner plates for cake and fruit afterwards? Is that what is being suggested that she/they did?

 

[KathPlumber]

I'm totally against turning any kind of trial into an event to entertain people.

I hope we never televise them.

Thanks for saying this, Toots.
I feel sick reading about these poor kids. They’re just innocent, powerless minors. This case will cast a long shadow over their lives. What a terrible burden they’ve been given