By STEFAN BRADLEY
A MUCH shorter, but still very significant week in the trial of accused triple murderer Erin Patterson concluded Week 7.
The accused finished giving evidence as a witness and court was adjourned.
Court did not sit on Monday, June 9 because of the King’s Birthday public holiday, and the jury was sent home on Thursday after Erin finished her time in the witness box.
Court did not sit last Friday as legal discussions were taking place.
Three people died following a fatal beef Wellington lunch, which allegedly contained death cap mushrooms at the accused’s Leongatha home in July 2023.
Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson all died from the fatal meal. Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson fell ill, however survived the incident.
The accused has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
On Tuesday, June 10 (Day 29) and the couple of days after that, Erin continued to be cross-examined by prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers. Multiple times Dr Rogers accused Erin of lying, and Erin rejected many of the suggestions made by Dr Rogers. Erin rejected the suggestion she lied about foraging for (non-poisonous) mushrooms. She also denied the reason she on three occasions factory reset a phone she gave to police was to deceive.
The accused disputed evidence that had been heard previously in the court by Ian Wilkinson, the only guest to survive the fatal lunch. Mr Wilkinson had told the court Erin had served the beef Wellingtons on a smaller orange-coloured plate for herself, and the other guests on a larger grey plate. Erin told the court there was no smaller plate.
Asked why she fed her kids leftovers despite having diarrhoea after the lunch, Erin said she “didn’t know” or suspect the food had made her guests sick.
Erin also disputed some accounts of other witnesses, including her son, as well as doctor Chris Webster, who treated the accused at Leongatha Hospital.
Erin had previously told the court that her estranged husband Simon Patterson confronted her in the days after the lunch at the hospital, asking her if she’d used her food dehydrator to poison his parents. Simon has denied this exchange happened and the prosecution accused Erin of lying about this, which she rejected.
The prosecution suggested that Erin made a sixth beef wellington for her estranged husband with the intention of poisoning him if he ended up changing his mind about attending the lunch, but Erin denied this to be the case. She also denied knowing that the meals, including the leftovers intended for Simon, contained death cap mushrooms.
Erin also said she did not remember browsing the iNaturalist website, which allows users to post images about flora and fauna in the area.
The prosecution questioned Erin about a Melbourne clinic she claimed had an appointment related to gastric-bypass surgery. She never attended that appointment, and Erin accepted the clinic did not offer this procedure. The court heard Erin said she lied about having cancer because she was actually planning weight loss surgery, which she was embarrassed about. Erin also spoke about her history of binge eating, bulimia and vomiting after meals.
She told her defence lawyer during re-examination she wanted to ensure her son made it to his flying lesson the day after the lunch. She became emotional as he was “really passionate about it … and I just didn’t want to disappoint him”.
