Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial LIVE updates

Justice Beale has again reminded the jury about phone calls made to Patterson after the lunch.

The jury was reminded about the warnings Patterson received from medical staff about the need to have the children brought in.

Patterson was ’emotional and worried’ about her children being ‘stressed’, a nurse claimed.

Justice Beale said Patterson told a doctor she didn’t want to ‘worry’ her children before agreeing to have them taken to hospital.

Justice Beale has directed the jury to dismiss a key prosecution (Dr Rogers pictured right) argument that if the children had eaten the scraped-off meat from the lunch they would’ve experienced symptoms.

‘You have no expert evidence as to whether that would be the case, and so I direct you to disregard that argument,’ Justice Beale said.

‘You would be speculating if you would go down that path.’

Justice Beale previously said experts couldn’t say for certain that the toxins would have entered the meat and the mushroom paste had been unable to be separated from the sample.

Forensic experts said while death caps were found, it could only be said it was in the sample alone.

The defence submitted the leftovers in the bin could’ve been cross-contaminated from seeping juices.

The prosecution submitted the only source of evidence the children ate the leftovers with pastry and mushroom mix scraped off only came from Patterson herself, the jury was told.

Justice Beale said Patterson’s behaviour at hospital meant her leftovers claim was a ‘lie’.

‘Why would she feed kids leftovers from the lunch, the prosecutor asked rhetorically,’ Justice Beale said.

‘No reason to doubt that the kids ate steak, mash and beans on Sunday night.’

The prosecution submitted it wasn’t the same beef consumed by Patterson’s lunch guests.

Justice Beale said the prosecution argued the kids should have been sick too if they had really eaten the leftovers.

The prosecution submitted it helps Patterson’s story that the death caps accidentally made it into the lunch if people knew her children ate leftovers from that meal.

Justice Beale has returned to Patterson’s (legal team pictured) evidence about what she fed her kids after the lunch.

Patterson gave evidence she didn’t want to cook anything on Sunday night so she fed the kids leftovers.

The prosecution suggested to Patterson she didn’t feed the meat from the beef Wellingtons to her children.

The prosecution also suggested Patterson disposed of the meat from the Wellingtons after her guests left on July 29 and before she went to went Leongatha Hospital on July 31.

The jury heard the prosecution also suggested Patterson removed the meat from the pastry.

Patterson agreed and said the meat went ‘into my children’s stomachs’.

The jury heard Patterson remembered saying the kids ate leftovers but didn’t remember saying the children ate leftovers from the lunch.

The trial is on a break and will resume at 2.15pm.

Justice Beale has moved to forensic tests of the mushroom paste found in leftovers from the lunch.

The jury heard a sample contained death caps, but it was unclear if it had penetrated the beef itself.

Dr Dimitri Gerostamoulos made several tests of multiple samples.

Justice Beale reminded the jury to be careful when assessing the evidence of each sample

‘Again, that doesn’t mean that the beta-amanitin was in the meat,’ Justice Beale said.

‘It simply means that the beta-amanitin was in the sample that contained the meat.’

The jury was reminded nurse Kylie Ashton had carried out initial tests on Patterson when she presented at Leongatha Hospital.

Ms Ashton claimed Patterson, during her first visit to the hospital, told her about scraping the mushrooms off the leftovers she fed the kids.

Justice Beale said Ms Ashton said she warned Patterson the toxins could still have penetrated the meat her kids ate.

However, the jury heard Patterson claimed she needed to leave to sort things out before coming back with her kids.

Justice Beale said when Patterson returned, at 9.48am, Dr Webster said he saw Patterson and asked her if anyone else had eaten the Wellingtons.

Patterson told him the kids had had the leftovers.

Justice Beale has moved to a new topic of allegations Patterson (pictured) fed leftovers from the lunch to her children.

Simon Patterson gave evidence his estranged wife rang him and told him the kids ate the leftovers and they needed to go to the hospital.

Patterson wanted to go and pick them up but she had to remain at hospital.

Simon told Patterson ‘I’m glad you’re feeling well enough to pick up the kids’ before collecting the children himself.

The jury heard Simon asked what they had eaten for dinner and was told they had steak, mash and beans.

Simon said Patterson had told the children it was the leftovers.

Justice Beale said Patterson’s son described the steak as ‘some of the best he’d ever eaten’.

Patterson’s daughter said she ate the leftovers on the Sunday too and noted her mother claimed ‘not to be very hungry’.

Justice Beale said the defence argued the prosecution had ‘ignored the nuances of human behaviour’.

The jury heard the defence claimed Patterson had numerous conversations with various people in quick succession and sometimes the answers differed.

The defence also claimed people ‘didn’t have perfect memories’ and ‘details can be forgotten’.

‘Memory is not an audio recording,’ Justice Beale said

The defence claimed Patterson was not immune from such issues but the accused killer’s description of the packaging had been ‘consistent’.

Justice Beale said the defence claimed Ms Atkinson had been confused about where Patterson told her she had possibly purchased the mushrooms.

The defence also claimed Patterson’s purchase of the dehydrator was ‘part of a long term project she had planned’.

The defence also highlighted shops in Glen Waverley had not been investigated despite claims Patterson had mentioned that area as a possible source.

Justice Beale has told the jury about the prosecution’s submissions on Patterson’s claim she couldn’t remember where the Asian store was.

The prosecution highlighted Patterson lived in the Mount Waverley/Monash area for several years and the fact she couldn’t remember the name of the store ‘beggars belief’.

Justice Beale also said Patterson was accused of giving conflicting descriptions of the packaging.

The jury heard the prosecution argued it was ‘odd’ Patterson ‘seemed to have a decent memory of the packing but little idea where the shop was’.

Justice Beale said prosecutors claimed Patterson had not tried to assist Ms Atkinson.

He added prosecutors claimed the Asian grocer story ‘just simply wasn’t true’ and highlighted evidence from fungi expert Dr Tom May (pictured) who said death cap mushrooms weren’t found in China.

The jury heard prosecutors also questioned why Patterson would have dehydrated already dried mushrooms, branding the claim a ‘ridiculous lie’.

The jury heard Patterson claimed she gave an accurate description of the packaging and tried to help the health department.

Patterson rejected the suggestion she didn’t respond to text messages from Ms Atkinson in ‘those early days’ of the health department investigation.

Justice Beale said the prosecution claimed medical staff were desperate to learn where the mushrooms came from and Patterson was reluctant to help

Prosecutors (lead prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers pictured right) claimed Patterson told different people different things about the source.

Justice Beale is again going through all the evidence Patterson gave about her mushrooms.

The jury heard Patterson mentioned she felt the mushrooms she bought smelt ‘strong’ rather than ‘funny’ as had been suggested by others.

Patterson also claimed she believed she dehydrated the already dried mushrooms to ‘crisp them up’.

She again claimed she likely paid cash for the dried mushrooms.

Justice Beale said Patterson agreed she gave descriptions of the packaging but couldn’t provide details on the actual shop to health authorities.

Patterson also agreed she put those mushrooms in a Tupperware container.

Patterson agreed she never mentioned dried mushrooms to Dr Webster but she did mention them when phoned by Matthew Patterson later.

The jury heard Patterson said she knew it was important to be ‘truthful and accurate’ because she knew Don’s health was at stake

Justice Beale said Patterson gave evidence she later provided more information on the mushrooms to other doctors.

Patterson also agreed she told paramedics she spoke of the dried mushrooms but couldn’t remember where she’d got them.

The jury heard Patterson agreed she told several others she believed she bought the mushrooms from an Asian grocer.

Patterson claimed on August 1, while at the Monash Medical Centre, she mentioned to Ms Cripps several locations where she may have purchased the dried mushrooms.

Justice Beale also said Patterson accepted the mushroom source was a ‘public emergency’ while the jury was reminded about the various different locations Patterson told different people.

Justice Beale has reminded the jury about the alleged comment Patterson claimed Simon (pictured) said to her while the pair spoke at hospital.

Patterson gave evidence she told Simon about her dehydrator and he asked if it was the dehydrator ‘you used to poison my parents’.

The jury heard it was a comment Patterson claimed made her feel worried and she feared she could be blamed for poisoning her guests.

Patterson gave evidence she came to the realisation that death caps might have been in the meal due to her foraging.

Justice Beale has reminded the jury about discussions Patterson’s daughter had with police.

The jury heard Patterson’s daughter had liked muffins that the accused had secretly hid mushrooms in.

Patterson ground up mushrooms and baked them in muffins which she gave to her daughter, the jury was previously told.

Justice Beale has now turned to the evidence of Patterson.

Justice Beale said Patterson claimed she bought the dried mushrooms in April but she thought they didn’t smell right and put them in a container which remained in her pantry at her Gibson St home.

Justice Beale said Patterson dehydrated mushrooms in May 2023 and placed them in a container that had other mushrooms in it.

On July 31, when Patterson arrived at hospital, she claimed the doctors had been expecting her.

The jury heard Patterson believed Dr Chris Webster (pictured) asked her where the ingredients for the lunch came from and she said ‘Woolies’.

Patterson gave evidence she ‘expressed confusion’ that death caps could have been in the lunch when informed by Dr Webster.

Patterson also confirmed she told her brother-in-law Matthew Patterson the mushrooms came from Woolies and an Asian grocer.

Justice Beale moves to the evidence of expert witness Dr David Lovelock who examined the seized beef Wellington leftovers.

The jury heard Dr Lovelock discussed how ‘DNA barcoding’ was used to identify if death caps were in the samples.

Images of the leftovers, including samples of the mushrooms, were again shown to the jury.

Justice Beale said DNA testing found white button mushrooms and beef but also detected death caps in the leftovers.

Justice Beale is telling the jury about Patterson’s meeting with child welfare officer Katrina Cripps (pictured) at her Leongatha home on August 2.

Ms Cripps gave evidence she overheard a phone conversation between Patterson and Ms Atkinson which took place while she was present.

The jury heard Ms Cripps said she heard Patterson say she planned to use the dried mushrooms in a carbonara but they had a ‘very strong smell’, so she put them into the Tupperware container.

Ms Cripps also overheard Patterson say she put the dried mushrooms in the beef Wellingtons because ‘they wouldn’t be the primary flavour’.

Justice Beale also said Patterson did not answer a question about if the mushrooms were foraged.

Ms Cripps said Patterson had been ‘looking at her phone and simply didn’t answer’ when Ms Atkinson asked the foraging question.

Justice Beale said Ms Atkinson sent photos of clear bags to Patterson to try and get a clearer picture of what they were looking for and Patterson circled one image and sent it back.

Ms Atkinson gave evidence Patterson claimed the bag was about 20g rather than 100g as she had initially indicated.

On August 3, Patterson told Ms Atkinson she had rehydrated the dried mushrooms and then sliced them up for the Wellingtons.

The health department closed their investigation on August 11 after deeming the risk to the public was ‘very low’ and made a report.

‘Although initial information suggested [death caps] may have been purchased from an Asian grocer and used in the meal, the epidemiological environments established it was highly unlikely that the commercial mushroom supply chain was contaminated with [death cap mushroom toxins],’ Justice Beale said the report stated.

‘Further on in that report, based on the above, the risk of public health was deemed very low…

‘No food were considered to be warranted…

‘Monash City Council had explored all Asian grocers in the areas nominated by Erin Patterson.

‘And the department did not receive any other reports of people falling ill in relation to the mushrooms and they concluded it was an isolated incident.’

Justice Beale has moved on to more evidence from doctors about the Asian shop story.

The jury heard health department officer Sally Ann Atkinson (pictured) became involved in the investigation after information was relayed to the department from medical staff.

Patterson claimed she wasn’t sure where the Asian shop was and described the type of packaging the mushrooms came in to Ms Atkinson on August 1, 2023.

The jury heard Patterson told Ms Atkinson she bought the mushrooms for a pasta dish but decided not to use them all because they smelt a ‘bit funky’.

Patterson and Ms Atkinson then swapped calls and messages over the next few days.

Ms Atkinson gave evidence she had trouble getting Patterson to return calls and messages in a timely fashion.

Justice Beale said Ms Atkinson had been keen to learn the location of where the dried mushrooms were purchased.

Patterson claimed she likely paid cash to buy the mushrooms and the stores were ‘maybe in Oakleigh or Clayton’.

Patterson later claimed she hadn’t used the dried mushrooms in any other meal.

Ms Atkinson said Patterson later mentioned the store may have been on King St, Glen Waverley.

Justice Beale told the jury the health department feared a public health issue based on Patterson’s claims about purchasing dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer.

The jury was reminded about the Monash Council’s investigation into Asian grocers across the municipality.

The health department liaised with Monash health officer Troy Schonknecht who searched a council database of all stores in Oakleigh and Mount Waverley which fit the description.

Mr Schonknecht said he was told not to worry about checking stores in Glen Waverley.

The jury has heard Mr Schonknecht gleaned information about the type of packaging Patterson claimed the dried mushrooms came in.

Justice Beale said Patterson claimed the mushrooms had been sliced, not whole, and only one shop was found that repackaged mushrooms in a fashion that somewhat matched Patterson’s description.

Justice Beale said Don Patterson told toxicologists he had no idea where the mushrooms had been sourced for the beef Wellington.

This prompted Don’s son Matthew Patterson to call the accused, and he asked her the question again.

Matthew Patterson gave evidence Patterson said she bought fresh mushrooms from ‘Woolies’ and dried mushrooms from a Chinese shop or grocery in Oakleigh.

Matthew Patterson said he passed on that information to toxicologists.

Justice Beale has resumed his final directions to the jury and has continued going through the topic of Patterson’s (pictured) ‘alleged incriminating conduct’.

Patterson listened as Justice Beale spoke to the jury about the accused killer’s claim she bought dried mushrooms from an Asian grocery in Melbourne’s southeast.

The jury heard Leongatha Hospital’s Dr Veronica Foote gave evidence that Patterson told her she bought mushrooms from Woolworths and other mushrooms from an Asian grocer in April.

Doctors then contacted specialist Dr Conor McDermott and told them about the mushrooms and he feared there may be a public health emergency brewing.

The jury heard Dr McDermott asked to speak with Patterson.

Dr McDermott gave evidence Patterson told him she bought the mushrooms from an Asian store in Oakleigh but couldn’t remember the name.

Dr McDermott said he offered to read out the names of Asian stores in Oakleigh but claimed Patterson told him she wouldn’t remember and the shop may have actually been in Glen Waverley.

Justice Christopher Beale has told the jury he will finish his charge on Monday afternoon and then two jury members will be balloted out.

The remaining 12 jurors will then be sequestered to decide if Patterson is guilty or not.

This means the jury will be housed together in the same accommodation and isolated from the outside world while they deliberate.

Towards the end of Wednesday’s proceedings, Justice Beale spoke to the jury about the topic of Patterson’s ‘alleged incriminating conduct’.

‘The prosecution (Crown prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers SC pictured) argued Patterson knew she was guilty and did what she did to conceal her guilt,’ Justice Beale said.

However, Justice Beale told the jury the defence has reasons for Patterson’s behaviour.

‘The defence claimed there were innocent explanations for that behaviour,’ he added.

Justice Beale listed some of that alleged ‘incriminating’ conduct:

1. She lied about being unwell after the lunch

2. Patterson lied about the Asian grocer mushrooms

3. She refused treatment at hospital and left against medical advice

4. She had reluctance to accept treatment the second time at hospital

5. Patterson was reluctant to get kids treated on July 31

6. Why would she have fed the kids leftovers?

7. She reset Phone B multiple times on August 2

8. She dumped the dehydrator

9. On August 5, she provided Phone B instead of Phone A

10. Patterson lied to cops about her phone number

11. She lied about foraging

12. She lied about owning a dehydrator

Justice Beale told the jury about the defence and prosecution’s reason why Patterson left hopsital the first time early on July 31.

He alerted the jury that thos morning he will commence talking about the topic of the Asian store mushrooms claim.

The trial will resume at 10.30am.

The jury was again taken through the phone data contained within the Samsung A23 Patterson (legal team pictured) handed to police after they searched her home on August 5.

The device, known throughout the trial as ‘Phone B’, was factory reset multiple times including while the device was in a secure storage locker at Homicide Squad HQ in the city.

Justice Beale reminded the jury how phones were factory reset multiple times over different days following the lunch.

He said Phone B factory reset remotely while it was in the police locker.

‘After the phone had been taken into police custody, investigators can and should isolate the device from the network,’ Justice Beale said.

This can be done by putting the phone on airplane mode, the jury was told.

‘Isolating the phone is critical to ensure data remains in its original state,’ Justice Beale added.

Yesterday, Justice Beale took the jury through the evidence of Patterson who said she couldn’t remember if she looked up the iNaturalist website.

The jury was told Patterson said she couldn’t remember making the search but conceded it was likely it was her and not her children who made the search.

Patterson, during her evidence, said she couldn’t remember if she had an interest in death cap mushrooms on May 28, 2022 but said she wanted to know if death caps grew in South Gippsland.

‘I wanted to know if death cap mushrooms grew in South Gippsland, and I found out that they didn’t,’ Justice Beale said Patterson previously told the jury.

The jury was reminded the iNaturalist May 28 search was for a death cap sighting at Bricker Reserve in Moorabbin.

Justice Christopher Beale commenced his address to the jury – or ‘charge’ – on Tuesday after giving jurors a four-day weekend to prepare for the closing stage of the marathon Erin Patterson murder trial.

Justice Beale indicated that his address will likely last until sometime today.

Patterson, 50, is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson (both pictured), and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, after allegedly serving them a beef Wellington lunch made with death cap mushrooms.

Patterson is also accused of attempting to murder Heather’s husband, pastor Ian Wilkinson, who survived the lunch after spending several weeks in an intensive care unit.

The court heard Patterson’s estranged husband, Simon, was also invited to the gathering at her home in Leongatha, in Victoria’s Gippsland region, but didn’t attend.

Witnesses told the jury that Patterson ate her serving from a smaller, differently-coloured plate to those of her guests, who ate off four grey plates.

Patterson told authorities she bought dried mushrooms from an unnamed Asian store in the Monash area of Melbourne, but health inspectors could find no evidence of this.