Erin Patterson is accused of killing her in-laws with a poisonous beef Wellington but her alleged motive will remain a mystery – even when the trial ends.
Patterson, 50, allegedly killed her former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, with death cap mushrooms served in the pastry dish during a lunch at her Leongatha home on July 29, 2023.
Pastor Ian Wilkinson was the only one to survive the lunch, with an attempted murder charge related to his alleged poisoning also in play.
In closing her opening address on Wednesday, Crown prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers told the jury a motive was not necessary for members to convict Patterson and they would not be given one.
‘Motive is not something that has to be proven by the prosecution,’ Dr Rogers said.
‘The prosecution will not be suggesting that there was a particular motive to do what she did.’
Instead, Dr Rogers told the jury that by the end of the trial they would be convinced Patterson lured her victims to lunch with false claims she had cancer before deliberately serving them mini beef Wellingtons laced with death cap mushrooms.
She told the jury it could be convinced Patterson had not eaten any of the poisonous meal, pretended to be sick and never fed her children any of the leftovers containing the death cap mushrooms.
Erin Patterson has heard the full extent of the allegations against her in court
Dr Rogers also highlighted Patterson’s conduct after the meal, dumping a dehydrator that was used to concentrate the death cap mushrooms.
In closing out Wednesday’s proceedings, Patterson’s barrister Colin Mandy, SC suggested motive was an important factor in the case.
‘Did she have a motive to kill these four family members?’ he said. ‘That issue of intention is the critical issue in this trial.
‘Did she intend to kill these four people? That’s the issue.
‘We say she didn’t do it deliberately … the defence case is what happened was a tragedy. A terrible accident.’
Mr Mandy told the jury Patterson had lied about having cancer and did dump a dehydrator later found to have traces of death cap mushrooms.
‘She panicked because she was overwhelmed because there were four people that had become so ill because of the food she served them,’ he said.
Dressed in a blue and white striped shirt, Patterson appeared in the Supreme Court of Victoria, sitting in the Latrobe Valley, 155km east of Melbourne, on Wednesday.
A court sketch of Erin Patterson from earlier this week
In opening the case, Dr Rogers claimed while separated, Patterson and her estranged husband Simon had initially enjoyed a ‘friendly relationship’.
Despite separating in 2015, Simon had remained hopeful they would reunite someday, Dr Rogers said.
The pair had communicated regularly via the Signal messaging app up until 2022 when Simon noticed a change.
Dr Rogers told the jury Patterson expressed concern when Simon listed himself as separated on his tax return.
In an opening that went for hours, Dr Rogers told the jury Patterson had sourced the death cap mushrooms from areas reported on the iNaturalist website – a site that allows people to log flora and fauna and their locations.
Phone data later obtained by police alleged Patterson’s phone was later ‘pinged’ in areas identified on that site as having death cap mushrooms there.
The jury further heard Patterson took steps to hide evidence, dumping her usual mobile phone and later factory resetting her new phone multiple times, including when detectives executed a search warrant on her home.
The court heard Patterson’s original phone has never been recovered.
Simon Patterson will give evidence at the trial
The Leongatha home where the deadly lunch took place
The jury also heard Patterson had previously used the dehydrator to dehydrate mushrooms for her daughter and had put them in muffins without telling her.
Patterson claimed she did so because her daughter said that she didn’t like mushrooms.
The court heard she wanted to prove her daughter liked mushrooms because she enjoyed the muffins, which contained dried mushrooms over the muffins that didn’t.
Patterson also secretly put dehydrated mushrooms into her children’s chocolate brownies.
The jury has already heard three attempted murder charges relating to her estranged husband Simon Patterson were withdrawn last week.
She has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one of attempted murder.
Dr Rogers told the jury Patterson had been reluctant to have doctors at Leongatha Hospital examine her two children despite her repeated claims they had eaten a portion of the deadly meal.
The court heard Dr Webster insisted she bring the children in so they could be treated.
Erin Patterson’s legal team march into court on Wednesday
Patterson’s legal team ran the gauntlet of media as they entered the court on Wednesday. Above is her barrister Colin Mandy SC
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‘At that point, the accused became emotional and said, “Is this really necessary? They don’t have symptoms” and she also said they did not eat mushrooms. “I just don’t want them to be panicked or stressed”,’ the prosecutor told the court.
But the court was told Dr Chris Webster warned her: ‘They can be scared and alive, or dead.’
Patterson herself had refused treatment, forcing Dr Webster to call Triple-0 after she left the hospital and refused to pick-up her phone.
‘He left a voicemail message each time requesting that she return to hospital for treatment,’ Ms Rogers told the jury.
‘In the third voicemail, Dr Webster said apologetically that he would have to call the police to ask for their assistance in getting her to return to hospital, as he was concerned about her health.’
When Patterson eventually returned to hospital, she told Dr Webster her two children had eaten the meat, but not the mushroom or pastry surrounding it.
‘The prosecution asserts that the children’s meal was not contaminated with death cap mushrooms,’ Dr Rogers said.
The hearing will continue on Thursday.
