Erin Patterson trial: Crown’s case against alleged lunch poisoner detailed in opening remarks to jury

The woman accused of fatally poisoning her estranged husband’s parents and aunt allegedly served her meal up on a differently coloured plate to her four lunch guests, a jury has been told.

Ms Patterson, 50, is facing trial in the Latrobe Valley Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.

She denies she deliberately served up a poisoned meal on July 29, 2023, and will argue the presence of the deadly mushrooms was a tragic accident.

Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, died in hospital in the weeks after the gathering.

Ms Wilkinson’s husband, Korumburra Baptist Church pastor Ian Wilkinson, fell gravely ill but recovered.

Lunch allegedly served on different coloured plates

Prosecutor Dr Rogers told the jury the beef wellingtons were allegedly served by Ms Patterson on four uniform plates and one smaller differently coloured one.

“Donald, Gail, Ian and Heather each ate from the large, grey-coloured dinner plate, the accused ate from the smaller plate,” the prosecutor said.

After Simon arrived at his aunt and uncle’s house on the Sunday, Ms Wilkinson allegedly brought this up unprompted.

“I noticed Erin put her food on a different plate to us. It had colours on it, I wondered why that was,” Dr Rogers told the jury she said.

Later, on their way to hospital, Ms Wilkinson questioned Simon on Ms Patterson’s choice, Dr Rogers said.

“Is Erin short of crockery? I was wondering why she served herself on a different plate,” she allegedly asked.

Dr Rogers told the jury that Simon responded that Ms Patterson “didn’t have a lot of plates and might have run out”.

Poisonings not deliberate, not intentional: Defence

After Dr Rogers’ opening remarks to the jury outlining the prosecution case against Ms Patterson over the span of about three hours, her barrister Colin Mandy SC rose to his feet.

In a much shorter address, only approximately 15 minutes, he detailed the issues in the trial that his client disputed and did not dispute.

Mr Mandy said Ms Patterson did not dispute that the four lunch guests consumed deadly death cap mushrooms at her Leongatha home.

That Don and Gail Patterson and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson died, while Heather’s husband Ian survived, was also not in issue, he told the jury.

But Mr Mandy said the “critical issue” for the jury to determine was Ms Patterson’s state of mind.

“The defence case is that Erin Patterson did not deliberately serve poisoned food to her guests at that lunch,” he said.

“She didn’t do it deliberately, she didn’t do it intentionally.

“The defence case is that what happened was a tragedy, a terrible accident.”

Mr Mandy said the prosecution’s contention that Ms Patterson had not fallen sick after the lunch was in issue.

“The defence case is she was sick too, just not as sick,” he said.

Mr Mandy said it was not disputed that Ms Patterson had undertaken a series of questionable actions after the lunch, such as lying about previously foraging for mushrooms and disposing of a dehydrator.

But he asked the jury to question how someone under intense police and media scrutiny might behave.

“Might someone panic in a situation like that?” he asked.

He stressed Ms Patterson denied she “ever deliberately sought out death cap mushrooms”.

The defence barrister urged the jury to keep an open mind and focus solely on the evidence that emerges in the trial, not on media reports or people’s opinions.

“Cancer diagnosis” the reason for lunch: Prosecution

Dr Rogers said Ms Patterson had spoken to Simon’s parents in June 2023, saying she had a “lump in her elbow” and would be attending hospital on June 28.

Crown prosecutor Nannette Rogers SC told the jury that Erin Patterson had approached her husband Simon’s parents Don and Gail Patterson in June 2023, saying she had a “lump in her elbow” and would be attending hospital on June 28.

“The day of her purported appointment Gail Patterson sent the accused a message asking how she had got on that day,” Dr Rogers said.

She said Ms Patterson allegedly responded it “went okay”, she’d had a biopsy but would need to return the following week for an MRI.

After a service at the Korumburra Baptist Church in July, Ms Patterson invited Simon, his parents and his aunt and uncle around for lunch.

After her estranged husband said he would not attend due to being uncomfortable, Ms Patterson allegedly sent him a message, the court was told. Dr Rogers said Ms Patterson allegedly said she was disappointed because “she wanted it to be a special lunch”.

“It was important for her that everyone attended the following day and she hoped to see him there,” Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said after the lunch, Ms Patterson told the guests the test had found cancer and asked for advice on how to tell her children.

“Erin told us she had tests … they’d found ovarian cancer. She would probably need surgery and chemo and wasn’t sure how to tell the kids,” Simon told police his father had informed him while in hospital.

Cancer diagnosis claim ‘deliberately false’: Dr Rogers

Dr Rogers told the court police had reviewed Ms Patterson’s medical notes and determined there was no record of her having received a cancer diagnosis.

“It is also the prosecution case that the accused had not been diagnosed with cancer prior to the lunch, and that this claim was deliberately false,” she said.

“It is the prosecution case, the accused used the false claim of cancer to ensure and explain why the children would not be present at that lunch on July 29.”

Dr Rogers said Ms Patterson had self administered a cervical cancer test in March 2023 but the result had come back negative.

There was no evidence, she said, of Ms Patterson receiving a medical biopsy or any other procedure related to a bump on her elbow.

Data suggests Ms Patterson allegedly visited death cap mushrooms locations

Dr Rogers told the court analysis of Ms Patterson’s phone records suggest she visited two locations where death cap mushroom sightings had been posted online. 

She explained that two people, Christine McKenzie and Dr Tom May, had posted sightings of death cap mushrooms on the citizen science website Inaturalist in April and May 2023.

These were in the townships of Loch and Outtrim, close to Ms Patterson’s Leongatha home. 

Dr Rogers said the phone data suggests Ms Patterson could have visited these locations in April and May.

What Erin Patterson allegedly served at lunch

Dr Rogers told the jury the four lunch guests arrived after midday on Saturday, July 29, and were shown around Ms Patterson’s recently built Leongatha home.

She said Ms Patterson allegedly served individually portioned beef wellington with mashed potatoes, green beans and gravy.

After the lunch, the prosecutor said they ate cake and a fruit platter provided by Ms Wilkinson before the quartet together about 3pm.

Dr Rogers said it was the Crown case that each of the four lunch guests began experiencing gastrointestinal illness about 12 hours later.

By midday the following day, each was in hospital, she said.

“Over the following days their conditions declined … despite receiving maximal care, Don Gail and Heather each passed away.

“Ian Wilkinson was the only lunch guest to survive.”

Husband hoped to ‘reconcile’

Dr Rogers said despite Ms Patterson and Simon separating for the final time in 2015, they remained “friendly, amicable and affable” while continuing to co-parent.

“Simon remained hopeful that he and the accused would reconcile,” she said.

Dr Rogers said Simon first noticed a “change” in Ms Patterson’s demeanour in 2022 after he filed a tax return stating they were separated.

“Their communication started to decline,” she said.

Dried mushrooms came from Chinese grocer: court

Dr Rogers told the court that Ms Patterson was questioned on where the mushrooms from the lunch came from.

She allegedly said she purchased 500g of sliced button mushrooms from Woolworths and also used a packet of dried mushrooms purchased from a Chinese grocer in the Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh in April 2023.

After interviewing Ms Patterson about the mushrooms, the Department of Health launched a probe into Asian grocers across Oakleigh, Mount Waverley and Clayton. 

Ms Patterson allegedly described them as similar in colour to button mushrooms, in a clear unbranded package and about 100g in weight. 

She allegedly said she searched her bank records, couldn’t find a receipt of the purchase and must have used cash. 

An environmental health officer from the City of Monash visited 14 Asian grocer, Indian grocer or food and vegetable stores. 

“He was not able to find any product fitting the description of the dried product that the accused had provided,” Dr Rogers said.

“The Department of Health concluded its investigation on August 11 and was unable to find any store … that sold mushrooms described by her, meaning the accused.”

In a second interview with the Department of Health, Dr Rogers claimed Ms Patterson said she had not used mushrooms from the grocer. 

“The accused now told Sally-Ann Atkinson she had not used the mushrooms purchased by their grocer but rather had opened them, noticed the smell and put them into a container,” Dr Rogers said.

Alleged mushroom poisoner checked out of hospital against advice, jury told;

Dr Rogers told the jury that Ms Patterson self-presented to hospital at 8am on Monday, July 31 – two days after the lunch.

She said Ms Patterson complained about gastrointestinal symptoms and was advised she had potentially ingested a lethal dose of death cap mushrooms.

“The accused repeatedly said she needed to leave … she was adamant that she would not stay,” the prosecutor said.

She left at 8.10am against medical advice, Dr Rogers said.

The prosecutor told the court Leongatha Hospital’s Dr Chris Webster took the step of calling police, who visited Ms Patterson’s home, for a welfare check.

Ms Patterson returned to the hospital at 9.45am, Dr Rogers said.

“She said she hadn’t eaten much because she was busy talking to the lunch guests,” she said.

Dr Rogers said Ms Patterson told staff her children had eaten the leftovers, with the mushrooms scraped off, but did not want to bring them to hospital.

“Is this really necessary, they don’t have symptoms,” Ms Patterson allegedly said after Dr Webster warned her it was “critically important”.

“I just don’t want them to be scared.”

Children’s dinner was ‘uncontaminated’: Crown claims

The jury was told Ms Patterson told a number of hospital staff and emergency workers that her two children had eaten leftovers from the meal the night after.

Dr Rogers said it was the prosecution’s case that the children’s meal was not contaminated with death cap mushrooms.

“She said the children had eaten a portion but she had scrapped off the mushrooms from the beef because they were fussy and did not like them,” the prosecutor said.

The children were examined and found to not be ill, Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said the death cap mushroom poisonings of each of the lunch guests was initially thought to be a “mass food poisonings event”.

The jury was told Ms Patterson and Simon met in the early 2000s while they both worked for the Monash city council.

They separated in 2015 but remained amicable, Dr Rogers said.

Earlier, trial judge Justice Christopher Beale outlined the four elements of murder and the four elements of attempted murder the jury would have to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt if they were to convict Ms Patterson on any of the charges.

For the charge of murder, these elements are that her conduct caused the death, was done consciously, deliberately and voluntarily, done so intending to kill or to cause really serious injury and had no lawful justification.

Ten men and five women were empaneled to serve on the jury for the estimated six-week trial on Tuesday.

The trial is being heard in the country Victorian town of Morwell, about 45 minutes from Ms Patterson’s Leongatha home.

Her barrister, Colin Mandy SC, is expected to deliver the defence response later on Wednesday, identifying any issues in dispute the jury will need to determine.

The trial continues.