Erin Patterson trial recap: Accused triple murderer gives evidence on fatal mushroom lunch

Erin Patterson has told a could about her struggles with body image and an eating disorder.

“I tried every diet under the sun.

“It’s been a roller coaster of the years,” she said, describing her eating habits.

“When I was a kid, mum would weigh us every week to make sure we weren’t putting on too much weight.”

Ms Patterson said she went through phases of “not eating” then “bingeing”.

“I have never had a good relationship with food, a healthy relationship,” Ms Patterson said.

Ms Patterson described bingeing as “everything you can get your hands on until you’re sick.

Ms Patterson said she would then “bring it back up again”.

She said this health issue was a “private thing”, something she would do when Simon Patterson or the kids were not around.

Ms Patterson told the court she had done this since her 20s, sometimes “daily”, sometimes “monthly”.

She said “nobody” knew about it in 2022, breaking down.

While on a holiday in NZ with the kids in December 2022, Ms Patterson shared a video with her former partner, Simon Patterson, of their children on a “log ride”.

“I was trying to reach out to him and try to communicate to him that I was sorry,” Ms Patterson said, adding she wanted their communication between the two to be “better”.

Thought this time, Ms Patterson said financial issues and school fee negotiations were resolved or didn’t need further communication directly with Mr Paterson.

Ms Patterson later asked Mr Patterson to help with a fencing issue at her home, something he obliged to help with, adding he would always be her “husband”.

The court has now heard about more “frustrated” messages she shared online.

“I’m sick of this shit,” Ms Patterson wrote on a Facebook group, adding she wanted “nothing to do” with Mr Patterson’s family.

She said she was “really frustrated with Simon” and needed to “vent”.

Ms Patterson said she turned to the Facebook group to feel “heard”, saying it was either the Facebook group or the “sheep”.

She emotionally explained she wished she hadn’t shared the messages, as they were later “resolved”.

Ms Patterson said she felt “desperate” after feeling that Mr Patterson and his family were not working with her to resolve financial issues and concerns over a child’s schooling.

The court heard how Ms Patterson turned to a Facebook group, something she described as a “safe venting space”, to share her feelings.

A message from Ms Patterson, shared in December 2022, suggested Mr Patterson and his family would “only pray” for her kids.

“This family, I swear to f..king god,” Ms Patterson wrote online.

Ms Patterson broke down, saying she wished she “never sent” the message, which she said she felt was private.

“They didn’t deserve it,” she added tearfully.

Erin Patterson is now giving “context” around a series of messages between her and Simon Patterson, regarding issues she and her former partner were having over finances and their son.

Ms Patterson told the court she thought Don and Gail Patterson could help the former couple reach an agreement, like they had in the past.

Ms Patterson said that her in-laws came to visit her in the hope of assisting, however, Mr Patterson later said a professional “mediator” should be used.

The court is now taking a short break, with Erin Patterson returning to give evidence in around 10 minutes.

While discussing financial arrangements between Erin Patterson and Simon Patterson, she said she was “hurt” by a “conflict over money” in November 2022.

Ms Patterson said she asked Mr Patterson to pay an anaesthetist bill for a surgery their son had.

The court was shown a text message where Mr Patterson said he had been told not to pay money to Ms Patterson by the department of human services due to the structure of child support.

Ms Patterson said the two had never had a “conflict over money” before that interaction and that she was left “hurt”, admitting she later sent her former partner a “petty” message discussing “pocket money”.

Ms Patterson told the court about a birthday lunch for Gail Patterson that she was initially not invited to.

She explained Simon Patterson asked if she was going, with Ms Patterson confirming she was “very hurt” over not being invited to the 70th birthday.

Ms Patterson told the court that Don Patterson later reached out to her, calling the missing invitation an “oversight”, extending an invite, which she accepted.

She explained she was “hurt” and shouted at her former partner during an exchange of the children on that day, over not knowing about the 70th birthday lunch.

Ms Patterson told the court about when she was told her former partner, Simon Patterson, explained he had put “single” on his tax forms.

She claimed she asked Mr Patterson for his income records to begin compiling her tax, when he told her he wouldn’t share them.

“He had put himself down as single (on tax records),” Ms Patterson said Mr Patterson told her.

She told the court she replied, saying “well, that’s good”, adding she could now potentially claim family tax benefits.

Ms Patterson confirmed she told her former partner, Simon Patterson, about her concerns over her health in 2021.

Reflecting on her use of Google for “self-diagnosis”, Ms Patterson said she felt she “wasted” a lot of time, both hers and that of healthcare professionals.

“Every headache is not a brain tumour”, she said.