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

Ms Paterson was asked if she had ever had ovarian cancer.

“No, I have not,” Ms Patterson told the court.

“I’ve never had a needle biopsy anywhere.”

She explained she was “worried” she had cancer after turning to “Dr Google”.

Ms Patterson also explained she later thought she had a brain tumour, which, after consulting “Dr Google”, she sought an MRI from a healthcare professional.

She called all of this a “self-diagnosis” in 2021.

Ms Patterson has told the court how she “didn’t trust” the health system following an incident with her daughter’s health.

“It considerably damaged my faith in the health system,” she told the court.

“I didn’t love hospitals.

“I didn’t trust that these people knew what they were doing.”

She explained she was in a “heightened sense of anxiety” after an incident with her young daughter.

Ms Patterson emotionally told the court she “didn’t want to lose” her daughter.

Ms Patterson went on to explain a series of property purchases and sales she made, some of which she lived in, some of which were initially put in joint ownership of both her and her former partner, Simon Patterson.

“I always thought that we would bring the family back together. That’s what I wanted,” Ms Patterson told the court.

Ms Patterson said she wanted to “demonstrate” to Mr Patterson that she was committed to getting back together.

“I see a future for us,” she told the court, explaining her feelings from 2019.

Ms Patterson told the court that she and her children alternated churches for some time before returning to the church attended by Simon Patterson and his family, which she joined after the couple got together.

“We just wanted to go back to Korumburra” Baptist Church, she told the court.

Ms Patterson told the court she had a role with the church, “helping with the streaming of the live services”, a role she said she alternated with Don Patterson.

She went on to explain that at times, she felt she was made fun of for her religious past and her background as a former atheist.

Ms Patterson told the court how Don and Gail Patterson, her in-laws whom she is accused of murdering, continued to treat her as their “daughter-in-law” after her “formal separation” from Simon Patterson.

“They continued to love me,” Ms Patterson said, becoming audibly emotional.

She explained they remained “very involved” with her and the kids.

Ms Patterson confirmed that “end of 2015”, she and Simon Patterson went through a “formal separation”.

She explained that assets and loans were divided down the middle.

She said after a few weeks, the two became “good friends”.

Ms Patterson told the court she “didn’t want to be separated”, but understood it was the only way for the two over their inability to handle conflicts.

“We really liked each other still, it was just the living together that didn’t work,” Ms Patterson said.

Ms Patterson explained that the family decided to move back to Victoria so that her children could be close to “nana and papa”, referring to Don and Gail Patterson.

She told the court that the family stayed with Don and Gail before she moved to a rental property.

It was then that Mrs Patterson had her second child.

Ms Patterson explained she used some of the funds from an inheritance she received to start a business, a second-hand book shop.

She said she operated this for around “a year”.

Ms Patterson said that the funds allowed her to spend time at book fairs, collecting books for her store’s collection.

Ms Patterson has said that around February 2007, she received the first part of an inheritance from a family estate.

“It did allow us to buy a home,” Ms Patterson said, adding it was purchased “without a mortgage”.

Ms Patterson said the funds also were shared with Simon Patterson’s siblings, allowing them to pay off parts of their homes.

Ms Patterson claimed the family were to repay the funds, “at a time of their choosing”.

She explained most family members paid the money back over time, but added she was “unaware” of the status of one of the family loans.

The jury has now entered the courtroom at the Latrobe Valley law courts in Morwell, with Erin Patterson now set to begin her second day of evidence.