Erin Patterson evidence recap: Accused mushroom killer’s dehydrator admission after beef Wellington lunch

During the drive to her son’s flying lesson, Ms Patterson said she felt unwell, pulled over and “had diarrhea” in “a bush”.

She explained how she “cleaned” herself with tissues, put the soiled tissues in “dog poo bags” before getting back on the road.

Ms Patterson said she later stopped at a BP to dispose of the dog poo bags with her soiled tissues. While at the service station, she also bought food for her children.

“As we got very close to Tyabb, my phone rang,” Ms Patterson said.

She told the court that the flying lesson had to be cancelled due to weather, so the family turned around.

Ms Patterson said on the Sunday after lunch, Simon Patterson reached out to ask if she was going to church.

The accused mushroom killer recalled her ex-partner telling her that Don and Gail Patterson also had diarrhea following the beef Wellington lunch, and said at one point he mentioned the two were receiving “fluids”.

Ms Patterson said after taking Imodium, she felt confident she would be able to take her son to a flying lesson.

“I remember starting to feeling nauseous later that evening,” Ms Patterson said.

“I started to have diarrhea later that evening too,” with Ms Patterson saying that it started between 10pm and midnight, saying she went to the bathroom every “frequently” and found it “hard to go back to sleep.

Ms Patterson said she took Imodium to try and help.

She said her symptoms continued the next morning and that they did not go to church.

The accused said her son also had stomach issues that morning, which played a part in her decision not to attend church.

The mother-of-three told the court that on the day of the fatal lunch, she took her son to a Subway restaurant so he could get some “dinner”.

The court was then shown a photo from the Subway restaurant, with Ms Patterson saying she didn’t recognise the person in the image and denied that the subject was her son due to the sports clothing he was wearing.

She was shown a video of a car leaving the Subway restaurant and then coming back.

“My memory is that I waited for him (her son) in the car park,” Ms Patterson said.

Ms Patterson said that at night, after the fatal mushroom lunch, she had some “loose stools”.

Ms Patterson said she only ate a “quarter” of her beef Wellington, telling the court she was talking a lot.

She said Ian, Heather and Don ate all of their Wellington, with Gail not finishing hers, which Don then completed.

Ms Patterson said the family mingled as she cleaned up.

During that time, Ms Patterson said she ate “all” of the remaining cake that Gail Patterson had brought to the lunch.

She said about two-thirds of the cake remained when she ate it.

Ms Patterson said she took herself to the bathroom and threw up after bingeing on the cake.

Ms Patterson said that after lying to her family, they saw Simon Patterson’s car drive down the driveway.

“Ian said, ‘Why don’t we pray for Erin?’ So that’s what we did,” she said, crying.

“I did lie to them.

“I was really embarrassed, I was ashamed of the fact that I didn’t have control over my body or what I ate.

“I was ashamed of that.

“I didn’t want to tell anybody. But I shouldn’t have lied to them.”

Erin Patterson was asked if there were assigned seats or assigned plates for the fatal lunch, simply replying “no”.

The accused said the group spoke about what each other had been up to in recent weeks, politics, the kids and a family member’s health struggles.

Ms Patterson said she spoke about a “scare” with ovarian cancer.

“I’m not proud of this,” she said.

“I led them to believe that I might need to receive some treatment (for ovarian cancer).

“They all showed a lot of compassion about that.”

Ms Patterson told the court she “didn’t need any help” with the plating up or final preparations for her “special” beef Wellington lunch and that she declined offers of assistance from Heather Wilkinson and Gail Patterson.

She told the court the final factor was pouring a “ready-made” gravy out of a saucepan into a gravy boat.

Ms Patterson confirmed she made the gravy at her stove.

Erin Patterson says she doesn’t remember which plate she used at the fatal lunch.

She claimed the plates were a mix of “dinner plates I had”, telling the court some were black, white and one that was “red on top and black underneath”.

She said she did not own or use a “grey” plate, something that goes against the evidence provided by lunch-survivor Ian Wilkinson.

Mr Wilkinson previously told the court the beef Wellington lunch was served on four grey plates, with another tangerine-coloured plate allegedly used by the accused.