Erin Patterson mushroom trial: Accused murderer faces Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court

After further examination of Simon and witness testimony from three true crime group ‘friends’ of Patterson, court has wrapped up for the day.

Follow along tomorrow for more updates.

Jenny Hay has taken the stand as a third friend Patterson made through a true crime Facebook group.

“Originally (we met) through a Facebook group that was about Keli Lane that stemmed from the ABC documentary (about that case),” Hay said.

“That was a pretty big group. Eventually that fell apart.

“I was then in a group with about 20 people from that group. Then there were about five of us in a group chat together.

“I think we had just become closer friends and just wanted to have a group that was just ours.

“It was the beginning of COVID, so there was a lot of talk about COVID – every day life, family, events – whatever was going on in our lives.

Hay said Patterson bought a food dehydrator in early 2023 and “seemed to be using it to dehydrate mushrooms”.

“She sent a photo of the dehydrator with mushrooms in it (in the group),” Hay said.

“I remember her making mushroom soups and blitzing them so the kids would eat them. She seem to use it a lot.”

Hay said Patterson never discussed foraging mushrooms, but there were lots of discussions in the group about preparing and making food.

She said Patterson messaged the group towards the end of July 2023, seeking recipe advice for a beef wellington.

“She was at a supermarket. (She said) something about the meat because she was making beef wellington,” Hay said.

Hay said she spoke to Patterson on the phone some time after the lunch and she said she had bought the mushrooms from an Asian grocer.

Hay said Patterson also expressed during the call that she too was sick following the lunch.

True crime group associate Daniella Barclay has told the court that Patterson asked members of the chat for advice in late July 2023 on how to cook a beef wellington.

“She asked if anyone had cooked a beef wellington and if they had any advice. I believe it was two weeks before the lunch,” Barclay said.

“I just specific remember the conversation because I didn’t know what beef wellington was because I’m vegetarian.

“I said ‘I would bake a tofu wellington’ and everyone thought that was awful.

“I believe Jenny (another member of the group) replied because she had previously cooked a beef wellington.

“I believe a couple of days after that conversation Erin was out looking for a cut of meat for the wellington. (She) was out at the shops and I think she sent through a photo asking if this one was ok – I think she was struggling to find a big piece of meat.

“That was probably the last time we heard about the beef wellington.

“We assumed it (the lunch) was for her and her kids.”

The court has been shown messages that Patterson posted in a true crime discussion group about her food dehydrator.

The first message read:

“I’ve been hiding powdered mushrooms in everything. Mixed it into chocolate brownies yesterday, the kids had no idea.”

A short time later, Patterson sent another message, reading:

“So fun fact the dehydrator reduces the mushroom mass by 90%. Do you think Woolies would mind if I brought the dehydrator into their vegetable section and dry things before buying them?”

The court was also shown photos that Patterson sent to the group of trays of mushrooms being dehydrated in her home.

Daniella Barclay, another member of a true crime Facebook group Patterson was part of, has taken the stand.

Barclay told the court Patterson seemed “sad” in regards to her relationship with Simon, and felt he put the church before his family.

In response to questioning from the prosecution, Barclay confirmed that Patterson shared photos of her dehydrating mushrooms to the group.

“She was a bit excited that she purchased a food dehydrator,” Barclay said.

“In a private chat group, she shared photos of her dehydrating mushrooms in the dehydrator.

“From memory, I believe it was a couple of months before the lunch. It was sometime in 2023.”

Prosecution: “Did she say what she had been using the dehydrator for?”

Barclay: ”Just mushrooms.”

Christine Hunt has told the court she met Patterson around six years ago when the pair were both in a Facebook group chat dedicated to discussions on the Keli Lane case.

Hunt said the group initially contained up to 30 people and discussion topics were broad, ranging from “things happening in the world, crime, politics, and personal stories”.

The court heard that Patterson used the chat group names “Erin”, “Erin Erin”, and “Erin, Erin, Erin”.

“Patterson shared lots about the kids, lego, buying the house at Leongatha. Information about herself, her husband, the challenges she was facing, the difficulties she had as a single mum,” she said.

Asked by the prosecution what Patterson’s reputation was in the group, Hunt said the mother-of-two was “well-regarded”.

– so she was well-regarded,” she said.

Hunt said she left the group in 2019 when it shut down, but she was contacted by Patterson a few months later to join a smaller group of around seven to 15 people from the original group.

“It was very similar to the previous. (chat). People who had bonded in the previous years – talking about current affairs, personal stuff,” Hunt said.

Hunt told the court she had never met Patterson in person, but they did speak over the phones on some occassions.

“I always felt I had a good relationship with Erin. We had chats one on one. I didn’t have any problems with her,” Hunt said.

Speaking on her interpretation of Patterson’s relationship with her husband, Hunt said she seemed unhappy with him and his family’s religion.

“I understood they were growing apart, she was self-sufficient,” Hunt said.

“That he was very controlling – she used the word coercive.. She said his family were demanding. There were challenges. She seemed unsettled whenever the kids were away (with his family).”

Hunt said Patterson seemed to find her husband and his family’s faith “challenging”.

Hunt said she understood Patterson to be an “athiest” and the mother-of-two had expressed that about herself previous times within the group chat.

Mandy put it to Hunt that Patterson did express signs of believing in Christianity.

“I think she was two-sided on that,” Hunt responded.

“She went to church – the interpretation that I got as she went with her in-laws (due to their strong faith).

“I know the kids went to a faith-based school and she was unhappy with that and she went to church and that took up a lot of time.”

Christine Hunt, who was in a true crime Facebook group with Patterson, has taken the stand as the prosecution’s second witness in the trial.