Erin Patterson live trial updates: Accused mushroom killer’s admission, evidence over beef Wellington lunch

Ms Patterson was grilled on why she disposed of the dehydrator evidence.

The accused mushroom killer said she “didn’t know” that death cap mushrooms had made it into the meal.

Asked if she put death cap mushrooms in her lunch intentionally, Ms Patterson said

“No, I didn’t know they’d (death cap mushrooms) been in it.”

Ms Patterson was asked if the dehydrator at the tip was her Sunbeam food dehydrator.

“I presume so, because of the evidence my fingerprints were on it,” she said.

The accused then confirmed she purchased an “e-waste” bag.

She confirmed the CCTV imagery shown to her in court was of her driving her car to the tip to dispose of the food dehydrator.

When asked if it was hers again, Ms Patterson said she “presumed” it was, adding: “Unless somebody else put in a dehydrator.”

Ms Patterson has been asked about her lies.

The accused was asked about her dehydrator, which she told police she did not own.

“You lied?” the prosecution asked.

“Yes,” Ms Patterson said.

She confirmed she purchased the dehydrator, took it home and used it.

“Did you intend to kill?” Ms Patterson was asked by her defence lawyer Colin Mandy SC.

“No,” I didn’t,” she said, crying.

“Did you intend to harm?” Mr Mandy asked.

“No,” Ms Patterson said.

Ms Patterson was then asked a barrage of questions by her defence lawyer Colin Mandy SC.

Ms Paterson said all beef Wellingtons were the same. She said she did not lie about buying mushrooms from an Asian grocer.

The accused claimed she was honest about feeding the leftovers to her children.

The alleged killer said she did not lie about being sick after eating the fatal beef Wellington lunch.

Ms Patterson also said she did not lie about being unaware of the presence of death cap mushrooms in her meal.

A tax invoice was shown to the court. It is the receipt for Erin Patterson’s dehydrator.

Ms Patterson said the company that she purchased it from required her name and address and admitted she purchased it, likely with a card.

The accused told police after the lunch that she had never dehydrated food, did not own a dehydrator, and did not forage for mushrooms.

Ms Patterson said “it was” a lie.

“I had disposed of it (the dehydrator) a few days earlier in the context of thinking mushrooms I’d foraged for the meal I had made was responsible for making people sick,” she told the court.

“It was a stupid knee-jerk reaction to dig deeper and keep lying.

“I was just scared.”

Erin Patterson says she learnt about the severity of Don and Gail Patterson’s condition as they moved between hospitals in the week after the lunch.

“It seemed likely to me that they were getting sicker,” she told the court.

After a short 30-minute delay, due to a power issue in Morwell, Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial has recommenced.

Erin Patterson went to a Leongatha hospital on the Monday after her beef Wellington lunch due to persistent diarrhea. When she arrived, she claims a doctor said: “We’ve been waiting for you.”

The doctor told her she may have been exposed to death cap mushrooms and asked her where her ingredients came from. Ms Patterson was also informed she needed to be taken to a hospital in Melbourne by ambulance, urgently.

However, Ms Patterson did not immediately go to a Melbourne hospital. Instead, she left the Leongatha hospital and went home to “do a few things”.

She claims that while she was alone at her home, where she hosted the fatal lunch, she fed animals and put lambs in a shed to keep them safe from foxes.

She also recalled getting a phone charger to take with her to the Melbourne hospital.

A power issue at the Morwell court in regional Victoria has delayed this morning’s proceedings.

It is understood this has been resolved and the trial will resume shortly.