Nanette Rogers SC says in closing address it ‘beggars belief’ Erin Patterson could not recall key details during her testimony
The lead prosecutor in the Erin Patterson murder trial says the jury can reject any possibility this was “all a terrible accident”.
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Mushroom cook Erin Patterson made “four calculated deceptions” before and after she committed murder, a lead prosecutor has claimed, such as embarking on a “sustained cover-up” in the wake of the lethal lunch.
Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC delivered her closing address in Ms Patterson’s triple-murder trial on Monday, alleging she fabricated a cancer claim, “disguised” lethal doses of poison as home-cooked beef wellingtons and attempted to make it seem like she also suffered death cap mushroom poisoning.
But she told the Supreme Court jury the police and prosecution had “exposed” these deceptions, saying it “simply beggars belief” Ms Patterson could not recall key details during her testimony while appearing to have a “remarkable memory”.
Ms Patterson is standing trial in Morwell, accused of murdering her estranged husband’s parents Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, along with Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66.
The prosecution alleges she served them individual beef wellingtons she had deliberately laced with death caps at her Leongatha home on July 29, 2023.
Heather’s husband, pastor Ian Wilkinson, 71, was the only guest to survive.
Ms Patterson, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one of attempted murder, claiming she may have accidentally added foraged mushrooms into the meal with dried mushrooms she purchased from an Asian grocer.
But Dr Rogers said the jury can reject any possibility this was “all a terrible accident”.
‘FABRICATED’ CANCER CLAIM
Dr Rogers told the jury Ms Patterson had “fabricated” a claim about ovarian cancer to provide a reason for her “otherwise unusual lunch invitation”.
She said Ian testified that Erin told the guests she had been diagnosed with cancer and rejected the proposition she only said it was a suspected diagnosis.
Dr Rogers added that Ms Patterson was able to tell “convincing lies” about the cancer because she had “put in the research”, referring to the screenshots extracted from her tablet detailing ovarian cancer symptoms.
“The accused never thought she would have to account for this lie,” she said.
“She did not think her lunch guests would live to reveal it.
“Her lie would die with them.”
LETHAL DOSES ‘SECRETED’ IN BEEF WELLINGTONS
Dr Rogers said Ms Patterson deliberately sought out death caps and “secreted” lethal doses into the beef wellingtons for the guests, while her serve contained either regular mushrooms or no mushrooms at all.
“The sinister deception was to use a nourishing meal as the vehicle to deliver a deadly poison,” she said.
She told the jury the RecipeTin Eats cookbook she used did not call for individual parcels, but it was the only way she could ensure she would not accidentally consume death caps.
Dr Rogers said she also knew how to locate death caps “with precision” since she had previously visited citizen science website iNaturalist website in May 2022.
Moreover, Dr Rogers said she had the “opportunity” to source them because two sightings of death caps in Loch and Outtrim were logged on the website on April 18 and May 21, 2023.
The jury heard her phone records show a “possible visit” to Loch on April 28 and “possible visits” to Loch and Outtrim on May 22 when she did not usually visit these areas.
Dr Rogers alleged that Ms Patterson bought a dehydrator on April 28, hours after locating death caps, and then did a “test run” by dehydrating button mushrooms before preserving the death caps.
She also described Ian’s evidence about the guests eating off four grey plates, while Ms Patterson ate off a smaller, orangey-tan plate as “striking”.
“Ian Wilkinson was a compelling witness who was able to recall a substantial amount of detail about the lunch,” she said.
“You can confidently accept what he told you about the details of the lunch, including the four grey plates and the fifth odd plate.”
Dr Rogers said the evidence showed Ms Patterson had the knowledge to locate death caps; the opportunity to source them; the skill and equipment to dehydrate and blitz them; and “complete control” over the meal.
DEATH CAP MUSHROOM POISONING ‘DISGUISE’
Dr Rogers said Ms Patterson attempted to make it seem like she suffered death cap mushroom poisoning after the lunch to “disguise her crimes”.
She told the jury she was “pretending to be suffering” because she knew she had not been poisoned, but needed to “look sick like the others”.
“She knew how suspicious this would look to everyone,” she said.
“Her good health, in other words, would give her away.”
Ms Patterson testified that she had been suffering from “explosive diarrhoea” on July 30 and had to “go to the toilet in the bush” as she drove her son to Tyabb.
She then visited a service station and spent nine seconds in the toilet.
“We suggest that if she really did have diarrhoea in the bush and this was the first bathroom she had access to after that, it would take more than nine seconds to complete the process of cleaning herself up or, at a minimum, to wash her hands,” Dr Rogers said.
She also said it was “inexplicable” that when Ms Patterson arrived at Leongatha Hospital on July 31, she resisted lifesaving treatment for death cap mushroom poisoning.
She added that Ms Patterson’s evidence that she vomited the afternoon of the lunch after binge-eating cake must also be discounted, since there was no evidence this would have prevented her from falling ill.
“We suggest if the accused had truly vomited … that is a detail she would have shared with medical staff,” she said.
‘SUSTAINED’ COVER-UP
Dr Rogers told the jury Ms Patterson embarked on a “sustained” cover-up to conceal the truth by lying about feeding her children the leftovers of the beef wellington, lying about the mushrooms coming from Woolworths and an Asian grocer, disposing the dehydrator and deliberately concealing her usual phone from police.
She said she told the lie about the leftovers “over multiple days to multiple people”.
Her son gave evidence that the night after the lunch, on July 30, she spoke to him about Don and Gail’s illnesses and said she “thought it might have been the lunch”.
“Why then would the accused feed the leftovers of the meal to her children knowing it had, or even believing it might have, led to the hospitalisation of four people?” Dr Rogers asked.
She said there was no reason to doubt that the children ate steak, beans and mashed potato that night, but it “was not the steak that had been cooked in mushroom paste”.
Dr Rogers said the jury can also be satisfied she lied about the mushrooms because her story about the Asian grocer kept changing, she was not forthcoming with the Department of Health and death caps are “highly unlikely” to appear on store shelves.
She ran through the testimony of almost a dozen witnesses, who said Ms Patterson told them the grocer was located in Melbourne; in Oakleigh; in Glen Waverley; in Oakleigh or Glen Waverley; in Oakleigh or Clayton; and in Clayton, Mount Waverley or Oakleigh.
Dr Rogers said it “simply beggars belief” that she could not remember the location of the Asian grocer, given she had owned a home in the area at the time.
She added that her memory when giving evidence had been “remarkable”.
“She recalled dates, evidence and details easily as she was asked questions over many days,” she said.
“Even now in June 2025, she could recall that April 28, 2023, was a Friday and not a Monday, as I had suggested to her in cross-examination.
“Yet, in August 2023, she could not recall the shop or even the suburb where she purchased the mushrooms from.”
Her closing address will continue on Tuesday.
The trial, before Justice Christopher Beale, continues.
Originally published as Nanette Rogers SC says in closing address it ‘beggars belief’ Erin Patterson could not recall key details during her testimony
‘Four calculated deceptions’ at heart of mushroom murder case: Crown
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