Your guide to the Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial: All the evidence, witnesses, timeline details in one place
Trying to keep up with the trial of mushroom cook Erin Patterson? We’ve compiled all the evidence, witnesses and timeline details for you to keep track of the proceedings.
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Erin Patterson welcomed her ex-husband’s parents Don and Gail Patterson and his aunt and uncle Heather and Ian Wilkinson to her home for a meal in July 2023.
After they said grace, the family tucked into their lunch: beef wellington.
Over the following days, the guests were rushed between hospitals with intense gastro-like symptoms before they were diagnosed with mushroom poisoning.
Three of the guests – Don, Gail and Heather – died, while Ian survived.
Months later, Erin was charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, accused of lacing the lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms.
She has pleaded not guilty, claiming what happened was a “terrible accident”.
It is one of the most highly anticipated murder trials in recent memory.
Here’s everything you need to know.
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Who attended the mushroom lunch?
Erin Patterson hosted a lunch at her home in Leongatha – a Gippsland town in Victoria’s southeast – on July 29, 2023.
Her estranged husband’s parents Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, as well as Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, and her husband Ian Wilkinson, 71, attended.
Erin also invited her husband Simon Patterson, but he did not attend.
Who died after the mushroom lunch?
Gail and Heather died in hospital on August 4, while Don died a day later on August 5.
Ian survived after months of treatment and was released from hospital on September 21.
What are the symptoms of death cap mushroom poisoning?
The lunch guests were diagnosed with amanita mushroom poisoning or, more specifically, death cap mushroom poisoning.
They had each presented to hospital on July 30 with severe gastro-like symptoms, including diarrhoea and vomiting.
Typically, the symptoms develop about six to 12 hours after consuming the mushrooms.
Despite intensive treatment, Don, Gail and Heather died from altered liver function and multiple organ failure.
What is beef wellington?
Erin served the lunch guests individual beef wellingtons.
Beef wellington is a baked dish, which involves searing a beef tenderloin, wrapping it in a mushroom mix and encasing it in pastry.
The court has not been told how Erin prepared her beef wellington meal.
Does Erin Patterson have children?
Erin shares two children,a son and a daughter, with Simon.
In August 2023, the 14-year-old and nine-year-old were interviewed by police about the lunch.
The interviews were played to the jury in the second week of the trial.
They cannot be named for legal reasons.
THE EVIDENCE
THE WITNESSES
OTHER MEDICAL WITNESSES
The jury has also heard from patient transport officer Cindy Hyde, nurse Lisa Shannon and Dr Beth Morgan, who treated Don and Gail the day after the lunch.
Nurses Kylie Ashton, Cindy Munro and Mairim Cespon, who were working at Leongatha Hospital two days after the lunch, also gave evidence, as well as toxicology registrar Dr Mark Douglas and paramedic Eleyne Spencer.
The jury has also heard from infection prevention and public health director Rhonda Stuart, emergency registrar Laura Muldoon and emergency physician Varuna Ruggoo, all from Monash Health, as well as toxicology registrar Dr Conor McDermott and intensive care specialist Dr Stephen Warrillow from Austin Health.
THE TIMELINE
THE TRIAL
WEEK 1: APRIL 29 – MAY 2
LIVE BLOGS: DAY 2, DAY 3, DAY 4
The 15-person jury was empanelled in Morwell on Tuesday.
The jurors heard three attempted murder charges against Erin had been dropped.
She was accused of trying to kill Simon three times, but Justice Christopher Beale said the charges had been discontinued by the prosecution.
The prosecution and defence delivered their opening addresses to the jury on Wednesday.
The prosecution alleged that Erin deliberately poisoned the lunch guests with individual beef wellingtons laced with death cap mushrooms after inviting them to her home “on the pretence” that she had been diagnosed with cancer.
It also alleged that Erin did not ingest death caps at the lunch, but pretended to be sick to cover that up.
The prosecution also said phone records suggest Erin travelled to two areas close to Leongatha – Loch and Outtrim – in April and May 2023 where death caps had recently been found by experts, who logged their locations on a website called iNaturalist.
The defence, however, said the lunch was a “tragedy and a terrible accident”.
The defence admitted Erin lied about dumping a dehydrator after the lunch and foraging for mushrooms – but she denies that she ever deliberately sought out death caps.
It conceded Erin has never been diagnosed with cancer.
Simon was the first witness to give evidence on Thursday.
He told the jury about his on-again off-again relationship with Erin, which ended in 2015.
Their friendship “substantially” changed in 2022 amid a child support dispute.
Simon told the court that it was “very rare” for Erin to invite guests to her home and that she never asked him about his family’s condition after the meal.
The jury was also shown tense text messages between the couple from 2022.
WEEK 2: MAY 3 – MAY 9
LIVE BLOGS: DAY 5, DAY 6, DAY 7, DAY 8, DAY 9
Simon returned to the box after the weekend and was quizzed on whether he had asked Erin if she used the dehydrator to “poison” his family, which he denied.
One of Erin’s online friends described her as a “super sleuth” and told the jury Erin had described Simon as “coercive” and “controlling”, while describing his family as “demanding”.
Messages from Erin, where she revealed she had bought a dehydrator and was “hiding powdered mushrooms” in her children’s food, were shown to the jury.
Ian, the only guest to have survived the lunch, gave evidence on Tuesday.
He told the court how Heather had been “excited” to attend the lunch and how Erin had refused Gail and Heather’s help when serving up the meal.
The triple-0 call made by Dr Chris Webster after Erin discharged herself from hospital against medical advice was played to the jury on Wednesday.
Dr Webster told the jury he was “surprised” that Erin had left given he informed her she had potentially been exposed to death cap mushrooms.
He asked Senior Constable Adrian Martinez-Villalobos to obtain leftovers of the beef wellington from Erin’s home.
The accused became emotional when the prerecorded evidence of her daughter and son, then aged nine and 14, was played to the jury on Thursday and Friday.
She reached for a tissue when her daughter was beamed into the courtroom on a screen.
She could be seen sitting in an interview room on a blue armchair, her legs barely touching the ground.
Her son described his parents’ relationship as “very negative” in the lead-up to the lunch.
He also told the jury Erin was “building LEGO” hours after the lunch.
WEEK 3: MAY 13 – MAY 16
LIVE BLOGS: DAY 10, DAY 11, DAY 12, DAY 13
The trial resumed on Tuesday after a day off.
Dr Tom May, a world-renowned mycologist or fungi specialist, gave the jurors a lesson in amanita phalloides, more commonly known as death cap mushrooms.
He also spoke to the jury about the citizen science website iNaturalist where members of the public post sightings of plants, animals and fungi.
The court heard two observations of death caps in the Gippsland region, namely Loch and Outtrim, were posted to iNaturalist on April 18 and May 21, 2023.
Dr May confirmed that he posted about the death caps in Outtrim while he was in the township to make a presentation to a local community group about fungi.
Dr Camille Truong, another mycologist, on Wednesday told the court she examined leftovers of the beef wellington.
She used tweezers to pick tiny mushroom pieces to examine under a microscope.
She told the court she found no traces of death caps.
A juror was discharged on Thursday by Justice Christopher Beale after discovering he had allegedly been discussing the case with family and friends.
The court heard the trial will proceed with 14 jurors, with two jurors to be balloted off before deliberations commence.
Child protection worker Katrina Cripps was called as the next witness and said she spoke to Erin on July 31, who told her Simon had become “nasty” amid a child support dispute.
Ms Cripps said Erin prepared beef wellington because she found it in a RecipeTin Eats cookbook and wanted “to do something new and special”.
Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine toxicologist Dr Dimitri Gerostamoulos then gave the jury a lesson in death cap toxins, namely alpha-amanitin and beta-amanitin.
He told the court the leftovers and seven vials of debris from the dehydrator were tested by toxicologists.
The court heard beta-amanitin was detected in one sample of the mushroom paste and one sample of the meat, while both alpha-amanitin and beta-amanitin were detected in four of the seven vials.
Agriculture Victoria diagnostician Dr David Lovelock on Friday said he DNA tested the leftovers and seven vials of debris.
The court heard no death caps were detected in the samples of the leftovers, but death caps were detected in two of the seven vials.
WEEK 4: MAY 19 – MAY 23
LIVE BLOGS: DAY 14, DAY 15, DAY 16, DAY 17, DAY 18
Digital forensics expert Dr Matthew Sorell on Monday gave the jurors a lesson on mobile phone networks.
Dr Sorell said he examined years of records for a phone belonging to Erin.
He told the court it was his opinion that the phone made a “possible visit” to Loch, 10 days after an iNaturalist post on April 28.
But under cross-examination on Tuesday, he agreed that there were no records that show the phone was “definitively” in the boundary of the Loch township.
Dr Sorell told the court it was also his opinion that the phone made a “possible visit” to northern Outtrim, one day after an iNaturalist post on May 22.
But he agreed that there was a possibility the phone did not enter the Outtrim postcode.
The jury was on Wednesday shown CCTV footage of Erin buying several snacks at a BP in Caldermeade on July 30.
Erin, wearing a grey sweater and cream pants, can be seen entering the toilet at the BP, before exiting about nine seconds later.
Senior digital forensics officer Shamen Fox-Henry, from the Victoria Police cybercrime squad, on Wednesday said he examined several devices seized from Erin’s home.
He confirmed that records show a Cooler Master computer was used to search the term “iNaturalist” on Bing on May 28, 2022, about 7.20pm and visit a death cap sighting on the iNaturalist website about 7.23pm.
Mr Fox-Henry on Thursday was asked questions about a Samsung phone, particularly messages sent to a Facebook group chat in December 2022.
In its opening address to the jury, the prosecution said the accused spoke to her online friends in group chats under the account names Erin Patterson, ‘Erin Erin’ and ‘Erin ErinErin’.
One message sent by ‘Erin ErinErin’ about Don and Gail read: “I’m sick of this shit I want nothing to do with them. I thought his parents would want him to do the right thing but it seems their concern about not wanting to feel uncomfortable and not wanting to get involved in their son’s personal matters are overriding that so f--k em.”
Another message read: “His mum was horrified I had claimed child support. Why isn’t she horrified her son is such a deadbeat that I had no choice but to claim?”
Monash City Council environmental health officer Troy Schonknecht on Thursday explained how an investigation was launched after Erin told officials she had used dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer in the beef wellington meal.
He visited 14 Asian grocers across Oakleigh, Clayton and Mount Waverley.
Mr Schonknecht was unable to find any product fitting the description she had provided of dried porcini or shiitake mushrooms in an unbranded 100g packet, with a white label.
Intensive care specialist Dr Stephen Warrillow on Friday said he thought Ian was “going to die” as he described how a team of medicos at the Austin Hospital desperately fought to save the three other guests.
WEEK 5: MAY 26 – MAY 30
LIVE BLOGS: DAY 19, DAY 20, DAY 21, DAY 22, DAY 23
A protester in the public gallery briefly interrupted proceedings on Monday.
Dressed in a yellow T-shirt with “all we are saying is give truth a chance” in black letters, the man leapt up to address Justice Christopher Beale.
“How can you be a judge?” he said.
He made a reference to “concealed crimes” before he was swiftly evicted.
Sally Ann Atkinson, a senior public health adviser at the Department of Health, testified that Erin told her on August 1 she had never made beef wellington before and “wanted to do something fancy”.
The court heard the dried mushrooms used in the beef wellington were first purchased in April 2023 for a “pasta dish”.
Ms Atkinson said Erin indicated she “could have used some” of them in the pasta dish, but when she spoke to her again on August 2, she said she had never used the dried mushrooms before.
She said Erin told her she only made one batch of mushroom paste for the beef wellingtons and used all of it to cover the eye fillet steaks.
The court heard the Department of Health investigation concluded that it was “highly unlikely” the commercial food chain had been contaminated with death cap mushrooms.
Detective Sergeant Luke Farrell was on Tuesday questioned about the search warrant executed at Erin’s house on August 5 after Gail and Heather died.
The court heard detectives told Erin the search warrant was in “connection with the death of two people”, prompting her to ask: “Who died?”
The video of Erin’s record of interview at Wonthaggi Police Station, taken later that day, was then played to the jury.
In her own words, Erin answered questions from Detective Leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall, telling him she had “never” foraged for mushrooms and did not own a dehydrator.
But the defence has admitted these were lies, conceding in its opening address that she has foraged for mushrooms and did own a dehydrator, which she later dumped.
The defence claimed she lied because she panicked in the aftermath of the lunch.
In her record of interview, Erin also said she loved her in-laws, describing them as “good, decent people that have never done anything wrong by me”.
Constable Eppingstall, the lead investigator, was taken to almost a dozen different parts of his investigation on Wednesday as the final witness for the prosecution.
Erin’s transaction history from Woolworths, which he obtained, was shown to the jury.
Six days before the lunch, on July 23, she bought 1kg of sliced mushrooms, two packets of pastry and shallots.
Two days before, on July 27, she bought two more packets of pastry, four beef eye fillets and 750g of sliced mushrooms, while on July 28, she bought two more packets of pastry, 1.5kg of potato mash, green beans and one more beef eye fillet.
Messages between Erin and Gail from June 29 were also shown to the jury.
Erin wrote: “The appointment went ok, thanks for asking. I had a needle biopsy taken of the lump and I’m returning for an MRI next week.”
Constable Eppingstall told the court he obtained Erin’s medical records and did not find any evidence that she had a needle biopsy on June 28 or was scheduled for an MRI.
Constable Eppingstall was also asked about two of Erin’s phones, dubbed Phone A and Phone B.
He told the court years of records show Erin used a SIM card ending in 783 to consistently “communicate” with people in her life.
The court heard this SIM card was placed into Phone A on February 12, 2023.
But Constable Eppingstall said records show this SIM card was taken out of Phone A and placed into a Nokia on August 5 about 1.45pm – while police were executing the search warrant at Erin’s house.
He added that Erin was permitted to contact a lawyer in a room on her own “without observation” during the search.
The court heard Phone A and the Nokia have never been located by police.
As for Phone B, Constable Eppingstall said records show a SIM card ending in 853 was taken out of a tablet and placed into Phone B on August 3.
The prosecution alleged that Erin conducted several factory resets on Phone B, including one on August 5 and another “remotely” on August 6 after it had been seized.
Under cross-examination by defence barrister Colin Mandy SC, Constable Eppingstall was on Thursday quizzed about his investigation, including why several devices and detailed bank records were not seized by police.
More messages between Erin and Gail were also shown to the jury on Friday.
In one exchange from May 2022, Gail wrote: “Happy Mother’s Day Erin. May God bless you. Love Don and Gail.”
Erin replied: “Thanks Gail! Happy Mother’s Day to the best mum-in-law anyone could ask for! xxoo”
Gail replied: “Very kind of you. xo”
Originally published as Your guide to the Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial: All the evidence, witnesses, timeline details in one place
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