Erin Patterson trial: Crown details timeline of mushroom poisonings in closing address

Jurors in the triple-murder trial of Erin Patterson have been urged to reject the proposition she dumped a dehydrator as part of a “wild panic”.

Alleged triple-murderer Erin Patterson’s actions in dumping a dehydrator were not part of a “wild panic”, prosecutors have urged the jury to find.

Continuing her closing address to the jury on Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC said Ms Patterson’s actions in taking the dehydrator to the tip was an “important piece of evidence”.

She told the jury it was one of the first things Ms Patterson did after she was released from hospital in the afternoon of August 1, travelling to the Koonwarra Transfer Station at 11.30am the following day.

“The prosecution says the only reason the accused would dump the dehydrator in this way and at this time is because she knew she had used it to prepare the meal,” she said.

“Defence may argue this is part of a wild panic … you should reject that proposition.”

Dr Rogers pointed to Ms Patterson’s evidence in the witness box about panicking after she claimed her husband, Simon Patterson, accused her of using the dehydrator to poison his parents while in hospital on August 1.

The prosecutor called the story “nonsense” and said Simon had categorically rejected this in his own evidence.

“If there was nothing incriminating about the dehydrator why hide it? There is only one possible reason; she knew it would incriminate her,” Dr Rogers said.

Erin Patterson has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder. Picture: Brooke Grebert-Craig.

Ms Patterson, 50, is facing trial after pleading not guilty to murdering three of her in-laws and the attempted murder of a fourth on July 29, 2023.

Prosecutors allege she deliberately poisoned Don and Gail Patterson, and Ian and Heather Wilkinson with a beef Wellington lunch spiked with death cap mushrooms at her home in Victoria’s southeast.

Don, his wife Gail, and Gail’s sister Ms Wilkinson died in the week following the lunch, with Ms Patterson’s defence arguing the case is a tragic accident.

Her husband Simon’s parents and aunt died after eating lunch prepared by Ms Patterson. Picture. NewsWire/Nadir Kinani

‘Dummy phone’ used to frustrate police: Crown

Dr Rogers then moved to the evidence of Ms Patterson’s mobile phones, claiming she handed over a “dummy phone” to police during the search warrant at her home on August 5.

The prosecutor said the evidence showed this device was not the accused’s usual phone, did not contain her usual SIM card and was factory reset three times.

Dr Rogers said the phone was wiped at 11.09am on August 2, about 20 minutes before Ms Patterson dumped the dehydrator, on August 5 and again remotely on August 6 while the device was in police custody.

“It was not a phone or phone number the accused could truthfully claim was her phone when she handed it over to police,” she said.

Dr Rogers said the SIM handed over was first placed in “Phone B” on August 3 and Ms Patterson’s usual phone was never recovered by police.

“All of this was designed to frustrate the police investigation of the matter,” she said.

“We suggest she knew the information on Phone A would implicate her in the deliberate poisoning of the lunch guests.”

Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers (left) is expected to conclude her closing address on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire/ David Crosling

Dr Rogers next addressed a series of arguments she expected Ms Patterson’s barrister, Colin Mandy SC, to make when he addressed the jury later on Tuesday.

The first, she suggested, would be that the jury could not exclude the possibility that Ms Patterson innocently foraged for wild mushrooms and the matter was a “horrible foraging tragedy”.

Dr Rogers urged the jury to reject this argument, saying that the only evidence Ms Patterson was a mushroom forager came from her own mouth.

“The suggestion now that these mushrooms may have been accidentally foraged we suggest was a late change,” she said.

“It may have dawned on her that the Asian grocery story didn’t stack up … she had to come up with something new.”

Dr Rogers said the jury “simply cannot” take Ms Patterson’s word on the matter and argued all the evidence could satisfy the jury that she deliberately sought out and picked death caps for the lunch.

Lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson and his two daughters were present in court. Picture: NewsWire/ David Crosling

Crown details timeline of mushroom poisonings

In her closing remarks, Dr Rogers said “four calculated deceptions” sat at the heart of the Crown’s case against Ms Patterson.

These were allegedly: a fabricated cancer diagnosis to explain the reason for the lunch, the lethal dose of mushroom poisons “secreted” in the meal, Ms Patterson’s feigned illness, and a series of lies told to “conceal the truth” after the lunch.

As part of her closing remarks, Dr Rogers took the jury through a comparison of the medical trajectories of those present at the lunch.

“In total, the accused spent just over 24 hours in hospital care. Not one medical professional observed her appearing unwell,” she said.

“The evidence overwhelmingly indicates that she was certainly not sick with death cap mushroom poisoning.”

Dr Rogers urged the jury to reject Ms Patterson’s version of events. Picture: NewsWire / David Geraghty

Dr Rogers said each of the lunch guests first started feeling ill about midnight on July 30 and each attended hospital the following morning.

“Even early on Sunday morning, it was obvious just by looking at them that the lunch guests were very sick,” Dr Rogers said.

The prosecutor said Leongatha Hospital’s Dr Chris Webster reported seeing Heather and Ian both vomiting and unable to hold down water the morning after the lunch.

Compared to Ms Patterson at the time, her son gave evidence she was sitting at her dining table drinking a coffee when he woke.

Late on Sunday, Dr Rogers said Simon visited his father Don, giving evidence “he was really struggling” with a discoloured face and noticeable hunch lying on his side.

By 3pm Dr Rogers said Don Patterson’s blood tests were “extremely abnormal” while Ms Patterson drove the more than two hour round trip to her son’s flying lesson in Tyabb.

On Sunday evening, the court heard Don, who ate the largest serving of lunch, was showing signs of organ damage and was admitted to the ICU.

Overnight, Don’s wife Gail declined and was admitted to the ICU, the jury was told.

Don and Gail Patterson died a day apart in early August 2023. Picture: Supplied

The following morning a nurse observed Heather was continuing to have “active vomiting and diarrhoea” while Ian was particularly unwell and did not move around.

Dr Rogers said this was the same morning Ms Patterson prepared her children for school, dropped them at the bus stop and took herself to hospital.

“On that same day, July 31, by the time Ian and Heather Wilkinson were also transferred to Dandenong Hospital, Ian was reported to be extremely nauseated and constantly vomiting,” the prosecutor said.

“This is around the time that the accused had discharged herself from Leongatha Hospital and drove home … You saw for yourselves how she appeared on the CCTV.”

At 2.30pm on July 31, Dr Rogers said Don was critically ill and in multiple organ failure while Ms Patterson was “calm and chatty” in an ambulance on her way to Monash Medical Centre.

Gail’s younger sister Heather Wilkinson also died, while her husband Ian survived. Picture: Supplied.

“By August 1, 2023, all four of the lunch guests had been conveyed to the Austin Hospital ICU on life support and in an advanced state of multiple organ failure, with their organs essentially shutting down,” Dr Rogers said.

“This is the day the accused was discharged home from the Monash Medical Centre with no clinical or biochemical evidence of amanita mushroom poisoning.”

Dr Rogers told the jury she expected Ms Patterson’s defence to argue she was sick, just not as sick as the others.

She said she expected the defence to make the case she was less sick because she ate less, her claim of binge eating cake and vomiting after the lunch and that the lunch guests were more vulnerable.

“The prosecution invites you to find that she embarked on a course of conduct, over the days that followed the lunch, designed to make it seem that she also fell ill as a result of the lunch,” she said.

“She knew she had not eaten death cap mushrooms but realised she needed to look sick like the others so that suspicion would not fall on her.”

The trial continues.

Originally published as Erin Patterson trial: Crown details timeline of mushroom poisonings in closing address