The 15 most bizarre moments in the trial of mushroom murderer Erin Patterson
From sleepy jurors to court crashers, we’ve rounded up the 15 strangest moments in the trial of Erin Patterson — including one bombshell admission that was never heard by the jury.
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For 40 days, a humble regional courtroom played host to the trial of Erin Patterson.
A melting pot of characters would filter in each day to either watch or work.
It was serious business, but there was also laughter and levity.
From juror antics to surprise visitors, here are the most bizarre moments of the trial.
Simon’s bombshell
Little did anyone know that the trial almost imploded before it had truly begun.
In the first 10 seconds of his testimony, Erin’s estranged husband Simon Patterson revealed he was “still married” to the woman accused of murdering his family.
Later that day, Justice Christopher Beale had a small, but important, question.
“There is a matter I need to raise with you in the absence of the jury. I made certain assumptions and I just want to confirm that those assumptions are correct,” he said.
“The spouse of an accused person has a right to object to giving evidence.
“I’ve assumed that, from the history of this matter, you’ve been informed of that right previously and were willing to give evidence nonetheless.
“Now, are those assumptions correct?”
Simon pondered the question, as panic crept into the courtroom.
“No, I didn’t know I couldn’t, I didn’t know I had the right to object,” he said.
In that moment, Simon could have elected to leave the witness box and never come back, likely triggering a mistrial.
“But I don’t object,” he added.
“I’m happy to proceed giving evidence. I’m willing to give evidence. I think if I had been offered that before, I still would have said the same thing. I’m quite comfortable about that.”
The serial killer show & the spy
Rookie error for a renowned clinical psychologist and “criminal expert” to feature Erin in a live show dubbed ‘The Psychology of Serial Killers’ in Melbourne.
Dr Rachel Toles made the dumb move to plaster the accused’s face on a massive screen among notorious serial killers like Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer.
It is understood Dr Toles told the crowd of hundreds of true crime fanatics that she believed Erin was guilty.
Somehow, this made its way back to Morwell.
Justice Beale flagged with the parties that he considered the show a “possible contempt”.
But he had a plan to check whether any of the jurors had been exposed to the stupidity.
“I am minded … to get Mr Hastings to ask the jury whether any of the jury members attended any event or presentation in Melbourne over the weekend,” he said.
“I don’t think ignorance is bliss in this situation and … it is better to know than not to know.”
It was decided that his tipstaff, Stuart Hastings, would stroll into the jury room and ask the unsuspecting jurors a question.
“Did any of you attend an event in Melbourne over the weekend?”
Almost like a spy, Mr Hastings entered the jury room.
After less than a minute, he returned.
“There was one person who attended an event in Melbourne,” he said.
Everyone in the courtroom drew a sharp inhale.
“And that was … the soccer.”
Exhale.
Erin’s keepsake
It gets lonely in the witness box.
And so, on her sixth day of evidence, Erin decided she needed a little company.
But she could not escape the eagle eyes of Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC.
“The accused has gone into the witness box with a sheath of papers,” Dr Rogers said.
“And I ask that they be put on the ground, please, while she is giving her evidence.”
Justice Beale asked the accused what was clutching.
“I just brought a photo of my kids, that’s all,” Erin replied.
“But I’m happy to put it somewhere.”
She was swiftly forced to surrender the photo to her legal team.
Erin’s secret talent
In The King v Erin Patterson, you learn to expect the unexpected.
But no one was prepared for the accused to reveal a secret talent while giving evidence.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but the microphone immediately in front of Bill, it covers your face,” she told Dr Rogers.
“I lip-read a little bit.”
The more you know.
Buckle & chuckle
Undeniably, lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson was the star witness for the prosecution.
But as he testified about the lunch that would claim his wife’s life and nearly claim his own, the chair in the witness box almost gave way.
The 71-year-old was startled, but he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“We do this to all our witnesses,” Justice Beale joked.
“I thought I was being lowered to the basement,” Ian quipped.
Missing in action
The well-oiled prosecution team had been maintaining a steady flow of witnesses for more than a week.
But they hit a snag when it was time to call respected mycologist Tom May.
“Your Honour, the next witness will be Dr Tom May but apparently he’s gone for a short walk,” Dr Rogers said.
Ironically, Dr May was on a walk when he spotted death cap mushrooms growing in the wild in Outtrim on May 21, 2023.
Later in the trial, Justice Beale gave a shout out to Dr May.
“I just want to take the opportunity to say that things have gone very smoothly throughout the trial and I am grateful to all the parties in that regard and their solicitors who, no doubt, on the prosecution side, kept that flow of witnesses going,” he said.
“It would have been a challenge, but we didn’t have gaps except for I think when Dr May went for a walk.”
Beetlejuice
In every sense of the word, a surprise visitor crept into the courtroom to witness the testimony of digital forensics expert Matthew Sorell.
“Sorry, I have a nice little beetle crawling across the microphone here, that’s a bit distracting,” Dr Sorell said.
According to the transcript, defence barrister Colin Mandy SC greeted the creature.
“Welcome beetle,” he said.
Dr Sorell added: “It’s obviously here for the excitement.”
Courtcrasher
Speaking of surprise visitors, a protester also managed to sneak into the courtroom.
And he had his sights squarely set on Justice Beale.
He leapt to his feet, startling this journalist two seats away.
“How can you be a judge?” he yelled.
Dressed in a yellow T-shirt with “all we are saying is give truth a chance” in black letters, he made a reference to “concealed crimes” before he was frogmarched out.
“Major disaster” in Morwell
An unexpected power outage delayed proceedings in the sixth week of the trial.
In the absence of the jury, Mr Mandy turned to the public gallery.
“Major disaster, everything’s fried,” he declared.
“We have to start the trial again!”
This prompted laughter from the crowd, including Ian, seated in the back row.
Yes Ma’am
For Detective Leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall, an army sergeant turned homicide squad detective, old habits die hard.
He started his testimony by answering most questions put to him by Crown prosecutor Jane Warren with “yes, ma’am”.
“You don’t have to keep saying ma’am,” Justice Beale politely interjected.
“Yeah, it’s a habit, sir … Your Honour,” Constable Eppingstall replied.
Not that Ms Warren minded.
“I was just going along with it,” she joked.
With concentration written all over his face, Constable Eppingstall replied “yes” to the next question, but it was, well, short-lived.
“Now, on 2 August, were you updated that four people involved in the lunch were in intensive care at the Austin Hospital?” Ms Warren asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied.
Helping hand
The jury sure took a shine to Constable Eppingstall.
So when he needed a helping hand, one juror was happy to oblige.
Justice Beale had asked Constable Eppingstall about Erin’s transaction history from Woolworths, particularly what one of the columns represented.
“I’m not sure what the right-hand column is, Your Honour,” he replied.
“I do!” the juror blurted out.
With a smile, Justice Beale turned to the jury box.
“Well, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for that, but keep your comments for the jury room,” he said.
Man down
Jury antics were aplenty.
After one afternoon break, the jurors filtered into the courtroom, but looked around to realise they were one man down.
A male juror must have been daydreaming when he was left behind in the jury room.
The jury forewoman went to grab him, but could not wrench open the door.
Access pass in hand, Mr Hastings came to the rescue and the male juror was safely retrieved.
Dress to impress
Gather round kids. It’s time to learn about the art of advocacy.
On the last day of Mr Mandy’s closing address, curious students filtered into the courtroom.
And one teenager dressed for the occasion, wearing a black long-sleeved top with red and white mushrooms on it.
We’re sure Erin was a fan.
Wake up, Jeff!
It’s safe to say that some of the evidence was … dense.
One juror had a hard time keeping his eyes open during Mr Mandy’s closing address.
“Your Honour, just one matter. It is just in relation to one of the jurors who seems to be falling asleep,” Mr Mandy told Justice Beale.
“I haven’t made eye contact myself, but my instructors have noticed. I’ll just keep an eye on it and if we need to yell, or take more breaks, then we’ll do that.”
Downtown Morwell
The length of the marathon trial was anyone’s guess.
Before the closing addresses, Justice Beale asked Dr Rogers and Mr Mandy how many days they would spend on their feet.
“Only one, I think, Your Honour … but don’t hold me to it,” Mr Mandy said.
“I think your estimate of this trial was four weeks, Mr Mandy,” Justice Beale joked.
“Don’t believe a word he says, Your Honour,” Dr Rogers quipped.
Mr Mandy grinned.
“And my charge will take at least a couple of days,” Justice Beale said.
“Yes. So another two and a half weeks in downtown Morwell,” Dr Rogers replied.
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