Juror discharged because judge ‘received information’ he had been discussing the Erin Patterson case with family and friends

A child protection worker called to give evidence in the triple murder trial of Erin Patterson has told the jury she made beef wellington because she found it in a RecipeTin Eats cookbook and wanted “to do something new and special”.

A best-selling RecipeTin Eats cookbook has been drawn into the Erin Patterson trial as a juror was discharged in a shock development to the high-profile case.

Justice Christopher Beale told the Supreme Court jury he had discharged a male juror after discovering he had allegedly been discussing the case with family and friends.

But the court heard Ms Patterson’s triple murder trial would proceed.

The remaining 14 jurors heard from two witnesses on Thursday, including a toxicologist who confirmed death cap mushroom toxins were found in both leftovers of the beef wellington meal and debris from the dumped dehydrator.

A best-selling RecipeTin Eats cookbook has been drawn into the mushroom murder trial.

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.

She served them individual beef wellingtons allegedly laced with lethal 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 count of attempted murder, claiming what happened was a “tragedy and a terrible accident”.

Justice Beale told the court he had discharged the juror because he had “received information” he had been discussing the case with family and friends contrary to the instructions they were given on the first day of the trial.

“I was of the view there was a reasonable possibility that the information I’d received was credible,” he said.

“I want to remind you of my directions that you should only discuss the case with your fellow jurors in the privacy of the jury room.”

But he stressed he had not made a “positive finding” that the juror had discussed the case, but rather he could not dismiss the possibility that he had.

“On that unhappy note, we’re now ready to resume the trial,” he said.

Erin Patterson is standing trial for murder and attempted murder. Picture: Ian Currie

Child Protection worker Katrina Cripps was called to give evidence and told the court she spoke to Ms Patterson on August 1, three days after the lunch.

She said Ms Patterson prepared beef wellington with mashed potato and green beans because she found it in a RecipeTin Eats cookbook and wanted “to do something new and special”.

The court heard she told Ms Cripps she had bought pre-sliced mushrooms from Woolworths and dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer.

“She said that she read that the (mushrooms from the Asian grocer) would add a nice flavour to the beef wellington,” she said.

Ms Cripps said Ms Patterson told her she had “dished up all the plates”, before the lunch guests chose their own plates and she took the one that was left over.

When asked how much of the beef wellington meal did Ms Patterson tell her she had eaten, she replied: “Half.”

The court heard Ms Patterson described her estranged husband Simon Patterson as ‘controlling and emotionally abusive’. Picture: AFP

Ms Cripps said she also spoke to her about her relationship with her estranged husband, which she said turned “nasty” amid a child support dispute.

“She applied for child support because she was seeking family tax benefit,” she said.

“She said it had changed the relationship with her and Simon.

“She (said) Simon, as a husband, had been mean but he’d never been nasty and she felt that that’s the time that he had become nasty towards her.”

Ms Cripps said she had also described Simon as “controlling and emotionally abusive”.

Later, Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine forensic toxicologist Dr Dimitri Gerostamoulos gave the jury a lesson in death cap mushroom amatoxins, namely alpha-amanitin and beta-amanitin.

The court heard how leftovers of the beef wellington, which were fished out of a bin at Ms Patterson’s home and vegetable matter/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.

The court also heard both alpha-amanitin and beta-amanitin were detected in four samples of the vegetable matter/debris.

The defence has admitted Ms Patterson lied to police about dumping her dehydrator.

Dr Dimitri Gerostamoulos gave evidence on Thursday. Picture: Nadir Kinani

Dr Dimitri Gerostamoulos said the lethal dose of amatoxins for humans was about 50g for a 70kg person.

The court heard both alpha-amanitin and beta-amanitin were detected in samples taken from Don and Ian, while neither were detected in Gail and Heather’s samples.

The samples provided by the accused and her two children were also negative for alpha-amanitin and beta-amanitin.

The remaining 14 jurors – 9 men and 5 women – will hear the remainder of the evidence before two are balloted off before deliberations commence.

The trial continues.