‘They did love me and I did love them’: Erin Patterson denies having ‘two faces’ regarding her in-laws

Mushroom cook Erin Patterson had “two faces” and pretended to love her in-laws before she allegedly murdered them with a poison beef wellington meal, a prosecutor in the Supreme Court trial has claimed.

Erin Patterson insists she loved her in-laws. Picture: Brooke Grebert-Craig.

Mushroom cook Erin Patterson had “two faces” and was pretending to love her in-laws before she allegedly murdered them with a deadly beef wellington meal, a prosecutor has claimed.

The mother of two has spent every day this week testifying in her own triple-murder trial and on Friday faced another grilling by Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC.

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 lethal death cap mushrooms at her Leongatha home on July 29, 2023.

Heather’s husband, pastor Ian Wilkinson, 71, was the only guest to survive.

Lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson leaves court. Picture: David Crosling

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 along with dried mushrooms she purchased from an Asian grocer.

Under cross-examination, Dr Rogers suggested Ms Patterson did not love Don and Gail, pointing to expletive-laden messages to her Facebook friends where she described them as a “lost cause” and “wanted nothing to do with them”.

Dr Rogers asked: “In fact, you had two faces: a public face of appearing to have a good relationship with Don and Gail … agree or disagree?”

Ms Patterson replied: “Are you asking me to agree if I had two faces?”

When pressed again, she said: “I had a good relationship with Don and Gail.”

Dr Rogers asked: “I suggest that your private face was the one you showed in your Facebook Messenger use, correct or incorrect?”

She replied: “Incorrect.”

Erin Patterson denies having had “two faces” when it came to her in-laws. Picture: Jason Edwards

Ms Patterson also disagreed that she was angry they took their son Simon’s side amid a child support dispute in December 2022.

“They did love me and I did love them. I do love them,” she told the Supreme Court.

Dr Rogers put to Ms Patterson that if she “had loved them” she would have immediately notified the authorities when she realised on August 1 there was “possibility” foraged mushrooms were in a container with the dried mushrooms from the Asian grocer.

“Well I didn’t … I had been told that people were getting treatment for possible death cap mushroom poisoning, so that was already happening,” she said.

She confirmed she “did not tell anybody” about that possibility.

The court heard Ms Patterson invited the guests and Simon to lunch after a church service on July 16, with Simon testifying that she said to him she had some “important medical news” to share and had invited everyone “to discuss that topic”.

“No, that’s not what I said to him,” Ms Patterson replied.

“That wasn’t the purpose of the lunch or the purpose of the invitations.”

Dr Rogers took her to the text she sent Simon after he pulled out of the lunch on July 28.

“That’s really disappointing. I’ve spent many hours this week preparing lunch for tomorrow which has been exhausting in light of the issues I’m facing … I may not be able to host a lunch like this again for some time,” she wrote.

After a series of rapid-fire questions, Ms Patterson said she did tell Simon she wanted to discuss some “medical stuff”, but she denied that she wanted advice and that it was the purpose of the lunch.

The jury has previously heard she misled her guests when she told them she may need treatment for cancer, but she testified on Friday she was “confronting” medical issues, since she was planning to have gastric bypass surgery.

Ms Patterson denied she prepared a poisoned beef wellington for Simon “just in case” he turned up at the lunch.

“And when he didn’t show up for lunch … you threw it in your rubbish bin,” Dr Rogers said.

“I did put the pastry and mushrooms in the rubbish bin,” she replied.

Dr Rogers also asked Ms Patterson why she invited the Wilkinsons to lunch.

“I really liked them and I wanted to have a stronger relationship with them,” she said.

Dr Rogers suggested she invited them because she thought it would make it more likely that Don, Gail and Simon would come, but she denied that was the reason.

Death cap mushrooms. Picture: Supplied

Later, Ms Patterson was asked about records that showed a map about death caps – on citizen science website iNaturalist – was accessed on May 28, 2022, on a computer in her house.

“I don’t have a specific memory of this day or this internet search, but my evidence is it’s possible, because I remember at some point wanting to find out if death cap mushrooms grow in South Gippsland and finding out that they do not,” she said.

Ms Patterson told the jury on Wednesday she found out mushrooms growing on her property were “probably toxic to dogs” and she wanted to see if death caps grew in the area.

The trial, before Justice Christopher Beale, continues.