The lies that got ‘crazy Erin’ sacked from air traffic control gig
Former colleagues of triple murderer Erin Patterson — whose maiden name was Scutter — have described her as a pathological liar who “managed to get guys wrapped around her little finger”.
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Triple murderer Erin Patterson was nicknamed “Scutter the Nutter” by her air traffic controller course mates before she was sacked for lying about her working hours.
Patterson was part of Airservices Australia’s traffic control course number four in Melbourne between February and November 2001.
The Herald Sun can reveal the callous murderer, whose maiden name was Scutter before marrying Simon Patterson in 2007, was secretly dubbed “Scutter the Nutter” among her training group.
A course mate, who asked not to be named, said she was also called “crazy Erin”.
“Something was not quite right, she was a bit strange,” they said.
“She would say some weird off the cuff things … she wasn’t a nice person, she just wasn’t someone you connected too.”
The course mate said Patterson was “super secretive” about her life.
“We all knew about each other’s families but not Erin’s, she would say nothing about hers,” they said.
“She didn’t engage with anyone, she had no friends, she was a loner.”
In text messages previously revealed by the Herald Sun, Patterson slammed her mother, Heather Scutter, calling her a “cold robot”.
Ms Scutter died in 2019 leaving an inheritance to Patterson and her sister Ceinwen Scutter.
Another former colleague said Patterson’s time at Airservices Australia ended under a cloud.
They said management became sceptical that she was regularly leaving work early but claiming the time.
After checking CCTV from the car park, they were able to confirm their suspicions.
The air-traffic controller said it was put to Patterson who lied until she was shown the time-stamped footage of her leaving.
“‘Ah, you’ve got me there’, was what she said,” they recalled.
The former colleague said Patterson was “manipulative” and a “pathological liar”.
“She was not a gregarious person. She was aggressive in many ways,” they said.
“She was a ritual, habitual and pathological liar, she would just say anything, just to get away with anything.”
The former colleague said, despite some personality issues, a number of men on staff had pursued Patterson and became quite “smitten”.
One was a married man who turned up at her house in the early hours saying he wanted to leave his wife for her.
“She managed to get guys wrapped around her little finger,” they said.