Fatal lunch cook changed details on where and when she bought mushrooms, court told

A Health Department manager said she struggled to get hold of mushroom lunch cook Erin Patterson as she probed the cause of an outbreak of illness among Patterson’s guests.

Sally Ann Atkinson was part of a health response into the poisoning and was tasked with speaking to Patterson about what her lunch guests ate, and where and when she had obtained the mushrooms.

Sally Ann Atkinson outside court on Monday.Credit: Jason South

But Atkinson told the Supreme Court jury at Morwell that Patterson’s responses had changed, and she would respond only by text message and not take phone calls.

The jury was told the pair first spoke on August 1, 2023, by which time Don and Gail Patterson and Heather and Ian Wilkinson were severely unwell.

She said Patterson had told her she cooked the beef Wellington, served with potato mash, beans and gravy, because she had wanted to serve her guests something “fancy”.

Patterson said she had not foraged any mushrooms but had used dried mushrooms bought from an Asian grocer in April 2023 in Melbourne’s south-east, Atkinson said.

But Atkinson said that over the course of their conversations, Patterson changed the timing of the purchase and also the location.

“She wasn’t very clear,” Atkinson said.

“She confirmed that it was beef Wellington and she also served mashed potato and beans and that she’d also had a packet of gravy, one of those reheatable packets. She explained it was a meal she had never made before and that she wanted to do something fancy.

“I did ask her if she foraged for mushrooms, she said no, she had bought them.”

Erin Patterson.Credit: Jason South

Atkinson said Patterson had told her she had felt unwell on the night of the lunch with “explosive diarrhoea” but had started to feel better late the next day. After eating a bowl of cereal, Patterson said she started to feel unwell again and took herself to hospital.

The court heard Patterson told her she’d used dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer which she had rehydrated, chopped and mixed with mushrooms from Woolworths.

But Atkinson said she was having problems reaching Patterson by phone over a number of days, instead sending her a string of text messages.

In one read to the jury, Atkinson urged the lunch cook to try and narrow down the location of the Asian grocer.

“Think of the name of the roads you were parked on or near when you went to the different [Asian] grocery stores, then I can get officers out looking around those areas,” Atkinson said in a text.

In another, Atkinson wrote: “Good morning Erin, I left you a voicemail this morning as I really do need to work on getting parts of the investigation under way.”

Over the coming days, Atkinson said she texted back and forth with Patterson as her team tried to locate the Asian grocery store. This included sending photographs of mushrooms and discussing their potential colouring.

The court heard the pair were eventually able to speak on the phone, with Atkinson telling the jury that Patterson gave her different information about suburbs of interest in which they should be looking for the dried mushrooms.

“That was different, she hadn’t mentioned Glen Waverley to me before, she’d mentioned Mount Waverley,” Atkinson said.

The protester after he was removed from court on Monday.Credit: Jason South

Before evidence began on Monday, a protester was escorted from court after yelling at the judge, accusing him of a cover-up.

The man stood in the public gallery of the Supreme Court dressed in a pinstripe suit and yellow T-shirt which read: “All we are saying is give the truth a chance”.

In front of the jury, the man interrupted proceedings and yelled at Justice Christopher Beale about the alleged cover-up of “crimes of murder” before being swiftly removed by court staff.

Beale was unmoved by the interjection, telling the lawyers to continue moving along with the evidence.

Erin Patterson, 50, is accused of murdering her parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, by serving them poisonous mushrooms in a beef Wellington lunch she cooked at her Leongatha home on July 29, 2023.

Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson died in the days after the meal from the effects of mushroom poisoning. Heather’s husband, Ian, also ate the lunch but survived after weeks in hospital.

Erin Patterson has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder.

Later on Monday, Patterson cried as she sat in the dock as autopsy details about the deaths of three of her lunch guests were detailed in front of the jury.

Forensic pathologist Dr Brian Beer conducted or oversaw the autopsies conducted on Heather Wilkinson, and Don and Gail Patterson at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine after they died in early August 2023.

Dr Brian Beer leaves court.Credit: Jason South

He told the jury all three had acute liver failure and multiple organ failure consistent with someone who had eaten death cap mushrooms.

Beer said while Don Patterson’s remains were the only ones to test positive to Amanita, or death cap mushroom poisoning, both sisters had organ damage consistent with the same.

The pathologist said he was asked by police to perform immediate autopsies on the bodies after he was told it was believed all three had eaten a mushroom dish containing Amanita phalloides.

Beer’s first autopsy was on Heather Wilkinson, 66, after her death on August 4, 2023. He said he was unable to find any existing medical conditions and noted she appeared to have been a “fairly healthy” lady.

“There was very extensive necrosis of the liver, all of the liver cells were dead. In addition, the small and large bowel ... lining ... was necrotic. The cells were dead,” Beer said.

Beer said Wilkinson’s sister, Gail Patterson, 70, also died from acute liver failure and multiple organ failure.

From left: Don Patterson, Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson died from mushroom poisoning. Ian Wilkinson (right) survived after weeks in hospital.

The third autopsy, he said, was conducted on Don Patterson, 70, three days after his death.

Beer said he was aware Don Patterson had a failed liver transplant before his death. A urine sample taken before his death, the pathologist said, contained traces of death cap mushroom toxins. His cause of death was also liver necrosis and multiple organ failure. But unlike the others, a secondary cause of death was documented as Amanita phalloides toxicity, due to the existence of the urine sample.

Erin Patterson looked up at times with tears in her eyes as Beer confirmed his autopsy results.

Members of the Patterson and Wilkinson families, including Ian Wilkinson, were seated in the public gallery as Beer gave his evidence.

The trial continues.

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