As it happened: Prosecutor suggests accused mushroom cook wanted to appear unwell after beef Wellington lunch - Erin Patterson trial day 29

Here is a recap of the key moments from the trial today:

• Erin Patterson returned to the witness box for a sixth day to be cross-examined by Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC.
• Patterson denied lying in her evidence about a pre-surgery appointment for a gastric bypass.
• Patterson said she can’t recall visiting a website that logged the observations of death cap mushrooms.
• Patterson rebutted the earlier evidence of lunch guest Ian Wilkinson, who had said the accused served the guests their lunch on four grey plates and hers separately on an orange-tan plate.
• Patterson denied eating all her beef Wellington lunch, insisting she ate only half of her meal.

Police informant Detective Acting Sergeant Stephen Eppingstall leads out members of the Homicide Squad on Tuesday.Credit: Jason South

• Patterson was questioned about the timing of when she began to feel ill and how that accorded with the evidence her children gave earlier in the trial.
• Patterson rolled her eyes and shrugged when it was suggested that she had told nurse Kylie Ashton that she wasn’t prepared to be admitted to hospital soon after she arrived there.
• Patterson said she does not remember anyone at Leongatha Hospital telling her that her life was at risk, but recalled being told it was time-sensitive that she receive treatment.
• When asked about her reluctance to bring her children to hospital for observation for fear of scaring them, Patterson said she thought the doctor’s assessment of the situation as “scared and alive, or dead” as a “pretty bizarre [thing] to say”.
• Patterson recalled the “sarcastic tone” of her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, in an exchange over who would pick up the children.
• The accused also denied the prosecutor’s suggestion that she wanted to appear ill after the beef Wellington lunch, as it might seem suspicious if she weren’t ill like the other guests.

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC, has asked Erin Patterson about the meal leftovers which police recovered from a bin at the accused woman’s home in Leongatha.

Rogers puts to Patterson that the food found in the bin was a single, individual beef Wellington cut in half. Patterson disputes that.

Erin Patterson (left) and prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC.Credit: The Age

Patterson: There was the mushroom and pastry from one full one and the mushroom and pastry from a bit that I didn’t eat.

Rogers: And how much did you eat?

Patterson: I think we’ve been over that.

Rogers: I’m asking you again.

Patterson: Somewhere between a third, a quarter or a half. I don’t know.”

Rogers suggested to Patterson that the beef Wellington she had prepared with death cap mushrooms and that she was going to serve her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, was in the bin.

Patterson: I didn’t make that sixth one for Simon.

Rogers: I suggest that you disposed of the leftovers in your rubbish bin sometime after when your guests left the house at 2.45pm on Saturday, July 29, 2023, and before you re-presented at Leongatha Hospital at 9.45am on July 31, 2023.

Patterson: Yes.

Rogers: I suggest you removed the steak from inside the leftovers before you put [the beef Wellington] in the bin.

Patterson: I did do that.

Rogers: The steak was put somewhere else. Where was it put?

Patterson: Into my children’s stomach.

Rogers: I suggest that you certainly did not feed that steak to your children.”

From left: Don Patterson, Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson died after ingesting poisonous mushrooms. Ian Wilkinson (right) survived after spending months in hospital.

Rogers suggests to Patterson that she helped the police find the leftovers because she had no means of removing them from the bin as she was at Leongatha Hospital.

Patterson: Why wouldn’t I just say there was no leftovers? That seems really convoluted.

Rogers: I suggest you assisted police in directing them to where the leftovers were because if you hadn’t told them where the leftovers were then it would be suspicious.

Patterson: I have no idea about that.”

This exchange concludes the evidence for the day.

Erin Patterson will continue her evidence on Wednesday. Thanks for following our live coverage.

Erin Patterson has denied suggestions by prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC, that the reason the accused woman told her estranged husband, Simon, and medical staff that she was unwell was because she wanted to appear as though she was also unwell after consuming the beef Wellington lunch.

Rogers said there was evidence from Professor Andrew Bersten that blood samples taken from Patterson at Leongatha Hospital sometime before midday on July 31, 2023, showed almost all of her results within the reference range.

Professor Andrew Bersten outside court on May 14.Credit: Justin McManus

Bersten’s evidence was that the results showed no evidence of liver injury, Rogers told the court.

Rogers: I suggest you were not seriously unwell because you did not consume even a minute amount of death cap mushrooms at the lunch. What do you say?

Patterson: I have no idea if I did or I didn’t.

Rogers: You were not suffering from death cap mushroom poisoning.

Patterson: Incorrect.

Rogers: You deliberately tried to make it look like you were.

Patterson: Incorrect.

Rogers: You did that because you knew you had not eaten death cap mushrooms and you knew how suspicious it would look if you did not seem sick like your guests.

Patterson: Incorrect.”

Erin Patterson has told her trial she couldn’t remember having diarrhoea at the time she drove her son’s friend home in the hours after the fatal lunch.

During her cross-examination, Patterson conceded to prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC, that she might have been confused when she told officials that she was worried about having an accident as she drove on the evening of July 29, 2023.

“I don’t know if I said it or not. But I may have. And I may have been confused about how I felt on Sunday [July 30, 2023],” Patterson told the jury.

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC, on Tuesday.Credit: Jason South

“I had had a lot of people ask me the same questions over and over, and I felt unwell and I felt anxious and I was feeling confused and stressed. I was doing my best to answer everyone’s questions, but I may have gotten things wrong along the way.”

Here is some of the exchange between Rogers and Patterson:

Rogers: Your evidence is that you had some diarrhoea on Saturday evening.

Patterson: That’s correct.

Rogers: Your evidence is that you wouldn’t have taken [your son’s friend] home if you felt you were going to have diarrhoea.

Patterson: I didn’t say that.

Rogers: Was it your evidence that you didn’t have diarrhoea and that’s why you took [the boy] home?

Patterson: No, I took [the boy] home because he needed to get home.

Rogers: Wasn’t it your evidence that you did not have diarrhoea when you took [the boy] home?

Patterson: Correct.

Rogers: Is it your evidence you had diarrhoea before you took [the boy] home?

Patterson: No.

Rogers: When was the first time in your evidence that you had diarrhoea on July 29, 2023?

Patterson: Late in the evening.

Rogers: How late?

Patterson: I’m not sure what time.”

The day after Erin Patterson was admitted to Monash Medical Centre, she received a message from Tanya Patterson, the sister-in-law of Erin’s estranged husband, Simon.

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC, has taken Erin Patterson to Tanya’s evidence from earlier in the trial, during which the court heard Tanya sent a message on August 1, 2023 asking how Erin was and offering to visit her in hospital.

Tanya Patterson outside court on May 8.Credit: Jason South

Tanya previously said in court that Erin told her she felt nauseous, dizzy and tired. Tanya recalled to the court that when she visited the hospital, she was told by hospital staff there was no Erin Patterson there.

Erin Patterson.Credit: Jason South

“I called Erin and she came out of the room and she said, ‘I’m here’ and I went in,” Tanya told the court during her evidence last month.

In her evidence, Tanya said she had told Erin at the hospital that she did not know the latest news about the health of the lunch guests, and that Erin Patterson indicated that she knew that Don and Gail Patterson were in a coma.

Tanya recounted to the court a discussion about Erin Patterson’s health, and that she hadn’t slept much in the hospital due to the noise, and that she was awaiting a blood test to see if she was well enough to go home.

In her evidence, Tanya said that while she was visiting Erin, a toxicologist came in to give Erin her blood results. Tanya said she overheard the toxicologist telling Erin that she was fine to go home, and her potassium levels weren’t as low as would be expected for someone who had experienced diarrhoea.

“I don’t remember her saying that,” Erin Patterson told the jury today.

Erin Patterson is being cross-examined about her time at Monash Medical Centre on July 31, 2023, after she was driven there from Leongatha Hospital.

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC, has taken the accused to the evidence of toxicologist Dr Laura Muldoon, who earlier in the trial described Patterson reporting that she had explosive diarrhoea “brown in colour” every 10 minutes or so.

Dr Laura Muldoon outside court on May 13.Credit: Joe Armao

“I certainly would have said I had it every 10 minutes for two days, but at its worst it may have been like that,” Patterson told the jury.

Sally Ann Atkinson outside court on May 26.Credit: Jason South

She said she could not remember using the word “explosive” to describe her bowel movements, but she might have.

Rogers also asked Patterson about evidence given by Department of Health manager Sally Ann Atkinson, who earlier told the court the accused woman reported starting to experience diarrhoea before midnight on the day of the lunch – July 29, 2023.

Earlier today, Rogers asked Patterson about evidence her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, gave to the trial. He said Patterson reported experiencing symptoms in the late afternoon of July 29, 2023.

Patterson: I’d had a couple of loose stools by then, but the diarrhoea didn’t start until later.

Rogers: Is there a difference in your mind between loose stools on one hand and diarrhoea on the other?

Patterson: In my book, diarrhoea is liquid and loose stools are loose stools. They are ... I mean, I don’t know if you have had any experience with the Bristol stool chart ... loose stools are somewhere near the line of diarrhoea but not quite there yet.”

Patterson said she remembered Simon and their children being in her room at Monash Medical Centre, but that Simon was there for 10 minutes. He spent “the majority of the time on his phone” in the hospital corridor, she said.

Erin Patterson has disputed more evidence given earlier in the trial by Cindy Munro, who was working as a nurse at Leongatha Hospital on July 31, 2023.

Cindy Munro outside court on May 8.Credit: Jason South

The accused disputed Munro’s evidence that as the nurse inserted a tube in Patterson’s arm, the mother of two told her “she did not want any of this”, she did not understand why she was having IV fluids and she did not want “any interventions”.

“That’s what I was in hospital for, to get treatment,” Patterson told the jury today.

“She’s taken a different angle on what happened. That’s my memory.”

Patterson said she went to hospital expecting to receive intravenous fluids.

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC, has now taken Patterson to evidence from her estranged husband Simon Patterson. Simon earlier told the court he received a phone call from Patterson while on his way to Dandenong Hospital, and she told him she had been at Leongatha Hospital and reported to staff that she had fed lunch leftovers to the children.

Erin Patterson agreed she told Simon she was going to be admitted to hospital and that she wanted to pick the children up from school herself. She agreed that Simon responded to her: “I am glad that you feel healthy enough to make that drive to pick up the kids.”

Erin Patterson and Simon Patterson.

In his evidence, Simon said Erin Patterson paused before agreeing that he should pick up the children instead.

Rogers: Do you agree that you paused?

Patterson: I have no idea.”

Rogers suggested Patterson had agreed that Simon would pick up the children because if she insisted on doing the drive it would undermine her being unwell.

Patterson: The only thing I remember out of that interaction is when he said that: ‘I’m glad you are well enough to drive’ ... I remember he said it in a really sarcastic tone that put me off a bit.

Rogers: Are you making this up as you go along, Ms Patterson?

Patterson: No.”

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC, is now asking Erin Patterson about the evidence given by Leongatha Hospital nurse Cindy Munro, who earlier said in court that she told Patterson that her the children could be unwell and needed to be taken to hospital.

Patterson said she was puzzled by Munro’s evidence since the nurse told the court the conversation happened about 11.45am on July 31, 2023 – two days after the lunch – and Patterson’s estranged husband Simon was already halfway to picking the children up from school.

Cindy Munro outside court on May 8.Credit: Jason South

“It wouldn’t have occurred at that time, and I don’t remember having that conversation with her at all,” Patterson told the jury.

Patterson said she was baffled by Munro’s evidence that it was the first time the nurse had heard about the children, since she had told Dr Veronica Foote and Dr Chris Webster two hours earlier.

Patterson said she did not recall telling Munro that her children were unwell.

“I don’t remember talking about the children at all with her,” Patterson said.

Patterson also disputed the timings provided by Munro.

“I remember discussing with Dr Foote about the children needing to come in before I spoke to Simon on the phone, which was well before 11.15[am] when I spoke to him. I think nurse Munro is a bit confused about the time of that conversation,” she said.

“I did not say anything about not wanting to cause any hassle. That was not the issue.”

Patterson agreed she had told hospital staff she didn’t want to stress or worry her children.

Erin Patterson is being asked about evidence given by Dr Chris Webster, during which he recalled telling her that her children could be “scared and alive, or dead” after she expressed reluctance to take them to the hospital for assessment.

Dr Chris Webster outside court on May 7.Credit: Jason South

Patterson: He made it clear that he thought they might be at risk.

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC: In the face of that, in your evidence, you were reluctant to tell the children.

Patterson: I was trying to make sense of what was going on and what Dr Webster was saying to me. I thought to be ‘scared and alive, or dead’ was a pretty bizarre [thing] to say.

Rogers: You were reluctant, I suggest, to have your children medically assessed. Correct or incorrect?

Patterson: Incorrect. I wanted to understand what the concerns were.

Rogers: You did not take immediate action to contact the school after Dr Webster spoke to you in the plaster room.

Patterson: Correct.”

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC, is asking Erin Patterson about the evidence given by Dr Matthew Sorell, an expert in mobile phone towers.

In his evidence, Sorell suggested that Patterson’s phone was initially connected to the Leongatha base station before connecting to the Outtrim base station tower about 1.45pm on July 31, 2023 – two days afer the lunch.

Dr Matthew Sorell outside court on May 19.Credit: Jason South

Rogers: I suggest that you drove on the Bass Highway towards Outtrim.

Patterson: I did not and that’s not possible.

Rogers: I suggest that’s why phone records show your phone tracking south-west of Leongatha.

Patterson: Incorrect.

Rogers: Is it your evidence that you did not leave your house after you returned home after leaving the hospital.

Patterson: I did leave the house. I went back to the hospital.

Rogers: I suggest that when you returned to Leongtha to re-present at the hospital you did so to maintain the fiction of you similarly being unwell as your lunch guests.

Patterson: Incorrect.”

Later, Rogers questioned Patterson about evidence given by another nurse, Mairim Cespon, related to the same day, July 31, 2023.

Rogers: And that’s what you spend one hour and 40 minutes doing while you were away from hospital ... thinking about ways to cover your tracks.

Patterson: I’m sure I did some thinking during that time but it wasn’t covering my tracks.

Rogers: Nurse Cespon says you re-presented at 9.48am and told her [you were] nauseated. After speaking with nurse Cespon, Dr [Chris] Webster came to speak with you again. The nurse said the doctor said in your presence the children needed to be reviewed and you got upset?

Patterson: Yes.

Rogers: And that Dr Webster told you your children needed to be medically reviewed?

Patterson: Yes.

Rogers: Cespon said you went to the toilet three times.

Patterson: I went to the toilet more than three times.

Rogers: Did you say to Ms Cepson, ‘It’s a bowel motion that does look like a wee but is a bowel motion’?

Patterson: I think I said something like that, yes.”