Mushroom deaths accused Erin Patterson faces lengthy stint before trial

Erin Trudi Patterson could face more than a year on remand before the evidence against her is heard after facing court charged with killing three elderly people.

Court sketch of accused murderer Erin Patterson.

Sometimes prison has its upside.

In Erin Trudi Patterson’s case, the woman charged with three counts of murder and five of ­attempted murder over the Leongatha mushroom deaths, appeared in court on Monday in much better shape than she was last November.

Better-groomed, thinner and maybe even clearer-eyed, her large spectacles dominated her now very well-known face.

Dressed in prison blue with her hair back in a bun, Patterson had a full 30 minutes sitting in a roughly 2m x 3m, carpeted booth at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre where she spent most of her time looking downwards, maybe even doing what she does best … reading, or thinking about reading, her next book.

She said very little save for brief and largely inconsequential exchanges with magistrate Tim Walsh and a clumsy period at the start of proceedings in Morwell, in the heart of Victoria’s Latrobe Valley.

The actual court hearing lasted about 10 minutes, with the rest of the time taken up with post-Covid annoyances like lawyers using the wrong audio visual link, with both prosecution and the defence initially absent from the TV screens sitting high up in the court.

Just as Ms Patterson, 49, looked fresher, room 5 of the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court was a very different place to the other room last November when Ms Patterson first appeared as a dishevelled mess after her first night in custody.

There were fewer reporters and visitors at the back of Mr Walsh’s court on Monday didn’t even seem to know who Ms ­Patterson was, even when her image was emblazoned upon the right hand wall, roughly near the dock and alongside names of some of the people who had joined online to watch.

Morwell is about 45 minutes from Leongatha, where Ms ­Patterson lived before being charged, and is local enough for the accused to want to have her committal heard there.

Ms Patterson leaves court in a police van. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Josie Hayden

Mr Walsh seemed very keen to get Ms Patterson before the courts for a committal hearing that will take as much as three weeks, given the huge brief of evidence, and the enormity of the case.

By way of comparison, four weeks was set down for the late Cardinal George Pell, who was initially convicted of rape and then freed by the High Court.

At the weekend, Mr Walsh, a forthright provincial magistrate, perused the prosecution brief and was surprised by the weight of the document.

“It’s quite voluminous, I must say,” he said.

Mr Walsh, who had showed professional compassion for Ms ­Patterson the day after her arrest, was worried that if the prisoner wanted to have the case heard in Morwell, it could be into next year before the committal could be held locally.

Plus, he said, Morwell was not exactly local to Leongatha – ­although it must be said it was much closer than downtown ­Melbourne.

Mr Walsh also raised options of going straight to the Supreme Court or having a committal heard in the CBD.

Ms Patterson’s shiny new lawyer, Colin Mandy SC, said his instructions were that Ms Patterson wanted the matter in her local area.

“We are content to wait until a committal,” he said.

Asked if Ms Patterson understood that there could be big delays if she wanted it heard in Morwell, Mr Mandy said: “Yes, she understands that, your ­honour.’’

Mr Mandy is a bright bloke, who has acted for white collar criminals and at least one accused terrorist; a man called Ari Sherani, whom Mr Mandy reportedly described last year as a “weed-smoking, fun-loving guy into smoking bongs and funny TikToks”.

Ari Sherani got off.

Mr Mandy has apparently taken the place of Philip Dunn KC, who is one of the legends of the Bar when it comes to fighting the prosecution on diverse matters of alleged criminal wrong­doing.

Ms Patterson has not been able to request bail and we don’t know whether she will plead guilty to the charges.

She is alleged to have served a beef Wellington meal last July 29 that’ police allege, killed her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and her former aunt through marriage, Heather ­Wilkinson, 66.

The meal was allegedly served at her house in Leongatha, about 140km southeast of Melbourne, with Ms Patterson also saying she fell ill from the same meal that police said included death cap mushrooms.

Ms Patterson was remanded to reappear via video link on May 7 for a further procedural hearing in a case that looks like dragging well into 2025 – or even later.

Mr Walsh raised the spectre of the case being transferred to Melbourne and questioned whether she would be on remand for an extended period if the matter were heard in Morwell, which is about a half an hour drive from Leongatha.

Morwell is 145km southeast of Melbourne.

Ms Patterson appeared for about 30 minutes after a technical issue with the audio visual link.

Ms Patterson allegedly served a beef Wellington meal last July 29 that police said killed her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and her former aunt through marriage Heather Wilkinson, 66.

The meal was allegedly served at her house in Leongatha, about 140km northwest of Melbourne, with Ms Patterson also saying she fell ill from the same meal that police said included death cap mushrooms.

She is charged with murdering the three elderly people and also with attempting to murder her former husband, Simon Patterson, 49, several times and Heather Wilkinson’s husband Ian, 68. Ian, a Baptist minister, was at the lunch but Simon Patterson wasn’t although he was allegedly invited.

He and Simon Patterson live in nearby Korumburra, which is a 10 minute drive from Leongatha.

Police allege that Simon Patterson was invited to the lunch but did not attend.

Monday’s hearing in Morwell in the Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court came after she was charged last November with the three counts of murder and five of attempted murder.

The story has attracted global attention, coming after Ms Patterson has stridently said she did not kill the people involved.

Ms Patterson appeared from Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, Victoria’s prison for women, where she will have attained high profile status because of the nature of the crime.

Few women in Australia have faced as many murder charges.