Erin Patterson trial: Deadly mushrooms identified near Loch months before fatal lunch
The accused triple-murderer’s mobile was detected in regional towns at which poisonous mushrooms had been spotted in the months before her fatal beef Wellington lunch, a telecommunications expert says.
The mobile phone of accused triple-murderer Erin Patterson was detected visiting regional towns where poisonous mushrooms had been spotted and posted online in the months before she hosted a fatal beef Wellington lunch, a court has heard.
Telecommunications expert Matthew Sorell on Monday gave evidence that Ms Patterson possibly visited two sites across Outtrim and Loch at which death cap mushrooms had been detected and posted to the iNaturalist website.
Ms Patterson has been accused of using the poisonous mushrooms to murder her estranged husband’s elderly relatives at a lunch at her home in Leongatha on July 29, 2023.
She has pleaded not guilty.
The jury on Monday heard evidence from retired pharmacist Christine McKenzie who said she spotted death cap mushrooms at a recreational oval in Loch, South Gippsland, on April 18, 2023.
She told the court she had been trained to detect deadly mushrooms through work with the Victorian Poisons Information Centre, and identified death caps around the roots of an oak tree.
After taking photos of them, she moved to dispose of them in a dog poo bag. “Because of my training at the poisons centre, I’m very aware of the toxicity of amanita phalloides, and it’s a popular area for people to walk their dogs; I know the Loch kindergarten also has bush kinder where they take children to the general area,” she said. “I was very keen to remove all the samples I could find.”
Asked whether she believed more mushrooms could grow in the area, Ms McKenzie replied: “There is certainly a risk more could come up over subsequent days, weeks, I’m not sure.”
However, she said she did not return to the oval to see whether more had grown.
Later that evening, Ms McKenzie posted photos of the mushrooms under the profile name “chrismck” and geo-tagged to the western side of an oval near the Loch Suspension Bridge.
During cross-examination, defence counsel Sophie Stafford showed the court pictures of other posts Ms McKenzie had made on the iNaturalist website of stubble rosegill and buttery collybia mushrooms.
The jury has previously been told these mushrooms look very similar to death cap mushrooms but were not poisonous.
Ms McKenzie told the court she had become “fascinated by the world of fungi” while working with the poisons centre. “I did a lot more extra reading and went on some forays with some expert people and did a lot of extra reading because it became a personal interest,” she said.
She said she didn’t forage for mushrooms but just finds them “beautiful”.
“When I go for a walk I’m always looking for fungi, so I always suspected there might be death cap mushrooms under the oak trees on the oval because they’re quite old,” she said. “I had never seen them earlier than that day.”
Ms McKenzie is the second witness to have testified to posting pictures of death cap mushrooms to iNaturalist.
Mycologist Tom May earlier in the trial said he had uploaded photos of death caps on Neilson Street in Outtrim on May 21, 2023.
Dr Sorell on Monday told the court he had been asked by Victoria Police to analyse the cell phone data of Ms Patterson relating to her movements to the Outtrim and Loch areas.
He said he could do this by extracting event-based monitoring data and charge records revealing when her mobile phone linked with Telstra base stations in the area.
Dr Sorrell said data from May 22, 2023, showed Ms Patterson was likely in the Leongatha region before 11.24am, but after that her phone predominantly connected with cell towers near Outtrim.
Event-based monitoring of her phone records showed her mobile pinged the Outtrim base station at 11.24am, 11.31am, 11.36am and 11.41am.
At 11.49am her phone linked with the Foster North base station – which Dr Sorell said was typical of a phone searching for another connection – before connecting with the Outtrim tower again.
He said the data showed she appeared to be “relatively stationary” during that period.
Dr Sorrell said it was “possible there was a visit to Neilson Street” during the time Ms Patterson was in Outtrim.
In his opinion, he said, Ms Patterson may have visited the Loch area from Korumburra on April 28, 2023, between 9.06am and 10.07am but it was not a “strongly supported proposition”.
On May 22, 2023, he said Ms Patterson’s phone had “persistent connections” with the Loch base stations.
Ms Patterson has been charged with the murder of her estranged husband Simon Patterson’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson.
She had also been charged with attempting to murder Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, who was present at the lunch but survived after a lengthy stay in hospital.
Mr Wilkinson was present in court on Monday and sat alongside his daughter Ruth Dubois, who gave evidence earlier in the trial.
The matter is being heard in the Victorian Supreme Court, which is currently sitting 155km east of Melbourne in Morwell.
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