‘Morons’: Group chat pile-on targets Erin Patterson’s ex-husband, in-laws

Online friends of Erin Patterson said they hoped her estranged husband would ‘pay up soon’ and called him and his parents ‘morons’, according to group chat messages extracted as part of the mushroom chef’s murder trial.

Detective leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall and Erin Patterson. Picture: Composite NewsWire/ Supplied.

Online friends of Erin Patterson said they hoped her estranged husband would “pay up soon” and called him and his parents ­“morons”, in 186 pages of ­Facebook messages extracted as part of the mushroom chef’s ­murder trial.

Defence counsel Colin Mandy SC on Thursday said the comments provided “context” to earlier messages viewed by the jury in which Ms Patterson referred to Simon Patterson as a “deadbeat” and his parents, Don and Gail Patterson, a “lost cause”.

As he cross-examined the lead investigator into Ms Patterson’s 2023 lunch, which killed Don and Gail Patterson, Mr Mandy proposed the group of online friends was “venting to each other”.

It followed an earlier line of questioning in which Mr Mandy suggested police did not seize multiple devices when executing a search warrant on Ms Patterson’s home following the lethal meal.

Ms Patterson is currently standing trial for the murder of Don and Gail Patterson and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, after allegedly deliberately feeding them a beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms in July 2023.

She is also charged with the attempted murder of Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, who ate the meal but survived after a lengthy stay in hospital.

Ms Patterson has pleaded not guilty.

Erin Patterson at her Leongatha home in 2023. Picture: Jason Edwards

Mr Mandy on Thursday continued his cross-examination of Detective Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall, who was the lead investigator.

He showed the jury a series of messages from a Facebook group chat from December 2022 that allegedly included Ms Patterson, operating under the username Erin ErinErin. The court heard 186 pages of messages were extracted from the chat.

The jury has previously been shown some of the messages sent in this group, in which Erin ­ErinErin appeared to become ­frustrated with Don and Gail ­Patterson’s involvement in her marriage, which had turned sour due to financial disagreements.

“Simon’s dad contacted me this morning to say that he and Gail had tried to talk to son about the matter I raised and to get ‘his side’ but he refused to talk about it other than to signal he disagreed with what I said,” one Erin ErinErin message reads.

“Beyond that he won’t talk about it. So Don said they can’t adjudicate if they don’t know both sides and Simon won’t give his side. So he said all he can ask is that Simon and I get together and pray for the children.”

Lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson and his daughter, Ruth Dubois, arrive at court on Thursday. Picture: NewsWire / Diego Fedele

But Mr Mandy suggested the court had not been shown the “context” around the messages.

He showed the jury a message sent by one user, which said “What morons”.

“Anyway you weren’t asking them to adjudicate, you just wanted them to hear your story,” the message read.

In another message, a user wrote: “So Simon is meant to pray for his own children because they have a shit dad? It makes no sense.”

Another group member said: “You are human and you have every right to be upset and angry. If he is loving that then that makes him even worse. Hopefully he will have to pay up soon.”

A later message said: “I’m so sorry Erin, it’s so f..king hard when you’re not believed or listened to, or understood. I went through similar with my ex in-laws.”

Mr Mandy suggested to Senior Constable Eppingstall the group was “a chat where a number of the participants were talking like this … venting to each other?”.

Senior Constable Eppingstall replied: “Yes, that’s fair to say, sir.”

Mr Mandy on Thursday also questioned Senior Constable Eppingstall about laptops and phones that were not seized by police from Ms Patterson’s home.

The court was shown a series of photos taken from Ms Patterson’s house during the police search on August 5, 2023.

Mr Mandy pointed to a black object sitting on a windowsill in one photo, and suggested it was a Nokia phone. Senior Constable Eppingstall disagreed.

In a photo taken inside a study in Ms Patterson’s house, Mr Mandy suggested an object in a storage basket looked like a phone.

A second image from the room was a closer look at the shelf, which appeared to show two laptops.

“If they’re laptops this is the first I’m learning of these items,” Detective Senior Constable Eppingstall told the court.

Mr Mandy also suggested there was a USB storage device in the pantry of the home that was not seized.

Senior Constable Eppingstall said he was not personally conducting the search and was with Ms Patterson throughout the search.

The trial continues.