Weight loss, finances, in-laws: Erin Patterson testifies in mushroom murder trial
After five weeks of watching quietly as witnesses testified to her character, relationships and medical history, Erin Patterson entered the witness box on Monday.
Accused mushroom killer Erin Patterson has begun testifying in her triple-murder trial, claiming her estranged husband drove a wedge through her relationship with her elderly in-laws and tried to stop her involvement with his family.
After five weeks of watching quietly as witnesses testified to her character, relationships and medical history, Ms Patterson entered the witness box on Monday and described the breakdown of her relationship with the Patterson family.
She also gave evidence to the fractured marriage she had with Simon Patterson, saying the pair struggled to communicate, and would sometimes hurt one another.
Ms Patterson has been charged with the murder of her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, after allegedly feeding them a beef Wellington laced with poisonous mushrooms on July 29, 2023.
She had also been charged with the attempted murder of Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, who ate the meal but survived after a lengthy hospital stay. She has pleaded not guilty.
About 3pm on Monday, Ms Patterson’s counsel Colin Mandy announced he would call his client to give evidence.
Dressed in a dark paisley shirt and black pants, Ms Patterson entered the witness box, poured herself a cup of water, and began to answer Mr Mandy’s questions.
He began by asking her about the “good things” in her life in 2023: her two children, her house, her plans to go back to school.
Ms Patterson said her son and daughter had recently moved schools and were doing “better than I expected”. She had designed and had built a new home in Leongatha, and had plans to “grow old” in it.
The court heard Ms Patterson had been accepted to study midwifery and nursing at Federation University but had deferred her studies because of concerns about her daughter. “I was comfortable financially, such that I could afford to go to university and I didn’t need to work a full-time job at the same time,” she said.
Mr Mandy then asked her about the things that “weren’t so good” around the time of the lunch.
“I had felt for some months that my relationship with the wider Patterson family, but particularly Don and Gail, perhaps had a bit more distance or space put between us,” she said.
“We saw each other less. I mean, partly, it’s a consequence of I no longer lived in the same town as Don and Gail, but I’d come to have concerns that Simon was not wanting me to be involved too much with the family any more.
“Perhaps I wasn’t being invited to so many things.”
Her relationship with Simon Patterson had become “functional”, she said, and they mainly “just related on logistical things”.
At the time, she said, she was also “fighting a never-ending battle of low self-esteem” because of having put on weight.
She had planned to have gastric bypass surgery, she said.
Ms Patterson testified to the early days of her relationship with Simon Patterson after they met working at the Monash City Council.
She recalled the pair would go camping with friends most weekends, and on one of those weekends in early 2005 they stayed at Don and Gail Patterson’s home.
On that trip, she went to the Korumburra Baptist Church for the first time and heard pastor Ian Wilkinson preach on “faith, hope and love”.
Prior to that, she had been a “fundamental atheist” but she had a “spiritual experience” as Mr Wilkinson delivered his sermon.
“I’d been approaching religion as an intellectual exercise up until that point,” she said.
Erin and Simon Patterson began a romantic relationship in July 2005, and were engaged in February 2007. Don and Gail Patterson were the first to hear of the engagement, she said.
The wedding was held at the Korumburra Anglican Church so Heather and Ian Wilkinson would feel free to attend as guests, Ms Patterson said.
The Wilkinsons’ son David walked her down the aisle as her parents were on holiday in Russia.
The couple set off on a trip across Australia shortly after they were married and in September 2007 they arrived in Perth.
Mr Patterson was keen to keep travelling, but Ms Patterson wished to start a family, she said.
She became emotional when describing the “traumatic” birth of their son.
She said her in-laws came to help her after he was born.
“I remember being really relieved that Gail was there because I felt really out of my depth,” she said.
“I had no idea what to do with a baby and I was not confident.
“She was really supportive, and gentle and patient with me.”
After about three months, Simon Patterson was keen to continue their travels.
The young family made it to Townsville in about November 2009, and Ms Patterson said she’d “had enough”.
“The agreement we came to was that I flew back to Perth and Simon followed with (our son) in the Patrol,” she said.
When she returned to Perth, Ms Patterson said she rented a “little cottage” with her son, while Simon hired an onsite caravan nearby.
The pair stayed separate for about two or three months, she said.
Ms Patterson testified to short periods of separation between her and her husband between 2009 and 2014.
“We just couldn’t communicate well when we disagreed about something,” she said.
“We could never communicate in a way that made each of us feel heard or understood, so we would just feel hurt and not know how to resolve it.”
Ms Patterson will continue giving evidence on Tuesday.
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