Erin Patterson trial: Video evidence of mushroom cook’s daughter to continue

Alleged mushroom poisoner Erin Patterson’s young daughter ate “leftovers” from the deadly lunch because her mother told her, a court has been told.

A video of Erin Patterson’s young daughter being interviewed by police is being played to the alleged poisoner’s triple-murder trial.

Ms Patterson is accused of deliberately poisoning four family members, three of whom died, with a beef wellington lunch spiked with death cap mushrooms on July 29, 2023, at her home in a small Victorian dairy town.

She has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, arguing the poisonings were an accident.

When the video resumed in court on Friday, the young girl told her interviewer she was served “leftovers” for dinner the following night.

“How did you know it was leftovers?” the interviewer asked.

“Mum told me,” the girl responded.

“I remember I was asking what we were having that night. She said she was making leftovers from yesterday’s lunch.”

Prosecutors allege the children’s meal was not contaminated with death cap mushrooms.

Erin Patterson became emotional during the video. Picture: NewsWire/ David Crosling

Mushroom chef’s child details lunch plans

About 30 minutes of the video, showing the child seated on a blue couch across from an interviewer, was displayed in the Latrobe Valley courthouse on Thursday afternoon.

In the video, the girl is asked by a male police officer if she knows what they’re going to discuss.

“The lunch,” she replies.

“I wasn’t there so I don’t know what happened.”

As the video played, Ms Patterson appeared emotional, her face appearing to quiver and she could be seen to wipe her nose with a tissue at one point.

The nine-year-old told her interviewer her mum told her she would be going to see a movie with her older brother and another boy the morning of the lunch.

The girl said she spent the evening with her father, Simon Patterson. Picture: NewsWire / David Geraghty

She said she saw “meat” in the oven and Ms Patterson was making a coffee as she explained she wanted to have lunch with her in-laws to discuss “adult stuff”.

“I don’t exactly know what they had but I know (brother) and me had leftovers the next day,” she said.

The young girl said she went to the cinema around midday on July 29, had McDonald’s for lunch and was picked up by her dad Simon Patterson, whom she spent the evening with.

The following morning the girl said Ms Patterson told her she had diarrhoea and her “tummy felt sore”.

“The just needed to go to the toilet a lot and she felt sick,” she said.

“We were going to go to church but mum was too sick.”

Later that night, the girl said Ms Patterson told them they were having “leftovers” with meat, mashed potato and green beans served.

“She wasn't really hungry so (brother) ate the rest of hers,” she said.

The interviewer questioned how she knew this, with the girl responding; “she told us”.

The girl’s grandparents Don and Gail Patterson died from death cap mushroom poisoning. Picture: Supplied

Prosecutors allege the children’s meal was not contaminated with death cap mushrooms.

Mr Patterson’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt and uncle, Heather and Ian Wilkinson, fell ill after Ms Patterson served a beef Wellington dish at lunch on July 29, 2023.

Don, Gail and Ms Wilkinson died in hospital within a week, while Ian recovered after more than a month and a half in hospital.

At the start of the trial, Ms Patterson’s lawyer Colin Mandy SC said it was not disputed the meal contained death cap mushrooms but asserted his client did not intentionally nor deliberately poisoned the dish.

“The defence case is that what happened was a tragedy, a terrible accident,” he said.

The trial, before Justice Christopher Beale, continues.

Originally published as Erin Patterson trial: Video evidence of mushroom cook’s daughter to continue