Erin Patterson trial live: mushroom cook’s daughter gives pre-recorded evidence in triple murder case over beef wellington lunch
Erin Patterson’s daughter is giving pre-recorded evidence
The jury is being shown pre-recorded video evidence from Erin Patterson’s daughter.
In the video, the daughter, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is being interviewed by a police officer.
Key events
The court has adjourned for the day
Justice Christopher Beale says jurors will be shown the remainder of Erin’s daughter’s video evidence tomorrow.
The officer asks Erin’s daughter to recall the meal they ate the day after the lunch.
She says her and her brother ate “some of the steak they had”.
“We had some mashed potatoes and beans,” she says.
The officer asks Erin’s daughter if the steak had anything else on it.
She replies: “no”.
The officer then asks about what plates Erin’s mother had at her Leongatha house.
Her daughter says they had a black and red plate – one her brother often used – and some white plates.
Erin’s daughter says her mother ate the same meal as the children on the Sunday evening but told them she was not very hungry because she was still unwell.
So [my brother] ate the rest of hers.
Daughter says Erin used the toilet 10 times
After the movie, Simon picked up the three children, the daughter says.
She says her father dropped off her brother at Erin’s house in Leongatha and her brother’s friend at their house in Korumburra.
Me and Dad hung out for the rest of the day.
Erin’s daughter says her father dropped her at her mother’s house at about 9pm on the day of the lunch.
She says she and Erin played on their tablets and then went to bed.
Her brother was playing on the computer, she says.
The officer asks how her mother was that evening. Erin’s daughter says:
I don’t remember when she felt sick but I remember she started to feel sick the next day.
She just needed to go to the toilet a lot and she felt sick in the gut.
Erin’s daughter says her mother told her she was “not feeling well”.
She said she had diarrhoea and her tummy was sore.
The officer asks Erin’s daughter how many times her mother used the toilet.
Her daughter says Erin used the toilet 10 times in the morning and afternoon.
Children told they would go to the movies while Erin Patterson hosted lunch, court hears
The officer asks the daughter if her parents are separated.
They’re husband and wife.
She agrees her parents live separately.
The daughter recalls Erin telling her that during the lunch she, her brother and a friend would go to the movies on the morning of 29 July.
Asked about what Erin made for lunch, the daughter says: “[my brother] and me had some of the leftovers.”
On the morning of the lethal lunch, she recalls Erin making a coffee in the kitchen.
She says she remembers seeing meat in the oven.
Erin later drove the three children to McDonald’s in Leongatha and to see a movie at 12.30pm, the daughter says.
Daughter tells officer Erin Patterson wanted to discuss ‘adult stuff’ at lunch
The police officer asks the daughter why she thinks the police want to talk to her.
I don’t know why I’m here.
When she is prompted about what the conversation is about, the daughter replies “the lunch”.
The lunch at my mum’s house.
The officer asks her to tell him as much as she can about the lunch at Erin’s house:
I wasn’t there.
The officer asks how she knows about the lunch.
The daughter replies:
Because my mum told me that she wanted to have a lunch with my grandparents and Heather and Ian.
I can’t remember what she said but I just remember she said she was having a lunch with them.
She said she was going to have lunch at the dining table.
Asked if Erin said why she was hosting the lunch, her daughter replies, “she just wanted to talk to them and, I guess, have lunch with them.”
The officer questions the daughter about what Erin wanted to discuss at the lunch.
Adult stuff.
Erin Patterson’s daughter is giving pre-recorded evidence
The jury is being shown pre-recorded video evidence from Erin Patterson’s daughter.
In the video, the daughter, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is being interviewed by a police officer.
What we know: day eight
If you’re catching up on the trial today, here’s a report from our justice and courts reporter, Nino Bucci, on the evidence heard so far:
Erin’s lawyer, Colin Mandy SC, is cross-examining Spencer
Spencer agrees that after the call to the Victorian Poisons Information Centre, Erin was interested about the issue of liver toxicity.
“In that context you observed she was calm and chatty,” Mandy says.
Spencer says “yes”.
The cross-examination concludes.
Erin Patterson was given fentanyl after reporting a ‘seven out of 10’ headache, court hears
Before transferring her, Eleyne Spencer says the paramedics observed her returning from the toilet.
Ms Patterson visually appeared well.
Spencer asked Erin to described her symptoms and Erin said she had diarrhoea between 25 and 30 times over the past two days.
She says Erin could get on to the stretcher unassisted. Spencer says she advised Erin that if she needed to use the toilet during the 90-minute journey to Monash medical centre, she should let them know.
They departed Leongatha at 1.01pm and arrived at 2.40pm at Monash medical centre, the court hears. Spencer, who was driving the ambulance, says Erin did not require the toilet during this time. Her colleague was next to Erin.
Spencer says during the journey they administered Erin a medication, ondansetron, to treat the nausea she complained of.
Erin also reported a “seven out 10” headache and was given fentanyl because of the potential liver side-effects from paracetamol. Spencer’s colleague called the Victorian Poisons Information Centre who advised fentanyl could be administered.
Intranasal fentanyl was then administered, the court hears.
That was effective.
She says Erin was “fairly calm and nonchalant” during the ambulance journey.
Spencer says she gave the beef wellington samples to a toxicologist at the Monash medical centre.
Erin’s children and Simon Patterson were at the hospital when the ambulance arrived, she says.
Prosecution calls next witness, Eleyne Spencer
On 31 July 2023, Eleyne Spencer was working as a paramedic in Leongatha, the court hears.
At 12.23pm that day Spencer and a colleague responded to a call to attend Leongatha hospital for Erin Patterson and transfer her to Monash medical centre.
Spencer said Patterson had complained of “extensive diarrhoea” over the past two days, nausea and abdominal pain but no vomiting.
She was provided Erin’s vitals and blood results which were in “normal ranges”.
Spencer says they also transported samples of the beef wellington dish to the Monash medical centre.
Erin Patterson said mushrooms were purchased several months before meal, doctor tells court
Dr Conor McDermott later called the GP to find out where Erin had bought the mushrooms from. He then spoke directly with Erin on the phone and asked where mushrooms were obtained.
She said they had been sourced as button mushrooms, pre-sliced, from Leongatha Safeway.
McDermott says Erin said dried mushrooms had been bought from a Chinese food store in Oakleigh.
McDermott says he asked about the brand of the mushrooms from the supermarket. Erin told him the mushrooms were “unbranded”, he says.
Erin told McDermott she no longer had the mushroom packaging and it would not be able to be located, he says.
Erin told him the mushrooms from a Chinese store had been bought “several months before”.
McDermott says he did an online search of Chinese stores in Oakleigh and offered to read these out to Erin. He recalls her response:
She said she would not be able to recall even if I named each one.
Erin said they were bought several months ago, in April of that year, McDermott says.
He says Erin told him the packaging from the Chinese grocer had also been disposed of.
Erin Patterson had slightly low potassium but looked well, doctor tells court
Dr Conor McDermott says a GP at the Leongatha urgent care clinic called him on 31 July, seeking advice about Erin Patterson due to suspected mushroom poisoning.
McDermott was told Erin was stable, had a heart rate of 140 beats per minute and “looked well,” the court hears.
He says he was provided with Erin’s blood results which showed a pH of 7.47 – “slightly high” and blood gas readings which were normal. Erin’s potassium levels were “slightly low”, McDermott tells the court.
I was told she had complained of diarrhoea which is what the other patients had presented with but I was told also that this hadn’t been observed while the patient was in the department.
He says the GP said Erin had reported experiencing diarrhoea for the past 36 hours.
Prosecution calls next witness, Dr Conor McDermott
In July 2023, Dr Conor McDermott was working as a toxicology registrar at the Austin hospital.
McDermott says in this role he would treat patients and provide advice to people who called the Victorian Poisons Information Centre.
Erin Patterson asked how four lunch guests were, court hears
Stafford turns to the conversation Tanya Patterson had with Erin Patterson, while at Monash on 1 August 2023.
She agrees the first thing Erin did was ask how the four lunch guests were.
Tanya says prior to the visit, her husband, Matthew, told her not to share too many details about the other relatives’ conditions.
She says Matthew said it was best to not “give much detail to Erin about where people’s situations were at” so Simon, Erin’s estranged husband, could share information.
Tanya agrees Erin told her she had sought information from Simon about the conditions of their relatives but had not received many details.
Stafford presses Tanya on if Erin told her she knew the condition of Don and Gail Patterson. Tanya says she may be wrong but is going off her memory and what she wrote in her police statement.
The cross-examination concludes.
Don and Gail were ‘fantastic’ in-laws to children’s partners, court hears
Under cross-examination, Tanya Patterson agrees her sister-in-law, Erin Patterson, remained part of their family group chat on the platform Signal after her separation.
She says Don and Gail Patterson were “fantastic” in-laws to their children’s partners, including Erin.
Sophie Stafford is now turning to Tanya’s evidence that Simon and Erin’s relationship deteriorated about 12 months before the lunch.
Tanya agrees she cannot give an exact timeframe on when she observed this.
Court resumes
The jurors are back in the courtroom after the lunch break.
Erin’s defence lawyer, Sophie Stafford, is cross-examining Tanya Patterson – Erin’s sister-in-law.
Under questioning, Tanya agrees Erin lent her and Matthew about $400,000 to help purchase their home.
She says the couple continued to make repayments after the couple separated. She says she does not know if the payments went to Erin or Simon.
The court has adjourned for a lunch break.
The trial will recommence at 2.15pm.
