Here’s a recap of what the jury heard today
The court has adjourned for the day.
Here’s a recap of what the jury heard on day 20 of Erin Patterson’s trial:
A Victorian Department of Health official said the investigation into the fateful lunch concluded it was “highly unlikely” that commercial mushroom supply chains were contaminated with death cap mushrooms toxins.
A homicide detective said Patterson “expressed surprise” when she learned that some of her guests had died while police conducted a search of her property on 5 August 2023.
The prosecution called their final witness in the trial, Detective Leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall, who led the police investigation into the lethal lunch. During his testimony, the prosecution played jurors a video of Patterson’s police interview recorded on 5 August 2023.
In the video, Patterson told police she did not own a dehydrator but owned manuals for lots of things. The court was previously shown photographs of a manual for a Sunbeam dehydrator that police located in a kitchen drawer during the search of Patterson’s Leongatha house on 5 August 2023.
Eppingstall said police tried to track Patterson’s vehicle during an 11-minute window between her dropping her son at Subway in Leongatha and picking him up on the evening following the lunch. He said police were unable to find any footage to determine where she had gone during this time.
We’ll bring you live updates tomorrow from 10.30am.
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Police unable to track Patterson’s vehicle while son was at Subway, court hears
The court hears there was an 11-minute window between Patterson dropping her son at Subway and returning to pick him up.
Eppingstall says police tried to track Patterson’s vehicle but were unable to find any footage to determine where she had gone.
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Eppingstall says on 8 August 2023 he attended Subway in Leongatha.
He says Simon told police that on evening after the lunch on 29 July 2023, Patterson dropped her son’s friend at home and then stopped at Subway in Leongatha.
Eppingstall says police obtained CCTV footage captured at 7.22 pm on 31 July 2023.
Jurors are shown the footage which begins with Patterson’s red four-wheel drive in the car park. Patterson’s son is then seen entering Subway. The red vehicle then drives out of the car park.
In the second clip, Patterson’s son leaves Subway minutes later. The final clip shows Patterson’s car pulling back into the Subway car park.
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Jury shown map of Loch and Outtrim areas
The jurors are then shown a map of the Outtrim area.
Sightings of suspected death cap mushrooms in Loch and Outtrim were posted to the citizen science website iNaturalist in the months before the lunch, the court previously heard.
Eppingstall says Outtrim is a “completely rural town” and there are no cafes or shops.
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Eppingstall says the investigation included searching data extracted from seized devices, and reviewing the medical records of the lunch guests.
He confirms Patterson was arrested and formally charged on 2 November 2023.
Warren shows the court a map of Loch that was previously shown during the evidence of telecommunications expert Dr Matthew Sorell.
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The interviewer asks Patterson about the leftovers of the beef wellington located by police in a bin outside her home.
She says her children also ate the meal and she had offered to collect the leftovers herself while at the hospital.
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Court hears Patterson tell police interviewer she did not own a dehydrator
Asked during the interview if she owns a dehydrator, Patterson says she does not.
Asked about the Sunbeam dehydrator manual located by police, Patterson says she has manuals for lots of things.
The officers take Patterson through the seized items including the fruit platter, jug with brown liquid, computers and a black mobile phone.
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Patterson weeps in court while watching video of police interview
Our justice and courts reporter, Nino Bucci, is in the courtroom in Morwell where Patterson’s trial is taking place.
Patterson wept in court as she watched the video of her police interview on a small screen to her left in the dock.
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Patterson tells interviewer estranged husband’s relatives ‘the only family I’ve got’, court hears
The questioning turns to Patterson’s relationship with her estranged husband, Simon, and his family.
Patterson says she wanted to “maintain those relationships … I loved them [her in-laws] a lot”.
They always said they would support me … even though Simon and I were separated.”
My parents are both gone. My grandparents are all gone. They’re the only family I’ve got.”
They’re the only grandparents my children have … that’s really important to me.”
She says she “loved” her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson.
“They’re good, decent people,” she says.
Asked why she left Leongatha hospital on 31 July, she says she needed to go home and pack some items for her daughter.
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Court hears Patterson tells interviewer ‘I’ve never been in a situation like this before’
The interviewer says Heather and Gail passed away, Don is on life support, and he says he doesn’t have more information on Ian.
“We’re trying to understand what has made them so ill,” one of the interviewers says.
He says he is trying to understand why Patterson is not unwell.
“I’ve never been in a situation like this before,” Patterson says:
I’ve been very helpful with the health department during the week … I do want to know what happened.
The interviewer says police are interested in the mushrooms and asks if she has foraged mushrooms.
Patterson replies: “Never.”
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Jurors shown Erin Patterson's interview with police
Jurors are shown Patterson’s record of interview with police from 5 August 2023.
Patterson was interviewed at the Wonthaggi police station, the court hears. The interview begins at 4.41pm.
Patterson is wearing a beige-coloured jumper.
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Detective discusses factory resets of ‘phone B’
Eppingstall says on one occasion during the police search, Patterson was in a room alone for a “good 20 to 30 minutes” while officers stood outside.
He says Patterson had a mobile phone on her during the search and was talking about making arrangements for her daughter.
Warren shows Eppingstall a “extraction report” of a mobile phone – “phone B” – which shows four factory resets were performed.
One entry shows a factory reset was performed at 1.20pm on 5 August. Eppingstall says this was when officers were at Patterson’s home.
Warren says if this time is in UTC time, the factory reset was done at 11.20pm. Eppingstall says this was when the phone was in his office.
Another factory reset is the following day 6 August at 5.16am. He says at this point the phone was locked up. Taking into account UTC time, the phone would have still been locked up.
Eppingstall says this is during the time police were at Patterson’s house for the search.
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Warren asks Eppingstall about evidence from Ian Wilkinson that Patterson’s beef wellington meal was served on a different coloured plate than the guests.
Wilkinson previously told the jury that the four lunch guests ate the beef wellington meal on grey-coloured plates.
Warren asks if Eppingstall saw any plates in the video captured of the search that matched the four grey-coloured plates identified by Wilkinson.
“No ma’am,” Eppingstall says.
Jury shown photos of beef wellington recipe
Eppingstall says during the search at Patterson’s house on 5 August, he spoke to the accused about the RecipeTin Eats cookbook located in the kitchen.
Patterson told Eppingstall she had used the beef wellington recipe in the cookbook.
The jury is shown photographs of the recipe which contains a number of images.
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Detective recounts investigation of Erin Patterson’s bank records
The jury hears that as the police informant in the case, Eppingstall was the lead investigator.
He says on 3 August 2023 the homicide squad led the investigation as it was understood that some of the lunch guests were fatally ill.
Eppingstall says his team began to investigate the circumstances of the lunch and the movement of Patterson.
On 4 August at 7.30am, Eppingstall received notice that Heather Wilkinson had died overnight, the court hears. He later was informed that Gail Patterson had died.
He says a colleague began to look at bank records of Patterson and identified a transaction of interest from 2 August at a local tip, the Koonwarra Transfer Station And Landfill.
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As questioning by prosecutor Jane Warren gets under way, Beale tells Eppingstall he doesn’t need to continue saying “ma’am” in his answers.
“It’s habit,” he replies.
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Prosecution calls final witness
The jury has returned to the courtroom in Morwell.
Justice Christopher Beale says the prosecution is calling their final witness in the trial.
Detective Leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall, from the Victoria police homicide squad, begins giving evidence.
The court has been adjourned for a lunch break.
The trial will resume from 2.15pm.
Police did not seize plates from Patterson’s home, court hears
Mandy asks Farrell about the plates that officers located in Patterson’s home.
Farrell says police did not photograph all plates in the house. He says none of the plates were seized by officers.
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Patterson ‘expressed surprise’ when told Heather Wilkinson had died, court hears
Patterson’s defence lawyer, Colin Mandy SC, begins to cross-examine Farrell.
Mandy asks if Patterson was aware during the first search on 5 August 2023 that some of her lunch guests had died.
Farrell says Patterson was told Heather Wilkinson had died and she “expressed surprise”.
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Later in the afternoon, Farrell says, a further search warrant was obtained for Patterson’s house in Mount Waverley to search for items of interest including leftovers and digital devices.
The search concluded at 5.40pm, Farrell says.
No one was present at the property when this occurred and no items of interest were located, the court hears.
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Jury shown video of detective speaking to Patterson about accessing mobile phone
Farrell says at the conclusion of the search he requested Patterson hand over her mobile phone. He says the pair spoke at 3.29pm and Patterson provided her mobile phone.
Farrell says Patterson provided a four-digit and six-digit number as possible pin numbers. But he said the phone did not require a pin.
The jury is then shown a video of Patterson speaking to Farrell at the conclusion of the search.
The pair are seated at the dining room table where the lunch occurred a week earlier.
Patterson is wearing a beige coloured jumper with her face propped up in one hand and elbows on the table. Farrell asks Patterson if a pin is required for the mobile.
Patterson replies “yeah” and gives two options. “I can’t remember which one,” she says.
Patterson then puts her glasses on and leans over the table to look at her mobile.
Farrell says officers then left the address after the conversation with Erin.
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Farrell describes finding computer and mobile devices
Detectives located a Cooler Master computer in an upstairs bedroom. The jury is shown photographs of the computer.
Farrell says he “deduced” the computer was located in Patterson’s son’s bedroom.
He says a black Samsung mobile phone was also located in the same bedroom.
The jury is shown photographs of the mobile on shelves inside a wardrobe in the bedroom.
Farrell says a tablet was also located.
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Detective describes search of Erin Patterson's home
Farrell conducted a search of Patterson’s Leongatha property on 5 August 2023 – a week after the lunch. Patterson was present during the search. Farrell says officers arrived at about 11.40am.
The jury is shown photographs taken during the search. One photograph shows kitchen drawers in Patterson’s home.
Farrell says an instruction manual for the Sunbeam dehydrator was located in a bottom drawer.
Another photograph shows digital kitchen scales with a glass bowl in a pantry.
The jury is then shown a photograph of a RecipeTin Eats: Dinner cookbook located on the kitchen countertop.
Farrell says it had a “piece of tissue used as a bookmark” inside. He says on a separate page, not bookmarked, there was a beef wellington recipe. He says:
That page was spattered with cooking liquids.
Officers also located a jug containing liquid in the pantry and a platter with cut fruit in the fridge.
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The prosecution has called their next witness, Detective Sergeant Luke Farrell.
Farrell works in the homicide unit, the court hears.
Mandy asks Atkinson about her evidence that no dried mushrooms matched Patterson’s description of being 100g or less, in a non-resealable clear bag and with a white label. Patterson also told her the dried mushrooms were sliced and did not appear to be commercially available, Atkinson says.
Mandy shows Atkinson two photographs previously shown to the jury from an Asian grocer visited by a council health officer during the search to locate dried mushrooms.
The photographs show dried dark-coloured mushrooms in a clear bag with a white label.
He asks if she agrees the photograph is consistent with what Patterson told her. Atkinson says Patterson’s description was that it was “smaller than a ziplock bag”.
Under questioning by Mandy, Atkinson agrees that apart from the size everything else matches.
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Mandy asks Atkinson about her evidence Patterson told her the dried mushrooms may have been purchased in Oakleigh, Clayton or Mount Waverley.
Atkinson agrees Patterson was not sure where she had purchased the death cap mushrooms from.
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Patterson’s defence lawyer, Colin Mandy SC, is cross-examining Atkinson.
Mandy asks about the conversation Atkinson recalled yesterday with Conor McDermott, a doctor at the Austin hospital on 31 July 2023 – two days after the lunch.
Atkinson says she rejects that McDermott said “Glen Waverley” when mentioning where some of the mushrooms may have been purchased from.
Mandy says his client did not provide Atkinson a specific date for when she purchased the mushrooms used in the beef wellington.
Atkinson says her understanding is Patterson had purchased the majority of the lunch ingredients on the Friday before the lunch.
But she agrees Patterson did not give a specific date for when she purchased the mushrooms.
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'Highly unlikely' commercial mushrooms contaminated with death cap toxins, health official says
Atkinson says the department’s investigation concluded it was “highly unlikely” that commercial mushroom supply chains were contaminated with death cap mushrooms.
She says the “commercial” supply chain referred to both Woolworths and Asian grocers.
The jury previously heard Patterson told Atkinson she had purchased the mushrooms used in the beef wellington from Woolworths in Leongatha and an Asian grocer in Melbourne.
Atkinson says the investigation found the risk to public health was deemed low.
She says the department did not receive any reports of other people becoming ill after consuming mushrooms and determined the case was an isolated incident.
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The jury has entered the courtroom in Morwell.
Department of Health official Sally Ann Atkinson is continuing to give evidence.
She says the investigation the department launched into the deadly beef wellington lunch ran from 31 July 2023 to 11 August 2023.
We are waiting for today’s proceedings to get under way. Here’s a recap of what the jury heard on Monday from our justice and courts reporter, Nino Bucci:
Welcome
Welcome to day 20 of Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial.
Evidence is expected to begin after 10.30am once the jurors enter the courtroom.
Patterson, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha, in regional Victoria, on 29 July 2023.
The prosecution alleges that Patterson deliberately poisoned her lunch guests with “murderous intent” but her lawyers say the poisoning was a tragic accident.
Patterson is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and her estranged husband’s aunt, Heather Wilkinson. She is accused of the attempted murder of Heather’s husband, Ian.
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