An accused triple murderer has opened up about lying to police after cooking a deadly mushroom lunch and fibbing to two of her alleged victims about having cancer tests done.
But Erin Patterson denies she deliberately foraged for death cap mushrooms and she knew they were inside toxic beef Wellingtons when she served them to her former in-laws.
The 50-year-old faced a fourth day in the Supreme Court witness box on Thursday, when she was cross-examined by the prosecution on several lies.
Patterson has denied deliberately poisoning her estranged husband's parents, aunt and uncle by serving them death cap mushroom-laced beef Wellingtons in July 2023 at her home in regional Victoria.
She has been charged with three murders over the deaths of Don and Gail Patterson, 70, and Heather Wilkinson, 66, and attempted murder over Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson, the only surviving lunch guest.
Her defence finished examination of Patterson on Thursday morning, asking about her lies to police after the meal.
Patterson admitted she lied during her police interview about foraging for mushrooms, owning a dehydrator and using it to dehydrate food.
She said it was a "stupid knee-jerk reaction to just dig deeper and keep lying" in response to being told two of her lunch guests had died.
Defence barrister Colin Mandy SC asked if she had ever "intentionally picked death cap mushrooms" to which she said "no".
She denied intentionally including the toxic fungi in the beef Wellingtons.
The prosecution honed in on Patterson's fibs during cross-examination, accusing her of lying about dehydrating mushrooms because she knew telling police the truth could implicate her in the toxic lunch.
"I agree that I lied because I was afraid I would be held responsible," Patterson said.
Prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC suggested Patterson disposed of a food dehydrator because she had used it to dehydrate death cap mushrooms, which she denied.
Dr Rogers also suggested Patterson had weighed death cap mushrooms to "calculate" the amount needed for "a fatal dose for one person", but Patterson disagreed.
The prosecutor asked if she had intended to serve beef Wellington to her estranged husband Simon, who pulled out of the lunch the night before.
"If he'd come I would have given him a beef Wellington too, yes, but not one with death cap mushrooms in it intentionally," Patterson said.
Dr Rogers asked Patterson about lies she told Don and Gail Patterson, regarding tests on a lump in her arm in the weeks before the lunch.
Patterson accepted she did not have a lump and did not have an appointment at hospital, despite telling Gail she did.
"I suggest that you told Gail Patterson that you had a lump in your elbow and had to go to St Vincent's Hospital to plant the seed of you having a serious health issue," Dr Rogers said.
"I don't think that's right, no," Patterson said.
Patterson said she initially thought she had a lump in her elbow and had pain for a number of weeks and felt embarrassed she "probably whinged a bit too much to Don and Gail about it".
"They made me feel loved and cared for in the way that they were asking about my health and I didn't want that to stop, so I just kept going," she said.
Patterson denied she told her lunch guests she had been diagnosed with cancer and needed advice on how to break this news to her children.
"I can't remember the precise words, but I do know what I was trying to communicate was … that I was undergoing investigations around ovarian cancer and might need treatment in that regard in the future," she said.
As the trial nears the end of week six, Justice Christopher Beale told the jury he could not put a figure on how much longer it would go for but they should make arrangements.
Patterson may continue in the witness box until next week, followed by legal discussions without the jury, and then potentially more evidence before closing addresses which could take two days each.
The judge may then take another couple of days to give the jury his directions before they're sent away to deliberate on a verdict.
The trial continues.
