May 6, 2025
Mushroom, Murder, and Messages: The Digital Trail
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The Mushroom Murder Trial podcast examines new evidence in the case against Erin Patterson, who stands accused, but denies, three murders and one attempted murder after allegedly serving deadly death cap mushrooms to her former in-laws. • Three women from an online true crime group testify about their interactions with Patterson, including messages about dehydrating mushrooms • Court hears Patterson allegedly wrote "I've been hiding powdered mushrooms in everything" in messages before the fa...
The Mushroom Murder Trial podcast examines new evidence in the case against Erin Patterson, who stands accused, but denies, three murders and one attempted murder after allegedly serving deadly death cap mushrooms to her former in-laws.
• Three women from an online true crime group testify about their interactions with Patterson, including messages about dehydrating mushrooms
• Court hears Patterson allegedly wrote "I've been hiding powdered mushrooms in everything" in messages before the fatal lunch
• Patterson purchased a food dehydrator in early 2023 and shared photos of mushrooms being processed
• Simon Patterson, Erin's estranged husband, denies asking if she used the dehydrator to "poison them"
• Messages reveal family tensions over parenting, child support claims, and tax declarations
• According to friends, Patterson complained her husband was "coercive" and "abusive" while portraying herself as a devoted mother
• Defence maintains the poisoning was accidental, calling it "a tragedy, a terrible accident"
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Here it is in summary.
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Hello and welcome to the Mushroom Murder Trial podcast, your source for coverage of what's shaping up as one of Australia's most interesting criminal trials.
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My name is Lisa, I am a podcaster and a true crime reporter and I've followed this story since 2023.
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Today we are going to be talking about the Erin Patterson trial text, reveal claims about parenting tax and family tensions.
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But before we do that, please subscribe to our newsletter at mushroommurdertrialcom.
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It's full of updates and information for you about the trial.
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You'll also receive the second edition when you sign up today.
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During his third day of giving evidence, simon Patterson, erin Patterson's husband, faced further scrutiny in the Supreme Court trial of his estranged wife, who stands accused of three murders and one attempted murder.
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Miss Erin Trudy Patterson, aged 50, from Leongatha, is pleading not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder.
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She is accused but denies deliberately serving a meal containing deadly death cap mushrooms to her former in-laws and their relatives during a lunch at her home in Leangatha on July 29, 2023.
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Don and Gail Patterson, aged both 70, and Gail's sister, 66, later died.
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Heather's husband, ian Wilkinson, became critically ill but survived.
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Three women Ms Patterson, befriended via a true crime group, gave evidence in the Supreme Court of Victoria about their interactions online with the teaching student.
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Quote according to Ms Jenny Hafe, a social work lecturer from Tasmania quote.
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Originally we met through a Facebook group that was about Kelly Lane.
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That stemmed from the ABC documentary.
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She said that was a pretty big group.
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Eventually that fell apart.
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I was also then in a group with about 20 people in that group.
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Then there were about five of us in a group chat together.
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I think we had just become closer friends and just wanted to have our group.
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That was just ours.
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It was the beginning of COVID.
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So there was a lot of talk about COVID, everyday life, family, friends, events, whatever was going on in our lives.
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In one message shown to the court from the time before the lunch.
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In one message shown to the court from the time before the lunch, ms Patterson allegedly wrote I've been hiding powdered mushrooms in everything, mixed it with chocolate brownies.
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Yesterday the kids had no idea.
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Ms Patterson also allegedly posted photos of the Sunbeam Food Lab electronic dehydrator to this chat group with her friends.
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One photo shown to the jury demonstrated mushrooms on the dehydrator's shelves.
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Another showed chopped up button mushrooms.
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She seemed to really like mushrooms, jenny Hay told the court.
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According to Ms Hay.
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Erin Patterson bought the food dehydrator in early 2023.
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Quote.
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I remember her making mushroom soups and blitzing them so the kids would eat them.
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She seemed to use it a lot.
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A short time later, ms Patterson sent another message which was shown to the jury.
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Quote so, fun fact, the dehydrator reduces the mushroom mass by 90%.
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Do you think, woolies, a supermarket would mind if I bought the dehydrator into their vegetable section and dry things before buying them?
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Ms Hayes said her friend never discussed foraging mushrooms but there were many discussions inside the group about preparing and making food.
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She said Ms Patterson messaged the group towards the end of July 2023 seeking recipe advice for a beef wellington.
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Quote.
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She was at a supermarket in brackets.
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She said close black brackets, something about meat, because she was making a beef wellington, miss hay said.
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She added she spoke to miss patterson on the phone sometime after the lunch and she said she bought the mushrooms from an asian grocer.
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Ms Hay, who had cooked beef Wellington before and described it in court as one of her favourite dishes, said she gave advice to Patterson about how to make sure it wasn't soggy.
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Another person who knew Erin was Daniela Barclay and another Christine Hunt, and they testified that Miss Patterson complained on several occasions about her estranged husband, simon.
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Miss Hunt said Miss Patterson painted her husband a devout Christian as quote coercive and quote abusive.
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Miss Hunt said Miss Patterson in her belief was an atheist Quote.
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She was saying to us publicly in that group that she didn't necessarily believe in God, she said.
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Ms Barkley said that Ms Patterson's life revolved around her children.
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I thought she was a wonderful mother, she said.
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Earlier in the day Ms Patterson's lawyer, colin Mandy SC, also questioned Mr Patterson about a conversation he had with the accused at Monash Medical Centre where she allegedly told him she'd done a blind taste test involving their daughter and muffins made with mushrooms from a dehydrator, according to Mr Mandy.
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Simon then asked Erin, is that what you use to poison them?
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Referring to the kitchen device.
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This exchange reportedly took place two days after the fatal lunch.
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Mr Patterson firmly denied that claim.
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I did not say that to Erin, she said no clarification was offered in the court regarding who exactly Mandy was referring to as quote them.
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Mr Patterson was in the witness stand for the third day and Crown Prosecutor Nanette Rogers focused on a series of messages sent by his estranged wife.
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He told the court that his mother affected by a recent encephalitis diagnosis had agreed not to read certain messages from Erin in order to manage her anxiety.
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One particular message described by Simon as quote inflammatory was sent a few months after the court had earlier reviewed messages from December 2022.
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Recalling the context, mr Patterson said his son had been extremely tired during a visit with him.
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In response, he asked Ms Patterson to help ensure their child went to bed earlier.
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She allegedly replied in their group chat on the messaging app called Signal, which included both of Simon's parents.
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In relation to his father's reply, he said I tell you what if mum had read that?
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I don't know what we would have done to her, he said.
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When asked to clarify what he meant by inflammatory, he explained it was having a crack at me and accusing me of some things in response to what I'd messaged her about.
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That's not the bit I objected to.
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It was the fact that she sent it, especially knowing my mum's condition and what that can do to mum.
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I'm still upset about that.
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Later, mr Mandy completed his cross-examination of Mr Patterson.
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He pointed out that the messages presented were the only ones concerning school fee payments.
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Note this was a second set of messages referred to by Mr Patterson, the court was read more encrypted signal messages exchanged in the family group chat involving Erin, simon, his father and his mother, gail.
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The messages followed Don's suggestion that he catch up with the family before Erin took their two children on a trip to New Zealand.
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In a message sent at 8pm on December 5, erin referred to Simon's 2022 tax return, which indicated he was separated, and linked it to child support and government benefits.
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Quote.
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I'm sorry but I can't stop thinking about the comment that Don made on the phone that Simon can reverse the whole single thing in his tax return.
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She wrote.
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That is mind boggling in its implication.
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Erin claims she might miss out on $15,000 annually from the family tax benefit due to Simon's declaration.
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We were basically lying to the government, telling them that we were a family with shared finances so they wouldn't make him pay child support.
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She said I would have been entitled to about $30,000 a year in child support from Simon, but I didn't claim it because I foolishly trusted him to do the right thing by me and the kids.
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The court heard she also accused Simon of wanting to be a quote bare minimum parent.
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Roughly an hour after this message, don replied saying he was sorry if he misrepresented Simon's intentions.
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The following day Erin continued the discussion, saying she respected the family's desire not to intervene but would keep sharing messages on what she viewed as important matters.
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Quote I would hope that you, as his parents, would be concerned that he was making the decisions that are in the best interests of the children and not operating from a place of being angry.
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To that end, she wrote.
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Mr Mandy asked Simon if he agreed.
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The messages showed Erin was seeking his parents' support and that they were hesitant.
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Simon confirmed this.
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The jury also heard about Erin's previous community involvement in Corrumburra, with Simon acknowledging she had assisted his parents in the development association and took over the running of the Borough Flyer, the town newsletter.
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Simon regularly contributed photographs for the publication as well.
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Last week Prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC told the court that Erin allegedly invited the guests under the pretext of discussing a cancer diagnosis and claimed she used this story to explain the absence of her children at the gathering.
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But Mr Mandy, for the defence, told the court that Erin does not deny the present of deadly mushrooms but insists it was unintentional.
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The defence case is that Erin Patterson did not deliberately serve poisoned food to her guests.
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The defence case is that it happened.
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It was a tragedy, a terrible accident.
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Justice Christopher Beale is presiding over this trial in the La Trobe Magistrates Court in Morwell.
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It's expected to run between five to eight weeks, and that's all I have for you today.
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Until next time.
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I'm Lisa.
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This is the Mushroom Murder Trial Podcast.
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For more information, visit my website and make sure you subscribe to my newsletter, mushroommurdertrialcom Plus.
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I'm on Instagram at erin underscore pod.
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You can find me on Facebook Just search for the podcast.
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I'm also on YouTube and X, and I've realized I'm also on Blue Sky as well.
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I'll put links in the show notes to those social accounts.
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And if you feel like rewarding me for the thousands of hours I've spent on this work, I have a Buy Me A Coffee membership which allows you to pay $5 as thanks and I get coffee, and it goes towards the production of this podcast as well as coffee.
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I'm going to be straight up with you here.
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Transparent Plus, there's also coming exclusive membership material on the site, just for you.
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So thank you.
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I hope you have a wonderful day and I'll speak to you soon.
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Bye, music.
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