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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 compelling criminal trials.
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My name is Lisa, I'm a podcaster and a reporter and I've followed this story since 2023.
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Now, before we start, please make sure you subscribe for our newsletter at mushroommurdertrialcom.
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It's full of updates and information about the trial, because I'm here in Victoria reporting on it.
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You'll also receive the first edition of the newsletter when you sign up.
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The purpose of today's episode is to give you an update on the proceedings in the Supreme Court to date, in particular, today's opening address and reply.
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Ms Erin Trudy Patterson, age 50, from Leongatha, is pleading not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder.
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In the opening addresses today by council, here's what we've learned so far In 2023,.
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Ms Patterson hosted a lunch of beef, wellington mashed potato and beans at her Leon Gather home.
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It was attended by Ian and Heather Wilkinson and Don and Gail Patterson.
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The gathering was reportedly to discuss Ms Patterson's alleged cancer diagnosis, but both the defence and the prosecution agree that this claim was fabricated.
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According to the prosecution, one of the guests, heather Wilkinson, observed at the lunch that Ms Patterson served herself food on a smaller, different coloured plate than the ones used for the others.
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The four guests became seriously unwell about 12 hours after this meal, while the guests sought medical attention promptly.
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The prosecution alleges that Ms Patterson was hesitant to undergo treatment, at times attempting to or discharging herself or attempting to discharge herself from hospital when possible.
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The defence acknowledges that Ms Patterson initially misled police, denying ownership of a food dehydrator, claiming she'd purchased mushrooms from an Asian grocer and denying that she'd foraged for them.
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Her legal team attributes these falsehoods to panic at the time.
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Ms Patterson's lawyer, colin Mandy, maintains the incident was a tragic accident and asserts that his client denies any wrongdoing in relation to the charges as well.
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She had no intent to deliberately hurt anyone.
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The prosecution, however, says it does not intend to present a motive in court, arguing that establishing a motive is not a prerequisite for securing a conviction.
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The Crown is relying upon a report from a medical expert that said there was no evidence that Ms Patterson had an acute illness like the others.
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Reading from an expert report, dr Rogers alleged her vital signs and other test results were not suggestive of any acute illnesses or injuries.
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The Victorian Supreme Court at Morwell heard that Erin Patterson served herself a meal on a different plate to her guests at the lunch that allegedly led to three deaths and one serious illness.
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The guests were her former in-laws who are alleged to have consumed a dish containing poisonous death cap mushrooms.
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Just to clarify, the guests at the lunch were Don and Gail Patterson, so they are Erin's former parents-in-law, heather Wilkinson, who's Gail's sister, and Anne Wilkinson, who's Heather's husband, miss Patterson's estranged husband, simon Patterson, had been invited to the lunch but did not attend, citing discomfort and pulling out the night before.
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According to Dr Nanette Rogers, ms Patterson invited the group after raising, obviously, the concerns about her health.
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She was seeking their support in discussing it with the kids.
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They have two children.
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The court heard she extended the invitation at a church service on July 16, 2023.
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On the day of the lunch, the guests were shown around Miss Patterson's brand new home before being seated at the table with the six chairs.
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The court was presented by Dr Rogers with a photograph of the table as an exhibit for the jury.
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She said while the guests were served beef wellingtons on large grey plates, miss Patterson's own meal came on a smaller, lighter plate.
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After the meal, miss Patterson reportedly disclosed to the group that she had ovarian cancer and sought their advice on how to speak with her children about it.
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The group prayed together as a group for them to receive the wisdom and the grace in telling the kids about this supposed health crisis.
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However, the prosecution claims Ms Patterson was never diagnosed with cancer.
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In addition, she read from a report, dr Rogers, that is there is not sufficient evidence to support the assertion that the accused was diagnosed with cancer.
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Dr Rogers says the Victorian Cancer Registry has no record of Ms Patterson receiving a cancer diagnosis.
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Later, when questioned by both medical staff and family members about the source of the mushrooms, ms Patterson reportedly said she used again a mix of fresh and dried mushrooms purchased from Woolworths supermarket in Leon Gather and an Asian grocer in one of three different Melbourne suburbs.
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She said the dried mushrooms had been stored in a plastic container and were used to make a paste for the meal.
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She denied having used them in cooking previously.
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The court heard Ms Patterson said her children had eaten the leftovers from the meal but she had removed the mushrooms from their servings because they don't like mushrooms.
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She was reluctant to have them receive medical attention because she did not want to make them anxious.
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Police later recovered the leftover food from a bin outside of Ms Patterson's home after she directed them there.
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Dr Rogers also told the court that Ms Patterson's relationship with her estranged ex Simon had become strained after their 2015 separation, especially following a disagreement in late 2022 over a tax declaration and child support.
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But four weeks before this fatal lunch, ms Patterson had hosted Simon and his parents at her home for a meal without incident.
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But following the July gathering, toxicology and clinical reports confirmed symptoms in the others consistent with ingestion of death cap mushrooms.
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The trial continues this week at Morwell in regional Victoria.
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So thank you so much for listening today.
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I have so much to tell you.
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I will be putting more episodes out and longer episodes out this week, giving you a rundown of what's been happening.
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We may soon be hearing from some witnesses, so stay tuned, because we really have a lot to talk about.
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And make sure you go to my website and sign up for that newsletter, please.
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That would be fantastic.
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There's a link in the show notes.
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Now, also, my social media accounts are there too.
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If you'd like to follow us, that would be fabulous.
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And if you're feeling like rewarding me for the thousands of hours I've spent on this work, I have a Buy Me A Coffee membership that allows you to pay $5 as thanks and I get coffee.
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So that would be fabulous if you do that, but this week I'm reporting from the Supreme Court in Melbourne, where the media has a live feed there, so I will be here until Friday.
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So thank you so much for tuning in, and I shall speak with you soon.
