Speaker 1: In the one Thaggy Police Station. There's a small interview
Speaker 1: room with white walls and a light brown table. It
Speaker 1: was in this room that police first interviewed Aaron Patterson
Speaker 1: over the deadly mushroom lunch.
Speaker 2: This is a DVD recorded interview between detective Leading Senior
Speaker 2: Constables Stephen Eppingstall and Aaron Patterson of lean Gatha, conducted
Speaker 2: at the one Thaggy Police Station on Saturday, the fifth
Speaker 2: of August twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1: Erin, wearing a light brown sweater, answered the questions from
Speaker 1: the detectives.
Speaker 3: I'm sure you understand too that I've never been in
Speaker 3: a situation like this before, and I've been very, very
Speaker 3: helpful with the health department through the week because i
Speaker 3: wanted to help that side of things as much as
Speaker 3: possible because I do want to know what happened. So
Speaker 3: I've given them as much information as they've asked for
Speaker 3: and offered up all the food and all the information
Speaker 3: about where the food came from.
Speaker 1: Today in court, she fought back tears as the jury
Speaker 1: was played the video of that interview. I'm Brooke Greever Craig,
Speaker 1: and this is the mushroom cook. I'm back for day
Speaker 1: twenty of Aaron Patterson's murder trial, and I'm here in
Speaker 1: morewell with my colleague court reporter Laura Passella.
Speaker 4: What a massive day we've had.
Speaker 1: Yes, it was a huge day in court. We heard
Speaker 1: Aaron's record of interview that was done on August five,
Speaker 1: a week after the lunch. This record of interview was
Speaker 1: played in court when Constable Eppingsteel took to the stand
Speaker 1: and gave evidence. As we mentioned in yesterday's episode, he
Speaker 1: is the informant on the case.
Speaker 4: That's right Brook And today, when the record of interview
Speaker 4: was being played to the jury, Aaron had her own
Speaker 4: screen in front of her where she could watch along
Speaker 4: as well. I was sitting in court today not too
Speaker 4: far from the dock where Erin is seated, and when
Speaker 4: you looked over at her, you could tell that at
Speaker 4: certain points she did start to become emotional. There was
Speaker 4: one point where she looked up at the ceiling of
Speaker 4: the dock and it appeared that she was fighting back
Speaker 4: tears as she was watching herself answer the detective's questions.
Speaker 1: In the video, Aaron is seated to the right hand side,
Speaker 1: while Constable epping Stall is with one of his colleagues
Speaker 1: and they're seated to the left. Aarin begins the interview
Speaker 1: by confirming her full name and her home address.
Speaker 4: The interview starts with the exchange you heard at the
Speaker 4: top of the episode, before Constable epping Stall starts asking
Speaker 4: Arin some more detailed questions which concern their investigation. Two
Speaker 4: points that are touched on pretty early on in the
Speaker 4: record of interview concern the foraging of mushrooms and the dehydrator.
Speaker 4: These are some of the exchanges they had. These are
Speaker 4: their words, it's not their voices.
Speaker 2: Obviously, we've got concerns in relation to the mushrooms and
Speaker 2: where they've come from. Is it something you have done
Speaker 2: in the past foraging for mushrooms?
Speaker 1: Never?
Speaker 2: Ever?
Speaker 1: Never?
Speaker 2: And later he asked, do you know anything about a
Speaker 2: dehydrator in your No? Do you own a dehydrator?
Speaker 3: No. I've got manuals of lots of stuff I've collected
Speaker 3: over the years. I just keep them all.
Speaker 4: The defense conceded in its opening address that Erin has
Speaker 4: foraged for mushrooms before, and she did own a dehydrator,
Speaker 4: which she later dumped at a local tip after the lunch,
Speaker 4: Defense barrister Colin Mandy told the jury at the beginning
Speaker 4: of the trial that it was their case that Aaron
Speaker 4: panicked after the lunch because she was overwhelmed by the
Speaker 4: fact that these four guests had become so ill because
Speaker 4: of food she had cooked them. But mister Mandy made
Speaker 4: it clear to the jury that while Aaron admits she
Speaker 4: lied about foraging for mushrooms, she denies that she ever
Speaker 4: deliberately sought out deathcat mushrooms.
Speaker 1: Now back to the interview, Aerin was also asked about
Speaker 1: her relationship with her estranged husband, Simon Pattison and his family.
Speaker 2: Can you describe to me the relationship with your ex
Speaker 2: partner Simon. I would like to understand why you had
Speaker 2: his parents and the uncle and aunt.
Speaker 3: Over for lunch because I've got no other family. They've
Speaker 3: always been really good to me, and I try to
Speaker 3: maintain those relationships despite what is happening with Simon. I
Speaker 3: love them a lot. They've always been really good to me,
Speaker 3: and they always said to me that they would support
Speaker 3: me with love and emotional support even when Simon and
Speaker 3: I were separated. I really appreciated that my parents are
Speaker 3: both gone, my grandparents are all gone. They're the only
Speaker 3: family that I've got and they're the only grandparents that
Speaker 3: my children have, and that's really important to me. I
Speaker 3: think Simon hated that I still had a relationship with them.
Speaker 4: I love them.
Speaker 3: Nothing that's ever happened between us, nothing he's ever done
Speaker 3: to me, will change the fact that they are good,
Speaker 3: decent people that have never done anything wrong.
Speaker 1: In the interview Erin was also asked questions about her
Speaker 1: hospital visit.
Speaker 4: That's right. Constable Eppingstall asked Erin about her presentation to
Speaker 4: lene Gatha Hospital two days after the lunch on July
Speaker 4: thirty one, and asked her questions about why she had left.
Speaker 4: Five minutes later. Erin told him that she went to
Speaker 4: hospital because she was really dehydrated and thought she might
Speaker 4: need saline. But then she said that she found out
Speaker 4: from the doctors they wanted to send her to Melbourne
Speaker 4: for treatment. She told Constable epping Stall. When you've got
Speaker 4: animals at home and children who have multiple after school activities,
Speaker 4: you can't just drop everything and go to Melbourne overnight.
Speaker 4: She explained to him that she went home, fed the
Speaker 4: animals and packed her daughter's ballet kit. Erin told Constable
Speaker 4: epping Stall that when she arrived at leeing Gatha Hospital,
Speaker 4: she spoke with doctor Chris Webster, who has given evidence
Speaker 4: in this trial. She said she told him that he
Speaker 4: shouldn't worry about her because she was just a gastro
Speaker 4: case and she wasn't urgent. But she recalled that doctor
Speaker 4: Webster realized who she was and informed her that the
Speaker 4: lunch guests were sick. He told her that he was
Speaker 4: concerned that they had eaten death cat mushrooms. She said
Speaker 4: that later that morning, doctor Webster finished his shift and
Speaker 4: passed her on to another doctor who gave her some
Speaker 4: medication to protect her liver. It was during the time
Speaker 4: she spent at lean Gatha Hospital that she conveyed information
Speaker 4: to police about where they could find the leftovers of
Speaker 4: the lunch. Constable Eppingstall said that it was to Erran's
Speaker 4: credit that she provided the pin code to her front
Speaker 4: gate and directed police to where exactly they could find
Speaker 4: those leftovers. After questions about the leftovers, Constable Eppingstall told
Speaker 4: Erin that they would be completing the interview and the
Speaker 4: video stopped playing. Constable Eppingstall will return to the witness
Speaker 4: box tomorrow and answer more questions from Crown Prosecutor Jane
Speaker 4: Warren before he's cross examined.
Speaker 1: Let's move on to another witness we heard from today,
Speaker 1: Detective Sergeant Luke Farrell, who is also from the homicide squad.
Speaker 1: He told the jury he conducted a search at Erin's
Speaker 1: home in lean Gatha with Constable epping Stall on August five,
Speaker 1: on the same day as her record of interview.
Speaker 4: The jury heard that the search warrant on August five
Speaker 4: was executed at around eleven forty When the detectives arrived
Speaker 4: at Erin's home, Erin was told that this search warrant
Speaker 4: was in connection with the death of two people, and
Speaker 4: the court heard in response, she asked who died. Sergeant
Speaker 4: Farrell told the court that it was his recollection that
Speaker 4: when Erin was told about the deaths, she expressed surprise.
Speaker 4: The court heard at the time of the search, Erin's
Speaker 4: two children were home, as well as the family dog.
Speaker 4: Constable Farrell explained that he was the team leader that day,
Speaker 4: which meant it was his job to physically conduct the search,
Speaker 4: while some of his colleagues took photos of the items
Speaker 4: that were seized and recorded a video of the search
Speaker 4: as well.
Speaker 1: So what was actually found during the search, then.
Speaker 4: I'll start with the kitchen the jury were shown several
Speaker 4: photos of both the kitchen and the butler's pantry, and
Speaker 4: the photos showed almost step by step how police went
Speaker 4: about this search. A instruction manu a for a sunbeam
Speaker 4: dehydrator was found in one of the kitchen drawers, a
Speaker 4: set of kitchen scales was found in the butler's pantry,
Speaker 4: and then a best selling recipe tin eats cookbook called
Speaker 4: Dinner was spotted on the kitchen bench. Sergeant Farrell said
Speaker 4: a piece of tissue had been used as a bookmark
Speaker 4: and the cookbook had been spattered with food remnants. The
Speaker 4: court heard that Erin had conversations with detectives about this
Speaker 4: cookbook and she confirmed she had used a recipe inside
Speaker 4: to make the beef Wellington. The jury was shown photos
Speaker 4: of that recipe today. It runs over about six pages
Speaker 4: and on one page you can see a photo of
Speaker 4: a latticed beef Wellington log.
Speaker 1: Now, the jury were told a video was filmed of
Speaker 1: Aaron's house and stills of that video were shown to
Speaker 1: the jury, and these were stills of plates inside her home.
Speaker 4: That's right. Farrell conceded that no photos were taken during
Speaker 4: the search. Warrant of any plates in Aaron's house, so
Speaker 4: they had to resort to using these stills from the video.
Speaker 4: There was a range of plates shown that included those
Speaker 4: on the kitchen bench, those in a drawer, and some
Speaker 4: that were in the dishwasher. He was asked about some
Speaker 4: of the plates in the dishwasher and he said that
Speaker 4: from the still, it appeared they had a red top
Speaker 4: with a dark bottom. He conceded that none of these
Speaker 4: plates were seized during the search and.
Speaker 1: Were any other room searched.
Speaker 4: Sergeant Farrell said that detective searched one of the children's bedrooms.
Speaker 4: In that room, they seized a Cooler Master computer, a
Speaker 4: Samsung mobile phone, and a Samsung tablet. Our listeners may
Speaker 4: remember that these devices were examined by Senior Digital Forensics
Speaker 4: Officer Sharman Fox Henry, who also works for Victoria Police,
Speaker 4: and Sergeant Farrell even said that at the time of
Speaker 4: the warrant, the tablet was in possession of Eron's daughter
Speaker 4: and had to be taken from her.
Speaker 1: And besides from Aaron's record of interview, another video was
Speaker 1: shown to the jury today.
Speaker 4: That's right, and this was a very short video. It
Speaker 4: only ran for about a minute and a half and
Speaker 4: It was taken at the very end of the search warrant,
Speaker 4: where Sergeant Farrell could be seen talking to Erin about
Speaker 4: her mobile phone. He explained to her that the only
Speaker 4: outstanding item that they were yet to collect was the
Speaker 4: phone she was currently using. In the video, he asks
Speaker 4: her if he can have a look at the phone
Speaker 4: and she said of course. She could then be seen
Speaker 4: handing him the phone and he asked in response whether
Speaker 4: or not it required a pin code. She said that
Speaker 4: it was either a four digit or a six digit
Speaker 4: code and said she didn't know exactly which one. During
Speaker 4: his evidence, Sergeant Farrell also said that a search warrant
Speaker 4: was executed at one of Erin's properties in Mount Waverley,
Speaker 4: but he told the court that nothing of note was found.
Speaker 1: And finally we heard again from Senior Public Health Advisor
Speaker 1: Sally n Atkinson. She took to the stand and gave
Speaker 1: further evidence today.
Speaker 4: Yes, she completed her evidence in chief today and spoke
Speaker 4: about the report that the Department of Health handed down
Speaker 4: after their investigation had concluded. She told the court that
Speaker 4: the investigation established that it was highly unlikely that the
Speaker 4: commercial food chain had been contaminated with death cat mushrooms.
Speaker 4: She said the risk to public health was deemed to
Speaker 4: be very low and the Department of Health had deemed
Speaker 4: it an isolated event. Miss Atkinson told the court that
Speaker 4: only one Asian grosser stocked dried mushrooms, similar to the
Speaker 4: description that Erin had provided her, but she said this
Speaker 4: product was notably larger.
Speaker 1: So, Laura, they are all the witnesses that we heard
Speaker 1: from today, But you told me that Adura actually got
Speaker 1: left out of the courtroom.
Speaker 4: That's right, And I don't think you could have seen
Speaker 4: what was happening from the overflow room, Brook. But in
Speaker 4: court towards the end of the day, when Constable epping
Speaker 4: Stall was giving evidence, there was a short break and
Speaker 4: the jury left the room. But when they came back in,
Speaker 4: someone realized that only thirteen of them were sitting in
Speaker 4: the jury box. They realized they'd actually left one of
Speaker 4: the jurors behind. Laughter filled the courtroom when the jury
Speaker 4: forewoman went to the door to the jury room to
Speaker 4: try and get him, and then had trouble trying to
Speaker 4: open the door, but eventually they recovered him and all
Speaker 4: fourteen jurers continued listening to the evidence, and all fourteen
Speaker 4: jurors will be back in court tomorrow to continue hearing
Speaker 4: from Constable epping Stall, who the prosecution said today would
Speaker 4: be the last witness they call before they formally close
Speaker 4: their case against Erin.
Speaker 1: Looking forward to it. Thanks Laura, Thanks Brooke. To stay
Speaker 1: updated on this case, go to the mushroom book dot
Speaker 1: com dot au