Speaker 1: Hey, there's a news story that's really capturing everyone's attention,
Speaker 1: including grabbing worldwide headlines at the moment. It is the
Speaker 1: trial of Aaron Patterson, the alleged mushroom cook who's up
Speaker 1: on a triple murder chart.
Speaker 2: Well, it's extraordinary stuff. Now.
Speaker 1: She testified yesterday, and to get the latest went across
Speaker 1: to a friend and colleague of my Penelopelesh from nine years,
Speaker 1: one of our court reporters who is following the trial.
Speaker 2: Penny Good Morning, Morning Morning, Clint, morning, Lauren. So what
Speaker 2: did what happened yesterday? Because on the stand? Yeah, were
Speaker 2: you surprised?
Speaker 3: Yeah, look, Aaron Patterson has taken the stand. This trial
Speaker 3: has been going for twenty four days now, that's into
Speaker 3: its sixth week. The jury has heard from many, many
Speaker 3: witnesses from the prosecution, and it was after they officially
Speaker 3: said we close our case that her defense barrister got
Speaker 3: up very quickly and said the defense will call Aaron Patterson.
Speaker 3: Now that was quite a moment in the court room,
Speaker 3: but the judge actually said to the jury, well, this
Speaker 3: might be an appropriate time to take a break. So
Speaker 3: everyone actually left the court for sort of fifteen minutes
Speaker 3: and then the jury came back in, and when they did,
Speaker 3: Aaron Patterson was there. She was at the witness stand
Speaker 3: and she was sworn in, so she took an affirmation
Speaker 3: rather than an oath, And it was quite a sort
Speaker 3: of a moment in the courtroom where obviously all eyes
Speaker 3: are always on the witness box, that they were on
Speaker 3: her to hear her exactly in her own words, talking
Speaker 3: through what happened. Now, she was only up for about
Speaker 3: an hour yesterday. What she was being asked about was
Speaker 3: sort of her early relationship with her now estranged husband,
Speaker 3: Simon Patterson, and how she was feeling physically and emotionally
Speaker 3: with her relationship with his family and him at the
Speaker 3: time of this fatial lunch back in July twenty twenty three.
Speaker 4: So when you say it was a real moment, was
Speaker 4: it expected that she wasn't going to get up.
Speaker 3: It is entirely up to any accused whether or not
Speaker 3: they take the stand. They have the choice as to
Speaker 3: whether or not they do that. It's entirely a matter
Speaker 3: for everyone in their league team whether they will give evidence.
Speaker 3: Some people do choose to give evidence in any sort
Speaker 3: of case. Others choose not to remain in the dock.
Speaker 3: So it is entirely up to each individual person. But
Speaker 3: Aaron Patterson, now she's been on this stand, I said,
Speaker 3: for about an hour and week expects that she will
Speaker 3: continue her evidence this morning.
Speaker 2: So what sort of evidence have we heard already?
Speaker 1: Penn? Obviously I've seen a few reports about her faith,
Speaker 1: also about her relationship with her strange husband.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so what she was sort of taken through was
Speaker 3: when she met Simon Patterson. She says, you know, they
Speaker 3: met while they were both working at Monash Council in
Speaker 3: the early two thousands, and initially it was sort of
Speaker 3: through friends. They'd go to the group things together and
Speaker 3: she says she was a very staunch atheist at that time,
Speaker 3: but they discussed things like religion and politics, and she
Speaker 3: actually said I was trying to convert him to being
Speaker 3: an atheist, but it happened the other way and I
Speaker 3: became a Christian. And she says this was after visiting
Speaker 3: the kar and Borough Baptist Church where his uncle Ian Wilkinson,
Speaker 3: one of the lunch guests, was preaching at the time.
Speaker 3: She had what she called a religious experience and she
Speaker 3: became quite overwhelmed by that. She also spoke about at
Speaker 3: the time of this lunch, she and Simon, she said,
Speaker 3: they were no longer really speaking in a super friendly way.
Speaker 3: They weren't really bantering, they were just functionally communicating about
Speaker 3: things like that.
Speaker 4: And so do we have any idea how long this
Speaker 4: case is going to go for? Well?
Speaker 3: Look, Aaron Patterson, as we said, she's been called by
Speaker 3: the defense as a witness, So how long she remains
Speaker 3: on the standard is entirely up to the prosecution and
Speaker 3: defense who are questioning her the defense at the moment.
Speaker 3: But then there will be other There may be other
Speaker 3: witnesses called by the defense. That's entirely up to them.
Speaker 3: Then they'll have to be some closing. So we would
Speaker 3: expect that this will continue for a week or so,
Speaker 3: at least initially. The jury has been told five six
Speaker 3: weeks was the estimate for the trial. We've just started week.
Speaker 2: See pen Have you been in more Well for six weeks?
Speaker 1: Wow?
Speaker 2: I have any wonder the offers.
Speaker 3: Yes, no, No, one has seen many many of us
Speaker 3: for a while. I've been here for for six weeks.
Speaker 3: The people of Morewell's been very kind to have all
Speaker 3: of the media year. But it's been Yeah, it has
Speaker 3: sort of been a lengthy trial, as often these murder
Speaker 3: trials are, when there are a lot of witnesses and
Speaker 3: a lot of evidence to be called.
Speaker 4: Well, it's caught the attention of the whole state, the
Speaker 4: whole country, and like Clint said, it's it's gathering news
Speaker 4: right around the world as well. So thank you so
Speaker 4: much for joining us this morning.
Speaker 2: Thanks Penny. We'll see Penny's story on nine News tonight.
Speaker 2: It's wow
Speaker 3: Jason Lauren Lauren wake up feeling good following them on
Speaker 3: the socials