Speaker 1: It's mid morning and Detective Leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall
Speaker 1: and his colleagues are at a house that sits on
Speaker 1: a gravel road in the country town of lean Gatha.
Speaker 1: They're here because it's Aaron Patterson's home and they have
Speaker 1: a warrant to search it. While they're on site, Aaron
Speaker 1: hends them a phone that they sees, but according to
Speaker 1: the prosecution, there was another phone that police were never
Speaker 1: able to find. How that phone fits into their case
Speaker 1: is what the jury heard today in court. I'm Brook
Speaker 1: Greenbert Craig, and this is the Mushroom Cook. It's day
Speaker 1: twenty one of Aaron Patterson's murder trial and I'm here
Speaker 1: again with my colleague, court reporter Laura PUSSELLA good to
Speaker 1: be here. As you remember, yesterday Constable Eppingstall took to
Speaker 1: the stand and today he continued his evidence. He answered
Speaker 1: questions on many different topics. So let's start with the
Speaker 1: most detailed, which is about two of Aaron's phones. They
Speaker 1: have been called Phone A and Phone B in court today.
Speaker 2: That's right, and I almost feel like I need to
Speaker 2: start this out with a disclaimer. This will be some
Speaker 2: really dense evidence and it might be confusing for some
Speaker 2: of our listeners, but we're going to try our hardest
Speaker 2: to break it down, just like it was broken down
Speaker 2: in court today by Constable epping Stall to quickly give
Speaker 2: a summary of Phone A and Phone B. The jury
Speaker 2: were told in the prosecution opening that Phone A was
Speaker 2: never recovered by police, but Phone B was seized during
Speaker 2: a search warrant executed at Aaron's house on August five,
Speaker 2: a week after the lunch. But for now we'll just
Speaker 2: start with Phone A. The court has heard that a
Speaker 2: lot of phone records have been analyzed in this case,
Speaker 2: and Constable epping Stall said today that four and a
Speaker 2: half years of these records showed that Erin used a
Speaker 2: SIM card ending in the digits seven eight to three
Speaker 2: for a long time. He said, she used this SIM
Speaker 2: card to communicate with people in her life, including her
Speaker 2: children and her extranged husband Simon. These records were shown
Speaker 2: to the jury today and the prosecution team almost had
Speaker 2: to scroll through them because there were so many of them.
Speaker 2: Constable epping Stall told the court that the record showed
Speaker 2: that this simcard was placed into Phone A on February twelve,
Speaker 2: twenty twenty three. If we fast forward he said, this
Speaker 2: simcard remained in that phone until August five, and to
Speaker 2: remind our listeners, this is the date of the first
Speaker 2: search warrant which you heard about in the top of
Speaker 2: the episode. When asked today about these records and what
Speaker 2: they showed, Constable epping Stall said that on August five,
Speaker 2: around one forty five pm, you could see the SIM
Speaker 2: card change from Phone A into a completely different phone,
Speaker 2: that being a Nokia. Yesterday he told the court that
Speaker 2: during the search warrant, Miss Patterson was allowed to use
Speaker 2: a phone in a room on her own without any observation.
Speaker 1: So Phone B is the Nokia then.
Speaker 2: No, so the Nokia is actually a third phone. It
Speaker 2: hasn't been given a name, so we're just going to
Speaker 2: call it the Nokia. Every time we're referring to Phone
Speaker 2: A or Phone B. Will use those terms just like
Speaker 2: they've used in court. Sounds good, so Constable Eppingstaal told
Speaker 2: the court that now the simcard ending in seven eighty
Speaker 2: three that was being regularly used by Erin was now
Speaker 2: in this Nokia, and he said that according to the records,
Speaker 2: there was ongoing usage of this simcard right up until
Speaker 2: August fourteen, which is when the records they had obtained
Speaker 2: had ended, but he said that months later, on November two,
Speaker 2: another search warrant was executed at Aaron's house, and this
Speaker 2: time they were looking for Phone A. He was asked
Speaker 2: by Crown Prosecutor Jane Warren whether Phone A was ever found.
Speaker 2: He said, it's never been located by police.
Speaker 1: Okay, So what you're saying, Laura, is that the record
Speaker 1: show Phone A was used by Erin in twenty twenty
Speaker 1: three to communicate with other people and it was never
Speaker 1: found by police.
Speaker 2: That's right.
Speaker 1: Okay, Now let's move on to Phone B. What can
Speaker 1: you tell me about that.
Speaker 2: Constable epping Stall confirmed that Phone B was the phone
Speaker 2: that Erin handed to police on August five during the
Speaker 2: search warrant. We touched on this in yesterday's episode because
Speaker 2: a video was played to the jury of that exchange
Speaker 2: between Erin and Detective Sergeant Luke Farrell she handed the
Speaker 2: phone to him towards the end of the search warrant.
Speaker 2: Constable Eppingstall was then asked questions about the checks he
Speaker 2: completed on this phone once it was in his custody.
Speaker 2: He said that the phone had a SIM card inside
Speaker 2: ending an eight three five. This being a different simcard
Speaker 2: from what we've mentioned earlier. He said the SIM card
Speaker 2: had only been connected from July eleven that year and
Speaker 2: had been used in a tablet up until August three.
Speaker 2: He then referred back to the records and he said
Speaker 2: that the SIM card was taken out of the tab
Speaker 2: and placed into phone B on August three. And just
Speaker 2: because we are referring to a lot of dates, August
Speaker 2: three is five days after the lunch and two days
Speaker 2: before the search warrant.
Speaker 1: Our listeners may remember that Digital forensic Officer Sharman fox
Speaker 1: Henry from Victoria Police said Phone B was factory reset
Speaker 1: several times in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2: Yes, we have touched upon this topic in two episodes,
Speaker 2: and we came back to it again today. Mister fox
Speaker 2: Henry was asked about a report last week relating to
Speaker 2: these factory resets, and he said the report showed that
Speaker 2: Phone B was factory reset four times on February twelve,
Speaker 2: August two, August five, and August six.
Speaker 1: Let's move on to more of his evidence. The jury
Speaker 1: heard about Aaron's alleged medical appointments.
Speaker 2: They did and to take a step back, Constable epping
Speaker 2: Stall explained to the jury how he obtained Erin's Medicare
Speaker 2: records and was able to use them to determine where
Speaker 2: and when she went to the doctor. After that process,
Speaker 2: he said he secured warrants to obtain Erin's medical records
Speaker 2: from three gps in Lee and Gathakaren, Burrough and Mount Waverley.
Speaker 1: Now the jury was showing entries from Gail Patterson's diary,
Speaker 1: weren't they.
Speaker 2: Yes, And this was happening at the same time that
Speaker 2: Constable eppings Store was being asked about the medical records.
Speaker 2: And it will soon be made clear why that was
Speaker 2: the case. In Gayle's diary, she wrote on June twenty eighth,
Speaker 2: twenty twenty three, Erin dash Saint Vincent's arm lump, Saint
Speaker 2: Vincent's being a reference to a hospital in Melbourne. The
Speaker 2: jury were then shown messages between Gail and Erin from
Speaker 2: a day later, on June twenty nine. These are their words,
Speaker 2: but not their voices.
Speaker 3: Hi, Gail, Sorry, I had taken to see a movie
Speaker 3: last night. We saw The Little Mermaid. The appointment went okay,
Speaker 3: thanks for asking. I had a needle biopsy taken of
Speaker 3: the lump and I'm returning for an MRI next week
Speaker 3: and we'll know more about the results of those two things.
Speaker 4: That's the test of patience, isn't it, Praying you'll know
Speaker 4: God's peace. We're just ready to relax after an enjoyable
Speaker 4: time with Ethan and Alice. Nice to have the fire
Speaker 4: warming us in this cold weather XO.
Speaker 2: After the text messages were shown to the jury, Constable
Speaker 2: Epping's stare was asked whether or not he found any
Speaker 2: evidence in Aaron's medical records that indicated she did have
Speaker 2: a needle biopsy on June twenty eighth. He said he
Speaker 2: could not find any evidence of that.
Speaker 1: The messages also continued on July.
Speaker 4: Six, Hi, Erin, how did you get on yesterday with
Speaker 4: your medical tests? Love Don and Gail?
Speaker 1: And then the next day Erin replied.
Speaker 3: Thanks for your message, Don and Gail. There's a bit
Speaker 3: to digest with everything that's come out of it all.
Speaker 3: I might talk more about it with you both when
Speaker 3: I see you in person, Love Erin.
Speaker 2: Constable epping Stall was again asked whether he had found
Speaker 2: any evidence of these medical appointments in Erin's records. He
Speaker 2: again said he had not, but the court her that
Speaker 2: Erin did attend a medical appointment in late June for
Speaker 2: ribsonness and twice in July to update a prescription now constable.
Speaker 1: Epping Stall was also asked questions about Aaron's medical history
Speaker 1: by defense barrister Colin Mandy.
Speaker 2: Sc that's right. Under cross examination, the defense tended more
Speaker 2: medical records relating to Erin from twenty twenty one. In particular,
Speaker 2: in one of the records from October, a doctor writes
Speaker 2: Aarin worries about ovary cancer. Has been googling her symptoms,
Speaker 2: thinks her symptoms may be suggestive of ovary cancer. This
Speaker 2: record states that an MRI and an ultrasound were booked
Speaker 2: for the following month in November. Mister Mandy also showed
Speaker 2: the jury another medical record which outlined Erin's family history,
Speaker 2: and it stated that her paternal aunt and maternal aunt
Speaker 2: had overy cancer. It has been a while since we've
Speaker 2: spoken about cancer. But the prosecution has alleged that Erin
Speaker 2: falsely claimed she had cancer to ensure and to explain
Speaker 2: why her children were not present at the lunch on
Speaker 2: July twenty nine. But the defense has suggested that Erin
Speaker 2: only told the lunch guests she had a suspected diagnosis
Speaker 2: of cancer. The defense did concede, though in its opening address,
Speaker 2: that Erin has not been diagnosed with cancer.
Speaker 1: Now. Citizen website I Naturalist also got brought up again
Speaker 1: today in court. Just to remind listeners, the jury has
Speaker 1: previously heard evidence from doctor Tom May and Christine McKenzie
Speaker 1: about them citing Deathcap mushrooms and logging this on the
Speaker 1: website Our.
Speaker 2: Naturalists came up today in Constable epping Stalls evidence in
Speaker 2: chief when he was asked about the cooler Master computer
Speaker 2: that was seized from Aaron's house. The court heard that
Speaker 2: three web pages relating to Our Naturalist were visited by
Speaker 2: a browser on that computer on May twenty eighth, twenty
Speaker 2: twenty two. Just making a point that this was one
Speaker 2: year before the lunch, Constable epping Stall said that as
Speaker 2: part of his investigation, he searched for these web pages
Speaker 2: using the URLs that had been extracted from the device.
Speaker 2: The jury heard that one of these web pages related
Speaker 2: to a suburban siding of Deathcap mushrooms in Melbourne Southeast.
Speaker 2: This post was made on Our Naturalist on May eighteen,
Speaker 2: twenty twenty two, and as a completely separate post from
Speaker 2: those you mentioned earlier. Brook by doctor May and miss Mackenzie.
Speaker 2: A screenshot of this web page taken by Constable Eppingstall
Speaker 2: was shown to the jury today.
Speaker 1: We also heard quite a bit about the food that
Speaker 1: Aaron had previously purchased. The jury was shown a woolworst
Speaker 1: transaction history. They were also shown a BP receipt and
Speaker 1: a PUB receipt and I may.
Speaker 2: Just touch on this pub receipt first because it relates
Speaker 2: to the topic we were just talking about. The jury
Speaker 2: heard that on the same day a browser on the
Speaker 2: cooler Master computer visited the I Naturalist website. It also
Speaker 2: visited a website for the cur and Borough Middle Pub
Speaker 2: only a few minutes later. The jury was shown this
Speaker 2: receipt that you mentioned Brook. The order was placed on
Speaker 2: May twenty eighth, twenty twenty two, at seven to twenty
Speaker 2: five pm. On the receipt was Erin's name and her
Speaker 2: phone number, and at risk of making our listeners hungry,
Speaker 2: this contained two chicken palmers, a kids burger, a kid's
Speaker 2: fish and a coconot sugar and the court heard that
Speaker 2: the computer records showed that this meal had been ordered
Speaker 2: only a few minutes after the visit to the I
Speaker 2: Naturalist website.
Speaker 1: As I mentioned before, the jury were also shown a
Speaker 1: receipt for the BP in coldamine that we had previously
Speaker 1: spoken about in another episode. On that receipt it showed
Speaker 1: three separate food items including tea and tea multicolor blister
Speaker 1: which is a gum, a ham and cheese tomato sandwich,
Speaker 1: and a sweet chili chicken wrap. And just to remind
Speaker 1: the listeners again, this was the day that Aaron drove
Speaker 1: her son to a flying lesson.
Speaker 2: And to round it out, I'll talk about Erin's Woolworths
Speaker 2: transaction history, which Constable epping Stall told the court today
Speaker 2: was recorded through Erin's Everyday Rewards account. Her transaction history
Speaker 2: from July twenty three to July twenty eight, so about
Speaker 2: the week before the lunch was shown to the jury
Speaker 2: with the items that related to the beef Wellington meal
Speaker 2: highlighted in yellow. Six days before the lunch, on July
Speaker 2: twenty three, the record showed that Erin purchased one kilo
Speaker 2: of sliced mushrooms, two packets of pastry, and some shalots.
Speaker 2: Two days before the lunch, so this is on July twoe,
Speaker 2: she bought two more packets of pastry, four beef I
Speaker 2: fillts and seven hundred and fifty grams of sliced mushrooms.
Speaker 2: And then finally, the day before the lunch, she bought
Speaker 2: another two packets of pastry, one point five kilos of
Speaker 2: potato mash, green beans, and one more beef I fill it.
Speaker 2: When this transaction history was being shown to the jury
Speaker 2: on the screens, Constable epping Store was asked by Miss
Speaker 2: Warren what the last column meant, and it was a
Speaker 2: column relating to the price of each product, but he
Speaker 2: said that he wasn't quite sure what it was, and
Speaker 2: at that moment a juror actually piped up and said,
Speaker 2: I do, just as Christopher Beale quickly turned to the
Speaker 2: jury and said, well, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for that,
Speaker 2: but keep your comments for the jury room. After that,
Speaker 2: Miss Warren did confirm that it was indeed the column
Speaker 2: relating to the price.
Speaker 1: There has been some moments of laughter during his evidence
Speaker 1: and he will return to the stand tomorrow to continue
Speaker 1: his cross examination. To stay updated on this case, go
Speaker 1: to the mush roomcook dot com dot a U for
Speaker 1: more