Speaker 1: It's cold in Morwell, the sort of ten degree day
Speaker 1: where you seriously contemplate wearing a puffer jacket indoors, a
Speaker 1: sort of windless chill that settles over the rolling hills
Speaker 1: of Gippsland and seeps into your bones. But in the
Speaker 1: Latro Valley law courts today there was nothing but heat
Speaker 1: as Crown Prosecutor Nannette Rogers grilled Aaron Patterson. At one stage,
Speaker 1: Doctor Rogers brought erin to evidence from her estranged husband,
Speaker 1: Simon Patterson, peppering her with questions about a phone call
Speaker 1: they had.
Speaker 2: Are you making this up as you go along, miss Patterson?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 1: This was one of several fiery exchanges the jury heard
Speaker 1: in courtroom for today. I'm Brooke Greebert Craig, and this
Speaker 1: is the mushroom call. I'm back in Morewell with my colleague,
Speaker 1: court reporter Laura Plussella. Hi, Laura hey Brook.
Speaker 4: The long weekend is over and we're here for day
Speaker 4: twenty nine of Aaron Patterson's murder trial.
Speaker 1: Yes week seven and a few more to go. Quite
Speaker 1: a bit happened in court today. Aaron was once again
Speaker 1: in the witness box.
Speaker 4: This is now her third day of cross examination, and
Speaker 4: doctor Rogers took her today to the evidence of almost
Speaker 4: a dozen witnesses who the jury have heard from previously,
Speaker 4: and Aaron at times said today that those witnesses were
Speaker 4: mistaken in their evidence.
Speaker 1: Let's start with the first topic of the day. Doctor
Speaker 1: Rodgers asked Aaron about a pre surgery appointment she claimed
Speaker 1: she had booked to explore gastric bypass surgery. Aaron said
Speaker 1: the appointment was at Enrich Clinic in Melbourne on September thirteen,
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three.
Speaker 4: To remind our listeners, Aaron has admitted she misled her
Speaker 4: guests at the lunch by telling them she potentially needed
Speaker 4: treatment for cancer to cover up the fact that she
Speaker 4: was planning to have this surgery. Today, doctor Rogers asked
Speaker 4: erin whether she agreed that the Enrich Clinic offers services
Speaker 4: in cosmetic dermatology. Aaron replied that she didn't know. Then
Speaker 4: doctor Rogers put a specific question to her. Here's their
Speaker 4: exchange in court today. It's been voiced by actors.
Speaker 2: The Enriched Clinic does not offer gastric bypass surgery or
Speaker 2: gastric sleeve surgery. Agree or disagree, I don't know the
Speaker 2: Enriched clinic does not conduct assessments relating to gastric bypass
Speaker 2: surgery or gastric sleeve surgery. Agree or disagree, I don't know,
Speaker 2: but I'm a bit puzzled in what way.
Speaker 3: Well that was I had an appointment with them, and
Speaker 3: that's what my memory is that the appointment was for.
Speaker 3: So that's why I'm puzzled.
Speaker 2: Your appointment at the Enriched Clinic, the appointment that you
Speaker 2: have told this jury about on Friday, had nothing to
Speaker 2: do with gastric bypass surgery.
Speaker 3: Agree or disagree, Well, it would have been related to
Speaker 3: weight loss surgery. Perhaps it was a different procedure I
Speaker 3: was doing through them, and I was looking into liposuction
Speaker 3: as well.
Speaker 2: When you gave sworn evidence to this jury last Friday
Speaker 2: that you had a pre surgery appointment for guest bypass
Speaker 2: surgery booked in for early September with the and Rich
Speaker 2: Clinic in Melbourne, that was a lie. Agree or disagree?
Speaker 3: No, it wasn't a lie. That's what my memory was.
Speaker 1: Doctor Rogers also asked Aaron questions in relation to citizen
Speaker 1: website I naturalist.
Speaker 4: It was at this point that we picked up from
Speaker 4: the cross examination on Friday. Erin was asked a question
Speaker 4: about I Naturalist, specifically around whether or not she had
Speaker 4: an interest in death cap mushrooms, but she never got
Speaker 4: a chance to answer that question because Justice Christopher Beale
Speaker 4: adjourned the court. Doctor Rogers returned to this topic today
Speaker 4: and suggested to Aaron that her interest in death caps
Speaker 4: was derived from their well known toxicity. Erin conceded that
Speaker 4: that was probably the case, but that was only because
Speaker 4: she wanted to know whether the dangerous mushrooms could be
Speaker 4: found in South Gippsland because she was worried they were
Speaker 4: toxic to dogs. During this line of questioning, Erin was
Speaker 4: asked about a death cap mushroom sighting on I Natural
Speaker 4: Life that appeared to be accessed by a computer in
Speaker 4: her house on May twenty eighth, twenty twenty two. This
Speaker 4: sighting was in Morabin at a place called Bricker Reserve.
Speaker 4: After Doctor Rogers asked Erin about this sighting, Erin interrupted her.
Speaker 4: Here is how she interjected.
Speaker 2: Now I'm moving on to a different topic.
Speaker 3: Before you do, Dr Rogers. Within this record is that
Speaker 3: second visit to Bricker Reserve that I was talking about
Speaker 3: seven twenty three, sixteen and seven twenty three eighteen.
Speaker 2: Miss Patterson, I'm the person who asks the questions. If
Speaker 2: there's something that needs to be clarified in re examination,
Speaker 2: then your barrister will do so, no problem.
Speaker 1: Doctor Rogers then questioned Erin more about the lunch on
Speaker 1: July twenty nine and how it was plated. In the
Speaker 1: second week of the trial, Ian Wilkinson told the jury
Speaker 1: the guest eight off gray plates, while Aaron Ate off
Speaker 1: a smaller, orange tanned plate.
Speaker 4: During her evidence in chief last week, Erin told the
Speaker 4: jury that she used the dinner plates that she had.
Speaker 4: When asked to expand on her answer, she said that
Speaker 4: she thought there was a couple of black plates, a
Speaker 4: couple of white plates, one that was red on top
Speaker 4: with black underneath, and she also made reference to a
Speaker 4: plate her daughter had made at kindergarten.
Speaker 3: That was multicolored.
Speaker 4: Dr Rogers today asked Erin about her description of the plates.
Speaker 3: Here's what was said.
Speaker 2: So, I suggest that this description that you gave to
Speaker 2: the jury of the plates you used that the lunch
Speaker 2: is a lie correct or incorrect incorrect. I suggest that
Speaker 2: there were four large gray dinner plates correct or incorrect, incorrect,
Speaker 2: and they were for the four guests. Correct or incorrect incorrect,
Speaker 2: and the smaller orange tan plate was for yourself correct
Speaker 2: or incorrect incorrect. Do you say that Ian Wilkinson has
Speaker 2: given incorrect evidence around the issue of the plates.
Speaker 3: Yes, I do.
Speaker 4: The exchange continued.
Speaker 2: I suggest that you knowingly served death cap mushrooms in
Speaker 2: the four separate beef Wellingtons you dished up to your
Speaker 2: four lunch guests, agree or disagree, disagree, and that you
Speaker 2: served yourself a beef Wellington which did not have death
Speaker 2: cap mushrooms in it. Agree or disagree, disagree, and you
Speaker 2: knew that didn't contain death cap mushrooms. Agree or disagree, disagree?
Speaker 2: And I suggest that to avoid any error in case
Speaker 2: you accidentally ate one of the poison beef Wellington's, you
Speaker 2: took the extra precaution of using a different and smaller
Speaker 2: plate to plate your non poison serve correct or incorrect incorrect.
Speaker 2: And that is why you never suffered the severe illnesses
Speaker 2: that Donald, gail Ian and Heather suffered correct or incorrect incorrect,
Speaker 2: And that's why you did not have Amanita for Lloyd's poisoning.
Speaker 2: Correct or incorrect incorrect.
Speaker 1: Doctor Rogers then moved to cross examinate to the portion
Speaker 1: of the mill that Aaron ate she took.
Speaker 4: Erin to the evidence of Public Health Director Ronda Stewart
Speaker 4: from Monash Health, who said Aaron had told her she
Speaker 4: had eaten half her beef Wellington. Doctor Rogers suggested to
Speaker 4: Erin today that she had actually eaten the whole beef Wellington,
Speaker 4: but lied to Professor Stewart to account for the fact
Speaker 4: she was not seriously ill. Erin disagreed with this accusation.
Speaker 1: Doctor Rogers also asked Aaron about the evidence she gave
Speaker 1: last week that she vomited after the guests had left
Speaker 1: her house. Aaron has previously told the jury that she
Speaker 1: has suffered from bolimia for most of her life. Here's
Speaker 1: another exchange that took place in court today.
Speaker 2: Is it your evidence that the vomit was partly constituted
Speaker 2: by the beef Wellington? Correct?
Speaker 3: I have no idea what was in the vomit at all? Well,
Speaker 3: how could I It's vomit unless you can see a
Speaker 3: bean or a piece of corn.
Speaker 2: Well, you didn't have corn at the lunch.
Speaker 3: That was an example.
Speaker 2: I suggest that you did not tell a single medical
Speaker 2: person that you had vomited up after the lunch on
Speaker 2: the afternoon of twenty ninth of July.
Speaker 3: That is true. I did not do that.
Speaker 2: I suggest that that is something you would have told
Speaker 2: them if it were true. Correct or incorrect?
Speaker 3: Incorrect?
Speaker 2: Do you say it's incorrect because of your embarrassment.
Speaker 3: I say it's incorrect because it's what happened.
Speaker 2: I asked you a moment ago or I suggested that
Speaker 2: you didn't tell any person that you had vomited, and
Speaker 2: you agreed.
Speaker 3: I do agree.
Speaker 1: Let's move on to the delightful topic of Aaron's bow movements.
Speaker 1: I know I said a couple of weeks ago. I
Speaker 1: was hoping to never talk about it again, but it
Speaker 1: continues to be mentioned during the trial. What was said
Speaker 1: about it today, Laura?
Speaker 4: It was at this point today that doctor Rogers took
Speaker 4: Erin to the evidence of child protection worker Katrina Cripps.
Speaker 4: Miss Cripps spoke to Erin on August one while she
Speaker 4: was at Monash Medical Center receiving treatment. Miss Cripps said
Speaker 4: that when she asked Erin about the night of the lunch,
Speaker 4: she told her that she drove her son's friend home
Speaker 4: but wanted to stay in the car so it could
Speaker 4: provide a cork to stop herself from having an accident.
Speaker 4: But doctor Rogers suggested to Erin today that if she
Speaker 4: was genuinely worried she would pooh her pants while in
Speaker 4: the car, she would not have driven her son's friend
Speaker 4: home in the first place. But Erin told the court
Speaker 4: that she was not concerned at that point because she
Speaker 4: was yet to experience diarrhea that evening.
Speaker 1: And I will interject here the quote poo your pants
Speaker 1: was said quite a lot in court today.
Speaker 4: Yes, those were the words being used by doctor Rogers
Speaker 4: today when she was asking Erin these questions. And Erin
Speaker 4: went on to say that she may have become confused
Speaker 4: when she made the cork comment to Miss Cripps, saying
Speaker 4: she may have been thinking about the drive she made
Speaker 4: the next day to Tiab. She explained that she had
Speaker 4: a lot of people asking her questions in the days
Speaker 4: after the lunch and she was trying her best to
Speaker 4: answer them, but admitted she I have gotten things a
Speaker 4: little bit wrong along the way.
Speaker 1: Erin was also asked about her first presentation at ling
Speaker 1: Gatha Hospital on July thirty one about eighth five am.
Speaker 4: As we've heard previously, Aerin left the hospital after only
Speaker 4: five minutes after signing a discharge at own risk form.
Speaker 4: Erin told the court today that she remembered nurse Kylie
Speaker 4: Ashton and doctor Veronica Foot really wanting her to sign
Speaker 4: the form. Here's what Erin said today about her conversation
Speaker 4: with miss Ashton.
Speaker 2: You had been told by medical staff that your life
Speaker 2: was at risk. Do you agree with that?
Speaker 3: No? I don't remember anyone saying my life was at risk.
Speaker 2: Okay, So the evidence of Kylie Ashton at transcript six
Speaker 2: four four was that she told you that your life
Speaker 2: was at risk.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I don't remember her saying anything like that.
Speaker 2: Do you say she's mistaken? Yes.
Speaker 1: Doctor Rogers then suggested to Aaron that she knew her
Speaker 1: life was not threatened at this point.
Speaker 3: I wouldn't say I knew. I didn't think it was.
Speaker 2: I suggest that your behavior at leaving Leongatha Hospital a
Speaker 2: few minutes after you'd presented there was because you knew
Speaker 2: that you had not consumed death cap mushrooms. Agree or disagree.
Speaker 3: I didn't think any of us had, but it wasn't
Speaker 3: why I was leaving. No.
Speaker 2: I suggest that you also left when confronted by the
Speaker 2: fact that medical staff had identified death cap mushrooms as
Speaker 2: a reason for the illnesses.
Speaker 3: No, that's not why I left.
Speaker 2: I suggest that you panicked and absconded because you knew
Speaker 2: that your use of death cap mushrooms in the meal
Speaker 2: had been uncovered. Agree or disagree?
Speaker 3: Disagree.
Speaker 4: The questioning then turned to what Aaron did after she
Speaker 4: left the hospital at eight ten am, before she returned
Speaker 4: again at nine point forty eight am. Aaron told the
Speaker 4: court that when she went home, she packed her daughter's
Speaker 4: ballet bag, tended to her animals, and had to lie down.
Speaker 4: Dr Rogers suggested to her that lying down would be
Speaker 4: the last thing a person would do in these circumstances. Replied,
Speaker 4: it might be the last thing you'd do, but it
Speaker 4: was something I did. Doctor Rogers went on to suggest
Speaker 4: that she did other things during that period. Here's what
Speaker 4: was said.
Speaker 2: I suggest you were trying to work out how to
Speaker 2: manage the situation you now found yourself in correct or
Speaker 2: incorrect incorrect. You had not expected doctors to detect death
Speaker 2: cap mushroom poisoning so quickly correct or incorrect incorrect. You
Speaker 2: thought it would be treated as just a case of
Speaker 2: food poisoning. Correct or incorrect incorrect. Once you were told
Speaker 2: that the medical staff had detected death cap mushrooms or
Speaker 2: suspected it. You had to think quickly correct or incorrect, incorrect,
Speaker 2: to try and explain why you were not sick, correct, incorrect,
Speaker 2: to try and cover your tracks correct or incorrect, incorrect.
Speaker 2: And that's what you spent the one hour and forty
Speaker 2: minutes doing while you were away from the hospital. Agree
Speaker 2: or disagree? What are you saying I was doing thinking
Speaker 2: about ways to cover your tracks.
Speaker 3: Oh, okay, you're saying I spent an hour and a
Speaker 3: half thinking. Is that what you're suggesting? Yes, I'm sure
Speaker 3: I did some thinking in that time, but it was
Speaker 3: not about covering my tracks.
Speaker 1: Aaron's cross examination finished with doctor Rogers asking her questions
Speaker 1: about the leftovers of the mill that were found in
Speaker 1: her outside bin by police. The jury has previously heard
Speaker 1: that Erin told Senior Constable Adrian Martinez Villa Lobos he
Speaker 1: could find the leftovers in a paper woolworst bag in
Speaker 1: that outside bin. Erin was asked today what was contained
Speaker 1: inside that bag.
Speaker 4: Erin said that the bag contained the mushrooms and pastry
Speaker 4: from one full beef Wellington and the mushrooms and pastry
Speaker 4: from the part of her serve she did not eat.
Speaker 4: She earlier told the court that she recalled eating around
Speaker 4: a quarter to a third of her beef Wellington. Erin
Speaker 4: denied the suggestion that the six beef Wellington she prepared,
Speaker 4: which he put in the fridge while she was played up,
Speaker 4: was for Simon in case he did turn up to
Speaker 4: the lunch. Justice Beer wanted clarity on this point, and
Speaker 4: he asked Eron today, who did you make it for?
Speaker 4: Aaron replied it was just an extra one. Simon wasn't coming.
Speaker 4: Here's more of what was said about the leftovers.
Speaker 2: I suggest that you disposed of the leftovers in your
Speaker 2: rubbish bin sometime after your lunch guests left your house
Speaker 2: at two forty five or thereabouts on Saturday, twenty ninth
Speaker 2: of July yep and before you represented at Leongatha Hospital
Speaker 2: at about nine forty five am on thirty pirst of July. Yes,
Speaker 2: I suggest that you removed the steak from inside the
Speaker 2: pastry in the leftovers before you put it in the bin.
Speaker 2: Correct or incorrect? I did do that the steak was
Speaker 2: put somewhere else? Correct it was? And where was it put?
Speaker 3: Into my children's stomachs?
Speaker 2: And I suggest that you certainly did not feed that
Speaker 2: steak to your children. But we've been over that and
Speaker 2: you no doubt disagree with me.
Speaker 3: Correct.
Speaker 4: The day ended with doctor Rogers suggesting to Erin that
Speaker 4: she assisted police with the whereabouts of the leftovers because
Speaker 4: she had no means of removing them from her bin herself,
Speaker 4: given she was at Lengatha Hospital at the time. Aaron
Speaker 4: replied to that suggestion by saying, why wouldn't I just
Speaker 4: say there was no leftovers.
Speaker 1: Doctor Rogers then suggested that if she didn't tell police
Speaker 1: where the leftovers were, it would have been suspicious. Aaron replied,
Speaker 1: I have no idea about that. It was at this
Speaker 1: point that Justice Bill Court it a day, so doctor
Speaker 1: Rogers and Aaron will face off again tomorrow as her
Speaker 1: cross examination spills into a fourth day. To stay up
Speaker 1: to date with the latest on this case, go to
Speaker 1: the mushroomcook dot com dot au