S1: Hi, it's Samantha Selinger. Morris here. Your host of the
S1: morning Edition. We bring you this bonus episode today on Wednesday,
S1: April 30th, after the first day of what's become known
S1: as the Mushrooms trial. This is the case that centers
S1: around a quiet country lunch that resulted in three people
S1: dead and another fighting for life after the food they
S1: ate contained, as a jury was told, death cap mushrooms.
S1: To tell us what unfolded in court today, we are
S1: joined by The Age's court reporter, Erin Pearson. So, Erin,
S1: first off, can you just set the scene for us?
S1: I mean, tell us about the location of the trial,
S1: what it's actually like in the courtroom, and what the
S1: jury is going to have to weigh up over the
S1: next 5 to 6 weeks.
S2: The the trial has been held at the Supreme Court
S2: sitting at Morwell. It's a small country town in regional Victoria,
S2: in the Gippsland area. Today, what happened in the courtroom
S2: was the jury were given the opening addresses from the
S2: prosecution and the defence. This is where they both sort
S2: of set out their cases a little bit before the
S2: evidence begins. But it's the first time that the jury
S2: will hear the details of the prosecution case against Erin Patterson.
S2: It followed a bit of a timeline and went for
S2: about 3.5 hours. So there was quite a lot of information. Uh,
S2: Crown Prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC, said the prosecution case against
S2: Erin Patterson is that she deliberately laced a beef Wellington
S2: meal with death cap mushrooms. She then lured members of
S2: her family, her estranged husband Simon Patterson's family to lunch
S2: at her home in Leongatha on July 29th, 2023. The
S2: four lunch guests who attended were Gail and Don Patterson,
S2: and also Ian and Heather Wilkinson. The prosecution alleged that
S2: she did so under the guise of having cancer, which
S2: the jury were told was something that she in fact
S2: did not have. She allegedly told the guests that she
S2: needed their assistance in coming up with a plan on
S2: how to break the news to her children, essentially. So
S2: they attended her property. They all sat down for lunch,
S2: and they were served these individual segments of of beef
S2: Wellington with green beans and potatoes. Um, the prosecution alleged
S2: that Aaron Patterson served the four guests their meals on
S2: grey coloured plates, but she served her own meal to
S2: herself on a sort of an orangey tan colored plate
S2: that was a little bit smaller.
S1: Okay. And so just to sum up, Aaron Patterson, she's
S1: been charged with three counts of murder and one count
S1: of attempted murder. She says she's innocent of of all
S1: these charges. But can you just tell us a bit
S1: more about her background and her relationship to her former
S1: husband and his family?
S2: Yeah. So we heard that they, uh, they married and
S2: met many, many years ago. The jury were told that
S2: their relationship remained amicable. They shared custody of their children.
S2: And defence barrister, um Colin Mandy uh essay said that
S2: she was a loving mother, a doting mother. Everything seemed
S2: to be pretty good between the family. He was also
S2: invited to the lunch. They were at the local church
S2: when Aaron Patterson invited the four in-laws and Simon Patterson
S2: to lunch, but Simon Patterson later declined messaging. Aaron Patterson
S2: to say that, in fact, he would not be attending.
S2: Nanette Rogers told the jury that Aaron Patterson appeared quite
S2: upset about that and persisted and really wanted him to attend.
S2: Mentioned that she had a medical issue that she, you know,
S2: needed help discussing, but he did not attend the meal
S2: at all.
S1: Okay. And then the court heard that during the night,
S1: a few hours after this lunch, that Don and Gail
S1: Patterson and then also Ian and Heather Wilkinson, they all
S1: became unwell. The couples were separately taken to hospital and
S1: their conditions declined. But Aaron Patterson also went to hospital.
S1: Can you just tell us a bit about that?
S3: Yeah. So she went to the local hospital.
S2: And when she went to sort of knock on the door,
S2: it's more of an urgent care centre. Um, nobody immediately
S2: came to her because they were treating two of these other, uh,
S2: in-laws in hospital at the time. But there was a
S2: doctor called Doctor Webster who, when he was told that
S2: it was Aaron Patterson at the door, immediately let her in,
S2: and she was assessed and seen to by nurses and
S2: a doctor. But she didn't stay. She told staff she
S2: wasn't prepared to be admitted and left. The hospital staff
S2: then took what the jury was told was an unusual
S2: step of contacting police to try and track her down.
S2: Such was the worry that she may have also consumed
S2: deathcap mushrooms later on that same day, though she did
S2: return to hospital and was later transported to Dandenong Hospital,
S2: where herself and her two children were assessed over the
S2: next week or so as the other lunch guests got
S2: progressively more and more unwell there, their treatment was increased,
S2: but unfortunately three of them passed away. Um, and then
S2: one of them, Ian Wilkinson, who is the the local pastor.
S2: He survived but spent a significant amount of time in hospital.
S1: There's also an issue that she told doctors that her
S1: children had eaten the leftovers, but she'd scraped the mushrooms off.
S1: The doctors wanted her children attended to, I believe. So
S1: what was her response to that?
S2: Uh, the jury were told that she was a little
S2: bit hesitant in that regard, that she she was worried
S2: that if she went and picked them up from school
S2: and brought them to hospital, it would stress them out. Um,
S2: she was she was the jury were told that that
S2: that was a primary concern at the time. She really
S2: didn't want to stress her children out. She didn't believe
S2: that they'd consumed any of these these mushrooms, which at
S2: that time was still being worked out and figured out
S2: whether or not it was, in fact, deathcap mushrooms. It's
S2: something that took a little bit of time to to
S2: figure out as everybody was being treated. But yeah, at
S2: the time she wasn't really keen for children to be seen,
S2: but eventually they were all taken to hospital. The prosecution case, though,
S2: is that she feigned this illness and that she wasn't
S2: sick and she knew that her children weren't sick. Um,
S2: this is something that the defense, uh, reject in their
S2: opening addresses. They said no, she was, in fact, sick.
S2: They say the defense case is this was all a
S2: tragic accident. She never, ever intended to harm anybody. But also, uh,
S2: something that was quite confronting for everyone.
S1: And so how does one actually obtain death cap mushrooms?
S1: And where did Aaron Patterson say that they'd actually come from?
S2: Yeah. So the prosecution case is that death cap. Mushrooms
S2: are rare and they can't be cultivated. They can only
S2: grow in the wild on the basis of certain trees. Uh, May,
S2: I think is the time of year that they said
S2: was the most common to find them in this particular case, um,
S2: the prosecution alleged that Aaron Patterson had seen on this
S2: website that there'd been sightings at two very small towns
S2: on the outskirts of that Leongatha Korumburra area. And they
S2: allege that she, um, she went to those areas to deliberately,
S2: I guess, pick those mushrooms to use in the meal.
S2: Now with the defence. Did say today, though, that she
S2: admits while she lied to police firstly about, um, not
S2: foraging for mushrooms, she has since admitted that she had
S2: foraged for mushrooms. The main point of this, and the
S2: the juxtaposition of it all, is that the prosecution are
S2: saying that was a deliberate act. She deliberately went and
S2: sought out deathcap mushrooms and deliberately then put them in
S2: the meal. Uh, the defence are saying the complete opposite. No,
S2: that this was a this was a tragic accident. She
S2: may have gone foraging for mushrooms at, at one time,
S2: but at no point was she deliberately looking for deathcap mushrooms.
S1: And did the defence actually say anything about why Aaron
S1: Patterson lied to police originally about foraging for mushrooms, telling
S1: police originally that she did not forage for mushrooms.
S2: The court heard that there was a number of lies
S2: that Aaron Patterson told along the way, but the defense
S2: counsel reminded the jury that they have to remember that
S2: Aaron Patterson had just learned that members of her extended
S2: family were critically ill or had just died. When all
S2: of these lies had started to come out, and to remember,
S2: maybe the actions of somebody could be somebody who's panicked
S2: and somebody who who knew at the time that the
S2: meal that they had served had led to this illness,
S2: deliberately or not.
S1: Okay. And you also heard in the courtroom today a
S1: little bit about the police investigation that was carried out
S1: in the months after the launch. So what were some
S1: of the more notable things, I guess, that came out
S1: of that?
S2: They they executed search warrants or raids on her home
S2: on two different occasions, one in the August and one
S2: in the November of 2023. Um, police seized a number
S2: of items, including electronic devices, that the jury were told
S2: they would hear more about later on in the trial. Um,
S2: the prosecution also said, though, that during the raid, ride,
S2: Aaron Patterson had a mobile phone on her as she
S2: was sitting at the dining table, and she was given
S2: permission to use that to call and get legal advice,
S2: and also to arrange childcare arrangements for her two children.
S2: They allege, though, that during that time that she was
S2: given that permission to use that phone, she in fact
S2: factory reset that device and then did that again another
S2: two times, one of them remotely. I think that was
S2: the the main part of the police investigation that we
S2: really heard about today.
S1: And did the jury actually hear anything about why the
S1: prosecutors think Aaron Patterson did this or anything about motive,
S1: for that matter?
S2: No. Motive was something that was quite heavily focused on today.
S2: The jury were reminded that the prosecution, in order to
S2: prove the elements of murder and attempted murder, um, don't
S2: actually have to, um, I guess convince them or show
S2: them or roll out any sort of motive. Motive isn't
S2: something that's at the heart of these types of cases,
S2: the prosecution doesn't, in fact, have to put one forward
S2: in order for a finding of guilt to be made
S2: by a jury. Um, they said in this case, there
S2: a clear one, isn't there? Um, and that was something
S2: that the defence also leant into as well. They reminded
S2: the jury that the prosecution had not presented thus far
S2: any evidence of motive.
S1: Okay. Well, this brings me to my next question, because
S1: we have heard a lot from the prosecution today. That's
S1: usual at the start of a trial. But did the
S1: jury actually hear from Aaron Pedersen at all today? And
S1: was she in court watching on?
S2: She was in court watching on. She was seated in
S2: the dock at the back of the courtroom. If you
S2: think about the design of this particular courtroom, you've got
S2: the judge at the the top of the room, you've
S2: got the bar table in front of him, you've got
S2: about three rows of, um, members of the public and press.
S2: And then Aaron Patterson is in the dock in the
S2: back of the room with the jury to the right
S2: hand side. If, if that, if that makes sense. So
S2: Aaron Patterson was present and will be present throughout the trial.
S2: She was a little bit teary at the beginning of
S2: the trial, and while her defense team were addressing the court,
S2: she was seen crying and looking up at the ceiling
S2: and looking a little bit upset. Other times she was
S2: looking at the jury and looking around the room. But
S2: as you mentioned, the defense hasn't said much and Colin
S2: Mandi reminded the jury that that is completely normal. What
S2: happens is the time for argument for the defense isn't
S2: at the beginning. The time for the argument for the
S2: defense is at the very end. So today was largely
S2: all about the prosecution case, as I mentioned earlier. It
S2: was about 3.5 hours of speaking from Nanette Rogers as
S2: she was taking the jury through the prosecution case. And
S2: then there was maybe about 30 minutes from the defense.
S2: And that's when the defense really reminded the jury to
S2: keep an open mind that they are the judges of
S2: the facts and not of any sort of rumors and
S2: innuendos and things like that. Not to get caught up
S2: in that and really focus on the evidence. So they
S2: were reminded that the openings, yes, it is setting out
S2: the cases, but it's not actually the evidence. The evidence
S2: begins with the first witness. So he gave quite a
S2: short address at the end, which the jury were told
S2: was quite normal. And it's at the very end of
S2: the trial after all the witnesses have concluded. And we
S2: know this is going to be about a 5 or
S2: 6 week trial at this stage. That's when everybody will
S2: hear a lot more from the defense.
S1: And finally, Aaron, what happens from here?
S2: What happens from here is we've got a prosecution will
S2: call quite a number of witnesses over the next six weeks.
S2: So we'll be back in court tomorrow for more. We
S2: know that the trial is sitting at this stage from
S2: 1030 in the morning to just after 4:00 every single day,
S2: with a lunch break in the middle. The jurors are
S2: also given a morning and afternoon break, so we will
S2: be here in court, um, following the case for our
S2: readers and listeners, and we'll bring you more when we can.
S1: Well, thank you so much for your time and for
S1: all you listeners who want to stay up to date
S1: with the case, can you please go to The Age
S1: and Sydney Morning Herald's website or follow Erin's podcast called
S1: say Grace The Mushroom Trial?
S2: Thanks for having me.
S1: Today's episode of The Morning Edition was produced by Tammy Mills,
S1: with technical assistance by Josh towers. Tom McKendrick is our
S1: head of audio. To listen to our episodes as soon
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S1: Links are in the show. Notes. I'm Samantha Selinger Morris.
S1: Thanks for listening.