WEBVTT - The mushroom murder trial, explained 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:03.640 Already and this this is the Daily Off. This is 0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:15.320 the Daily ohs oh, now it makes sense. Good morning, 0:00:15.360 --> 0:00:17.759 and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Wednesday, the seventh 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:19.360 of May. I'm Billy FitzSimons. 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:20.639 I'm Zara Seidler. 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:24.120 We are taking a break from our election coverage today 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:27.600 to update you on another event that you've probably been 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:31.280 hearing a lot about in the headlines, the mushroom trial. 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:33.960 In case you missed it, the murder trial of a 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:37.199 woman accused of killing three people by serving them poisonous 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:41.559 mushrooms is underway in Victoria's Supreme Court. Aaron Pattison was 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:44.800 charged with murder after three people died following a meal 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:48.120 at her home in July twenty twenty three. She pleaded 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:51.000 not guilty, and so now we are in the middle 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:54.480 of a six week trial. On today's podcast, we're getting 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:56.680 you up to speed with the details of the case. 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:04.520 Billy, I remember when this story first broke a couple 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:08.000 of years ago, it was absolutely everywhere. I think it 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:11.360 was just such a unique story and there were so 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:14.760 many elements that just defied logic really that it was 0:01:14.840 --> 0:01:18.120 all anyone was talking about. But as you said, it 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:21.560 has been two years since the incident took place. So 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:24.760 can you just give everyone a really quick recap of 0:01:24.800 --> 0:01:25.520 what happened. 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:28.240 Yeah, Before I tell you what happened, I'm going to 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:30.720 take you through kind of who the main characters are 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:33.760 because there are so many different details in twists and turns, 0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:36.399 so I'll just give you a very brief overview. So, 0:01:36.480 --> 0:01:38.680 the first person, who I think is probably the most 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:41.400 important person you need to know about to understand this 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:45.559 is Aaron Pattison. She is fifty, she is a mum 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:49.000 of two, and she's the person who is accused of 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:52.480 these murders and who is currently standing trial now. She 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:56.000 was married to a man named Simon Patterson, and he's 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:58.560 the father of their two children. They married in two 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:02.800 thousand and seven split in twenty fifteen, but they never divorced. 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:05.720 They were just estranged, and they by all accounts, had 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:09.720 a relatively good relationship. It kind of went downhill in 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:13.000 late twenty twenty two, which we will talk about, but yeah, 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:17.240 they pretty much had a quite good relationship. And Simon 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:20.040 didn't attend the lunch, which is kind of at the 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:22.919 center of all of these allegations, but it was his 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:27.040 relatives who did attend the lunch, and three of them 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:31.560 died and one fell critically ill. He was invited to 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:34.799 the lunch, but he didn't attend. He actually pulled out 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:37.760 the night before the lunch because he said that he 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:42.440 felt uncomfortable attending. Now to speak about the lunch that 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:46.160 I've referenced many times, so this is where the alleged 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:49.919 poisoning took place, and it all happened in July twenty 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:54.680 twenty three. Now Erin invited her estranged husband's parents, so 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:57.959 her ex in laws. Their names are Don and Gale Patterson, 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:01.840 and she also invited her ex husband's auntie and uncle, 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:06.560 whose names are Heather and Ian Wilkinson. Now at this lunch, 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:10.840 she served them a beef Wellington. Now, following this meal, 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:15.360 all four guests became critically ill, and Don, Gale and 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:19.040 Heather died. So those are the two parents of Simon. 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:21.320 So her ex in laws, her ex in laws. 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:25.520 They both died, and then the ex husband's auntie also died. 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:30.040 The uncle was very ill. He spent many weeks in hospital. 0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:31.400 That's Ian, right, that's it. 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:35.000 He survived, and so he was the sole survivor of 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:40.040 this lunch. Erin, who was eating at the lunch. She 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:43.560 did not fall critically ill. I don't think that she 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:48.080 was sick at all. Now, following their deaths, Erin was 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:51.320 charged with three counts of murder and one count of 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:52.440 attempted murder. 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:55.240 Just quickly before we get into the trial. 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:58.040 I've read a lot of headlines about this, and one 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:01.720 of the ones that I haven't really understood is about 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:05.680 one of the murder charges against Aaron being dropped. Can 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:06.840 you just talk me through that. 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:10.240 Yeah, So that did happen, but it was actually in 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:15.040 relation to something separate. So Aarin was also charged with 0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:18.679 attempted murder of her ex husband, who I've been speaking about, Simon, 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:21.760 but that was not in relation to this lunch. 0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:24.840 So there was a separate murder charge, not in relation 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:30.200 to this lunch that police had previously brought against Aaron Patterson, 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:32.240 but that has been dropped. 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:34.599 Now that has been dropped. It was dropped at the 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:37.120 start of the trial. We didn't really find out too 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:38.320 many details. 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:39.680 About I always thought it was about the lunch. 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:42.880 No, okay, Yeah, we didn't really find out too many 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:45.120 details about why it was dropped. We just know that 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:48.760 it was dropped. And so now this entire trial just 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:53.000 centers around this lunch and the alleged murders and attempted 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:54.960 murder of the four guests. 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:59.240 Okay, so this trial is focusing on a lunch where 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:03.560 three people who became critically ill and died and another 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:08.640 was very unwell but managed to survive. So what have 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:10.960 we learned during the course of this trial, because it's 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:13.320 now been a week or so, what have we learned 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:13.680 so far? 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:17.760 So mostly what we have learned so far is from 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:22.479 Erin's estranged husband, Simon. He was the first witness called 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:26.120 and he told the court that his relationship with Erin 0:05:26.360 --> 0:05:30.000 was amicable following their split in twenty fifteen, but that, 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:32.880 like I said before, it started to go downhill in 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:37.680 late twenty twenty two, and that was allegedly over child support. Okay, 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:42.520 just quickly to recap. Simon was invited to the lunch 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:45.720 in July twenty twenty three, but he canceled the night 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:49.440 before via text, and we have seen those text messages 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:52.679 come out during this trial, and so in the text 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:56.240 messages shown to the court, Aeron told Simon that she 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:59.400 wanted to have an important conversation with him and his 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:03.359 relatives about her health at this lunch. And so she 0:06:03.520 --> 0:06:07.599 said that his cancelation was quote really disappointing, and she 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:10.680 noted that she had spent many hours and a small 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:13.479 fortune preparing a special meal. 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:16.920 So a special meal being a direct quote from what 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:20.120 she said to Simon in those texts. 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:22.360 It's so fascinating. 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:25.599 You mentioned there that she said or it's alleged that 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:27.960 she said she wanted to talk about her health. 0:06:28.640 --> 0:06:30.919 What was that about? Do we have any more understanding 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:32.320 about what the health issues were? 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:35.680 Yeah, so Erin did tell her lunch guests that she 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:41.080 had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. That wasn't true, though 0:06:41.360 --> 0:06:44.480 we have since learned and both sides, so defense and 0:06:44.560 --> 0:06:48.400 prosecution agree that she was not diagnosed with that disease. 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:50.600 So that's not in contention. 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:51.440 Okay. 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:54.560 We also know that in March she did do a 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:57.960 cervical cancer test, but that returned negative. 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:01.720 Okay, So we underst and that she wanted to talk 0:07:01.960 --> 0:07:05.920 to her ex's family about a health update, and that 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:09.560 that health update turned out not necessarily to be true. 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:12.960 What else have we learned from Simon's testimony? 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:15.920 So we also learned that Simon told the court he 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:19.600 visited both couples the following morning. He said both were 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:21.160 not feeling well at all. 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:24.600 I thought that they had died fairly quickly after and 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:25.760 that's not what happens. 0:07:26.520 --> 0:07:27.880 There was time between. 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:32.640 Yeah, And one thing that he mentioned is that his aunt, Heather, 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:35.720 commented on the plates that Aaron used. 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:37.320 And a lot of headlines about these plates. 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:40.920 Yeah, so Heather told Simon that Aaron served herself on 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:44.760 an orange plate but served her guests their meals on 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:49.000 these gray plates. Now, when he was cross examined by 0:07:49.040 --> 0:07:51.760 the defense, Simon said that it was fair to assume 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:54.600 the mismatch could have been due to the fact that Aaron, 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:57.920 quote had a bunch of ceramic plates that weren't all 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:01.120 the same. But like you said, the plates have emerged 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:03.560 as kind of a key piece of evidence that is 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:04.720 being scrutinized. 0:08:05.320 --> 0:08:07.120 We're going to be back with the rest of today's 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:13.240 deep Dive after a quick message from our sponsor. Simon 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:16.840 wasn't at the lunch, so his testimony he's reflecting on 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:20.400 the conversations he had after the lunch. But you said 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:22.360 that there was a soul survivor, so there was someone 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:25.680 at that lunch who can testify. What have we heard 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:26.440 from Ian? 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:31.800 Yes, so he only entered the witness box yesterday and 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:35.600 he started off by kind of describing his relationship with Erin. 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:38.560 He said that they had a fairly amicable relationship and 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:41.200 that they were very happy to accept the invitation to 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:45.080 go to lunch. One thing he mentioned is that Heather, 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:49.079 his wife, wanted to look at the pantry in Aaron's kitchen. 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:51.600 He said that she had a particular interest because they 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:54.360 had just built one in their own home. But he 0:08:54.440 --> 0:08:57.920 said that Erin was really reluctant about this visit to 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:01.320 the pantry and that she kind of followed Heather In. 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:04.440 I will just point out these all allegations, so these 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:07.679 haven't been put to Erin, but this is his recounting 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:09.199 of what happened. 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:11.880 Because Aaron hasn't testified yet. No, okay understood. 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:15.319 He also confirmed what we were talking about before about 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:18.720 these different plates, so he again said that the four 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:22.480 guests ate on one style of plate and Erin ate 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:26.400 on another. He also confirmed that after the lunch, Aaron 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:29.480 told the guests that she had a life threatening cancer 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:32.720 and that she was particularly anxious about telling their kids 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:36.520 about it. He said that then when they left, it 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:40.720 wasn't until that night at about eleven PM when Heather 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:43.760 first started to feel sick, and then he soon after 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:47.080 that also started to feel quite ill, and then the 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:50.520 next day all four guests went to hospital where they 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:53.400 were treated for suspected mushroom poisoning. 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:56.480 I just want to shift gears a bit because I've 0:09:56.480 --> 0:10:00.599 read about a Facebook group and I've seen quite a 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:02.080 few headlines around that. 0:10:02.800 --> 0:10:04.120 What's that in relation to? 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:06.839 Yeah, so this is also something that has come out 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:10.520 that Aaron was allegedly part of a true crime Facebook 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:13.920 group where she met some people on there and they 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:17.600 created a private group chat, and she allegedly told those 0:10:17.640 --> 0:10:21.640 people about dehydrating mushrooms and a particular interest that she 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:26.480 had in dehydrating mushrooms. In one message exchange shown to 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:30.040 the court, Aaron had said, quote, I've been hiding powdered 0:10:30.080 --> 0:10:33.880 mushrooms in everything. So that has been another piece of 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:37.200 evidence that has emerged in the trial so far. And 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:39.559 some of the people that were in that true crime 0:10:39.640 --> 0:10:42.960 Facebook group have also been called as witnesses to this trial. 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:46.959 Okay, so it's a six week trial. You said, we're 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:50.800 about one and a half weeks into it. When are 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:53.640 we expecting to hear from erin because obviously these are 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:57.560 just allegations that she hasn't been able to defend yet 0:10:57.600 --> 0:11:00.680 because she hasn't been in the wind Sparks. 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:02.160 When will we hear from her. 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:05.880 I'm actually not sure when exactly we will hear from her, 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:08.360 but I do know that we have heard from her 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:11.960 once before, and that was in August twenty twenty three, 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:14.679 so that was before she had actually been charged with 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:15.320 the murders. 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:17.640 Oh I remember this, yes, yeah. 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:20.800 It went quite viral and it actually made global headlines 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:24.360 when it happened, and she was very emotional at the time. 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:27.920 So the media found her and they asked her questions 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:33.240 and she was really emotional talking about she said, losing 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:35.800 people that she loved, and she said she was devastated 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:38.040 by it. I thought I'd play a little bit of 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:38.640 that clip. 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:42.000 I just can't fit them what has happened that Ian 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:44.760 and Henna have lost her lives and Gaya has lost 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:46.920 her life, and Donna's still in her foot and I pray, 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:49.640 I pray that he pulls through. 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:53.120 So that was almost two years ago. Now, like I said, 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:56.439 we haven't yet heard from Erin herself, but I'm sure 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:58.960 that will be a very big moment when we do 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:01.160 hear from Erin in the witness box. 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:04.880 Just quickly before we end, is this trial being decided 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:07.920 by a judge or a jury? Because I'm always curious 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:10.920 in cases like this where there's so much media attention, 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:14.280 like everyone around the country was talking about this story NonStop. 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:16.200 Is it a judge or a jury. 0:12:16.440 --> 0:12:19.320 It's a jury. It's a jury of fifteen. Read what 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:21.840 you're saying about it being a high profile case. I 0:12:21.880 --> 0:12:25.000 have seen the judge ask the jurors many times not 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:28.160 to read any social media commentary about this case so 0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:31.120 that their opinions aren't influenced by others. 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:35.040 Yeah, really really interesting and certainly a story that has 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:38.200 gripped the country, and so we'll be sure to bring 0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:42.760 you updates, certainly as Aaron herself begins to testify and 0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:46.120 defend these murder charges and later once that jury, as 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:46.800 you said. 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:49.640 Hands down their decisions. So thank you for explaining that. 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:52.040 Billy, thank you, and thank you for joining us for 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:55.520 another episode of The Daily Os. The best way that 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:58.880 you can help this podcast grow is by hitting follow, 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:01.360 because that sends a message to the platform that you 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:04.120 like what we're doing. We'll be back later today with 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:06.480 the headlines but until then, have a great Wednesday. 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:12.920 My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Arunda 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:17.880 Bunjelung Kalkadin woman from Gadighl country. The Daily oz acknowledges 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:20.160 that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:23.720 Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torres 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:26.520 s right island and nations. We pay our respects to 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:29.480 the first peoples of these countries, both past and present.