Latest news with #mushroompoisoning
ABC News
a day ago
- ABC News
Kill them all, or reconnect? Our Friday Wrap
The sides in Erin Patterson's triple murder trial delivered their closing addresses this week, with one calling the lunch a sinister deception and the other a friendly family gathering. In this episode, Rachael Brown and Stephen Stockwell talk through the key arguments from each side, share some reflections on the week and explain the next stages. If you've got questions about the case that you'd like Rachael and Stocky to answer in future episodes, send them through to mushroomcasedaily@ - It's the case that's captured the attention of the world. Three people died and a fourth survived an induced coma after eating beef wellington at a family lunch, hosted by Erin Patterson. Police allege the beef wellington contained poisonous mushrooms, but Erin Patterson says she's innocent. Now, the accused triple murderer is fighting the charges in a regional Victorian courthouse. Investigative reporter Rachael Brown and producer Stephen Stockwell are on the ground, bringing you all the key moments from the trial as they unravel in court. From court recaps to behind-the-scenes murder trial explainers, the Mushroom Case Daily podcast is your eyes and ears inside the courtroom. Keep up to date with new episodes of Mushroom Case Daily, now releasing every day on the ABC listen app.
ABC News
2 days ago
- ABC News
Maybe? Likely? Probably? Defence's final bid to the jury
In a final bid to the jury, Erin Patterson's defence barrister argued his client gave honest evidence and did not try to charm or persuade. Rachael Brown and Stephen Stockwell talk through Colin Mandy SC's key points as he wrapped up his closing address, and why he claims the jury should find Erin Patterson not guilty. If you've got questions about the case that you'd like Rachael and Stocky to answer in future episodes, send them through to mushroomcasedaily@ - It's the case that's captured the attention of the world. Three people died and a fourth survived an induced coma after eating beef wellington at a family lunch, hosted by Erin Patterson. Police allege the beef wellington contained poisonous mushrooms, but Erin Patterson says she's innocent. Now, the accused triple murderer is fighting the charges in a regional Victorian courthouse. Investigative reporter Rachael Brown and producer Stephen Stockwell are on the ground, bringing you all the key moments from the trial as they unravel in court. From court recaps to behind-the-scenes murder trial explainers, the Mushroom Case Daily podcast is your eyes and ears inside the courtroom. Keep up to date with new episodes of Mushroom Case Daily, now releasing every day on the ABC listen app.
News.com.au
2 days ago
- News.com.au
Erin Patterson trial: Defence expected to conclude final remarks to jury
Lawyers acting for alleged mushroom poisoner Erin Patterson have ridiculed an argument put forward by the prosecution that she also wanted to kill her husband, labelling it 'absurd', the jury has heard. During his closing address to the jury on Wednesday, defence barrister Colin Mandy SC said there was 'no possible prospect' Ms Patterson wanted to kill her husband. His comment came after Dr Rogers suggested the sixth beef Wellington Ms Patterson had prepared was 'clearly intended' for her husband Simon Patterson. 'The prosecution case is: had Simon Patterson changed his mind and decided to attend the lunch after all, he, too, would have been served that sixth poisoned beef Wellington,' she said on Monday. Previously the jury was told Ms Patterson had prepared six beef Wellingtons – one more than the number of people present at the lunch. In the witness box the accused woman disputed the sixth was intended for her husband, saying it was just an 'extra one' made because she had the ingredients and the steaks used came in twin packs. Dr Rogers pointed to the accused woman's evidence that if Simon had attended, she would have given him a beef Wellington too, and Ms Patterson's final message to her husband after he told her the night before the lunch he wouldn't come. 'I hope you'll change your mind. Your parents and Heather and Ian are coming at 12.30. I hope to see you there,' the message read. Mr Mandy told the jury it was 'obvious from the tone of the message' his client did want him to come and was trying to guilt him into coming. 'The prosecution says the only reason she wanted him there was because she wanted to kill him as well. And that's, we say, an absurd theory,' he said. 'That would have had the result of removing from the children's lives their father, their grandparents, Simon's aunt and uncle. 'There's no possible prospect that Erin wanted in those circumstances to destroy her whole world, her whole life. Surely it's more likely that her account is true.' Also on Wednesday, Mr Mandy said he expected to conclude his remarks on Thursday morning. The update follows trial judge Justice Christopher Beale advising jurors earlier this week he would wait until Monday to begin his summing up of the case and charge, and that he expected this would take a couple of days. The jury would then be sent out to deliberate. Ms Patterson is facing trial accused of murdering three of her husband's family members, and the attempted murder of a fourth, with a poisoned beef Wellington lunch on July 29, 2023. Simon Patterson's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and aunt, Heather Wilkinson, died in the week following the lunch while Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, survived. Prosecutors allege the 50-year-old deliberately sourced the deadly fungi and included it in the lunch intending to kill or at least seriously injure the four guests. She has pleaded not guilty, with her defence arguing she did not intentionally poison the meal, labelling the case a tragic accident. The trial, now in its eighth week, continues.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
Explosive defence argument revealed about why Erin Patterson got sick before any of her lunch guests - as the prosecution case is picked apart
Erin Patterson 's early onset of illness after serving deadly beef Wellingtons to her lunch guests was brought on by her preparation of the meal, a jury has heard. On Wednesday, Patterson's barrister Colin Mandy, SC continued to outline his client's defence against claims she deliberately served poisoned pastry meals to the relatives of her estranged husband Simon Patterson. Patterson, 50, has pleaded not guilty to the murders of Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson. They died after consuming death cap mushrooms served in beef Wellingtons during lunch at her Leongatha home on July 29, 2023. Only Pastor Ian Wilkinson survived the lunch, in what Crown prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers, SC on Monday suggested had been a big mistake. The jury has previously heard Ms Patterson claimed to have become ill shortly after the fateful lunch while her guests became sick much later, around midnight. 'There's a sensible reason for that, because in the morning, several hours before the guests arrived, she was stirring and tasting the duxelle,' Mr Mandy told the jury. 'She was preparing that part of the meal. She was tasting it and that's why she added the dried mushrooms to it. So at least a few hours before anyone else ate any, she had had some.' The jury has heard prosecutors claim that Patterson was never sick from what she ate at the lunch and had simply pretended to be, so as to cover-up her alleged crime. Dr Rogers told the jury medical tests revealed Patterson had no signs of death cap poisoning, unlike her guests who suffered severe symptoms, including organ failure. She argued that Patterson fabricated symptoms, such as vomiting after eating cake, to appear sick like her guests. 'We suggest that if the accused had truly vomited ... that is a detail she would have shared with medical staff,' Dr Rogers said. 'The fact that she never made any mention of it should cause you to seriously doubt this claim and we suggest, reject ... [this claim] as a lie.' Mr Mandy said Patterson's claim that she vomited after the lunch ought be treated as truthful. The court heard Patterson claimed she had vomited shortly after the lunch ended, around 2.45pm. 'Now if that was a lie, members of the jury, to encourage you to think that the poison had all left her body, she surely would've said to you that it happened as soon as the guests left,' Mr Mandy said. Mr Mandy also suggested Patterson's evidence that she couldn't remember what was in her vomit ought also be treated as the truth. 'She can't be more precise about the contents of her stomach. If she was lying, if she was lying to you, she would say, ''oh look, when I threw up, I could clearly recognise pastry and meat and mushrooms in there. Absolutely categorically it all came up'',' Mr Mandy said. 'If she was lying, that's what she'd say. But instead she says, 'I don't know, it's vomit'. If she was lying, she would've said, ''I threw up immediately and I could clearly see everything''. She didn't say that to you.' Mr Mandy further suggested Patterson did not become as sick as her lunch guests due to a number of significant factors. He said expert evidence suggested people who consumed the same amount of toxin could react in different ways. 'People can eat the same meal, some develop a higher grade, some develop a lower grade of the severity of the illness,' Mr Mandy said. He told the jury there could have been a variation in toxicity from one person's portion to another. And some people have different reactions upon consuming toxins, he said. 'So some people have a better toxic response than others. Yes. So depending on an individual's tolerance to that particular toxin or their physiological response that may be different,' Mr Mandy said. Expert evidence further suggested the age of the individual could also play a factor as could the weight of the person. 'Obviously weight is a factor,' Mr Mandy said. 'As you know, Erin weighed over a hundred kilos. Age is a factor. She's significantly younger than the other guests.' Mr Mandy accused the prosecution of providing 'misleading impressions' to jurors during Dr Rogers' closing address. 'So Dr Rogers yesterday in her closing argument, invited you to think about what you would do in this situation if this was really just a horrible accident,' he said. 'And what the Crown was asking you to do is to engage in an exercise which might be dangerous and seductive, but it's not appropriate because it involves hindsight reasons. 'And hindsight reasoning is dangerous because it distorts how we evaluate decisions and actions that occurred in the past.' Mr Mandy further accused lone lunch guest survivor Ian Wilkinson of providing the jury incorrect evidence when he described Patterson eating her meal off a different coloured plate. 'It has to be the case that Ian Wilkinson is wrong about what he said. It makes no sense logically that you would use that method to deliver up an unpoisoned parcel, but otherwise, on all of the evidence, he's wrong; honestly mistaken,' Mr Mandy said. He also said Mr Wilkinson was wrong about the colour of Patterson's other plates, which he had described as being grey. 'Erin and Simon were far more familiar with the crockery in the house than Ian was, and so we submit to you that you would have to find, on a proper and analytical examination of that evidence, that he wasn't right about those plates. Honestly mistaken,' Mr Mandy said. Mr Mandy also claimed it would have made more sense for Patterson to simply mark the 'safe Wellington' on the pastry rather than serve it on a different coloured plate. We submit to you there is only one logical way of getting around that problem if this was your plan, and that would be to mark the unpoisoned one, it's wrapped in pastry, in some way, so that you can recognise it and differentiate it from the others,' Mr Mandy said. 'Easy to do, pastry, in which case you would not need different coloured plates.' He urged the jury to consider why his client would have 'lured' her lunch guests to lunch with a tale about a false cancer diagnosis if they did not discuss the issue until after they had all eaten the Wellingtons. 'On the Crown case, her object had already been achieved,' he said. 'The only rational conclusion … is the lie about cancer has absolutely nothing to do with the intention to kill, if there was one.'
Al Arabiya
3 days ago
- Al Arabiya
Australian mushroom murder suspect not on trial for lying: Defense
An Australian woman accused of killing three lunch guests with deadly mushrooms should not be judged guilty just because she lied after the meal, her defence lawyer said Wednesday. Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with murdering her estranged husband's parents and aunt in July 2023 by spiking their beef Wellington lunch with death cap mushrooms. She is also accused of attempting to murder a fourth guest — her husband's uncle — who survived the lunch after a long stay in hospital. Patterson has steadfastly maintained her innocence during a seven-week-long trial that has made headlines from New York to New Delhi. As the trial came to its closing stages on Wednesday, defence lawyer Colin Mandy sought to explain Patterson's behaviour in the days following the deadly feast. Patterson told police investigating the deaths that she did not own a food dehydrator, which was allegedly used to prepare the death cap mushrooms. Security footage showed Patterson dumping a dehydrator at a nearby rubbish facility, and forensic tests found trace amounts of death cap mushrooms on the appliance. 'No one knows what they would have done in a similar situation,' Mandy told the trial. 'She is not on trial for being a liar.' Mandy said there was nothing unusual about Patterson's knowledge of death cap mushrooms. She developed an interest in foraging for mushrooms during the pandemic lockdown in 2020, Mandy said, teaching herself which varieties were safe to eat. It made 'perfect sense' that Patterson would have become 'aware of death cap mushrooms' during this period, Mandy said. Patterson 'loved' mushrooms, he added, because they were healthy and full of flavour. This interest explained why Patterson visited a website listing locations of death cap mushrooms near where she lived, Mandy said. Patterson originally invited her estranged husband Simon to join the family lunch at her secluded home in the farming village of Leongatha in Victoria state. But he turned down the invitation on the eve of the meal, saying he felt uncomfortable going, the court heard earlier. The pair were long estranged but still legally married. Simon Patterson's parents Don and Gail, and his aunt Heather Wilkinson, attended the lunch. All three were dead within days. Heather Wilkinson's husband Ian fell gravely ill but eventually recovered.
