A court was told on Thursday that an Australian woman, who is facing accusations of tripling murdering, took her kids to see a movie before preparing and serving a meal laced with poisonous mushrooms, which led to the deaths of her visitors.
Erin Patterson, aged 50, stands accused of killing her estranged husband’s parents and aunt through poisoning them with a toxic beef Wellington back in July 2023.
She is additionally accused of attempting to murder her husband’s uncle, who managed to survive the incident despite spending a prolonged period in the hospital.
Patterson has entered a plea of not guilty for all the accusations made against him.
During the highly publicized trial on Thursday, a recording was presented from an interview conducted with Patterson’s daughter when she was nine years old, after they had dinner together.
“The girl, whose identity must remain confidential due to legal restrictions, stated that her mother informed her about wanting to have a luncheon with her grandparents,” she explained.
She mentioned wanting to discuss some grown-up matters with them, and our plan was to head to the cinema afterward.
The girl said she and a sibling were dropped off at a McDonald’s restaurant for lunch, before going to the movies.
She mentioned that her mother began feeling unwell following the lunch, portions of which the kids ended up eating as leftovers afterward.
– Patterson ‘cooperative’ –
“The daughter informed the police that she couldn’t recall exactly when her mother began feeling unwell. However, she believes it was the following day,” she said.
“We had some of the leftovers. Some of the steak that they had. Some of the mashed potatoes and some of the beans.”
Patterson scraped the mushrooms off the food served to her children because they were picky eaters, the court heard previously.
Patterson was estranged from her husband Simon Patterson, who turned down the invitation to lunch.
His parents, Don and Gail Patterson, died as a result of ingesting the beef-and-pastry dish.
His aunt Heather Wilkinson also died, while her husband Ian fell seriously ill but later recovered.
Earlier, police officer Adrian Martinez-Villalobos informed the court about retrieving remains of beef Wellington from a trash can at Erin Patterson’s residence. This was done so that medical professionals could determine if the dish included toxic mushrooms.
Martinez-Villalobos mentioned that he discovered the remnants seeping through a brown paper bag in a trash can, and stated that Patterson was cooperative when he requested her assistance in locating the food.
– ‘Terrible accident’ –
The court also heard from Conor McDermott — then a toxicology registrar at a Melbourne hospital — who asked Patterson where she had bought the mushrooms.
Patterson said she had purchased some mushrooms from a major supermarket, McDermott said, and others from a Chinese grocer, but she could not remember where.
The prosecution alleges Patterson deliberately poisoned her lunch guests and took care that neither she, nor her children, consumed the deadly mushrooms.
Her defence says it was “a terrible accident” and that Patterson ate the same meal as the others but did not fall as sick.
The trial is expected to last another five weeks.
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