First witness called in mushroom triple-murder trial

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The prosecution has called their first witness in the triple murder trial of Erin Patterson. Her estranged Husband – Simon Patterson – has appeared in court in Morwell. Erin Patterson has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Transcript

00:00Simon Patterson took the stand as the first witness in the Erin Patterson trial here in

00:08Morwell. Erin Patterson is charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted

00:13murder over a lunch at her Leangatha home in July 2023. Crown Prosecutor Nanette Rogers

00:19took Simon Patterson through the chronology of their marriage and relationship. He said

00:26that they met at the Monash City Council and they married in 2007. He described a number

00:33of separations during their marriage. They had two children but separated several times

00:40for periods of several weeks or several months. They separated permanently in 2015 but he described

00:48their relationship after that as friendly. They texted each other frequently not just

00:53with procedural arrangements for the children but also with different comments on politics

00:58and other arrangements. He described Erin as witty and intelligent. Their relationship was friendly

01:06enough for them to go on holidays together with the children interstate and overseas. But

01:11he described around 2022 the relationship took a different turn. Erin Patterson called him aside

01:20for a private conversation to talk about the fact that she had discovered that he had written that

01:27they were separated on his tax return for the first time. He says she was upset about this as it would

01:33affect their family tax benefit and would mean that she would have to claim child support. Simon Patterson

01:40will continue to give his evidence this afternoon. Now yesterday we heard for the first time some of the

01:46details of that lunch. We heard that Erin Patterson served individual beef wellingtons on different

01:53coloured plates for her guests and herself. We heard it described that the guests became very ill later

01:59that night, were taken to hospital where they were treated for mushroom poisoning and sadly died around

02:05a week later. Erin Patterson herself went to hospital on the Monday after the lunch but refused treatment for

02:12mushroom poisoning and discharged herself against medical advice. The trial is expected to continue for

02:18another five to six weeks here in Morwell.

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