Forensic telecommunications expert gives evidence in murder trial

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Supreme Court has heard mobile phone records prove Erin Patterson's handset was in an area in eastern Victoria where death cap mushrooms were reportedly growing. The 50-year-old has pleaded not guilty to the murder of three lunch guests and attempted murder of another after a gathering at her home in 2023.

Transcript

00:00A digital forensic scientist says his analysis of Erin Patterson's phone records shows it was

00:08possible she visited areas where death cap mushrooms were growing in early 2023. Dr. Matthew

00:15Sorrell told the court the records show Ms. Patterson's phone connected consistently to a

00:21lock south phone tower west of Leangatha around 9am on May 22nd, 2023. He says her phone also

00:29connected to a base station near Nielsen Street, Outrim for around an hour later the same morning.

00:36Last week, mycologist Dr. Tom May told the trial he had logged a sighting of death cap mushrooms

00:42and their location on the iNaturalist website in the Outrim area one day earlier. Dr. Sorrell also

00:49said there were some indications that Ms. Patterson's phone was in the lock area on April 28th, 2023.

00:55This was 10 days after a retired pharmacist posted photos of death caps near a locked sports

01:02ground. Christine McKenzie posted four photos of death caps she found growing under an oak tree

01:08on April 18th, 2023. Aware they were highly toxic and potentially deadly to nearby kinder students

01:16and others, she says she photographed them, then carefully removed as many as she could see,

01:21but said she knew there was a risk more would grow in the subsequent weeks. Three people died and a

01:28fourth fell gravely ill after eating beef wellington with mushrooms at Erin Patterson's Leangatha

01:33home in July 2023. She has always maintained her innocence.

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