The jury that found Erin Patterson guilty of murder last month heard from more than 50 witnesses and were shown dozens of exhibits. But some details were kept from them, the judge ruling certain evidence and events inadmissible in court. The ABC can now reveal the details of some allegations – aired in early court hearings.
00:00Fearing he'd be poisoned by the woman he once loved, Simon Patterson decided to pull out of the fateful, fatal lunch, alleging, I thought there'd be a risk that she'd poison me if I attended.
00:16That's what Simon told a pre-trial hearing here at Melbourne's Supreme Court. Months before his estranged wife Erin's triple murder trial began in Morwell. It's a hearing the ABC could not report until now.
00:33So, last October, here in the witness box, Simon explained why he held those fears, as police laid out its case, alleging Erin had attempted to murder him three times, accusations she has always denied.
00:50All three alleged incidents happened around camping trips less than two years before the lunch, where Erin had prepared food for Simon that he alleges made him sick.
01:01The first was in November 2021. He ended up in hospital after eating penne bolognese.
01:08Six months later, in May 2022, at Hauqua in Victoria's High Country, Simon alleges he fell sick after eating a chicken korma curry.
01:19He was treated in hospital and initially recovered, but days later, ended up in a coma at Monash Hospital and required life-saving surgery.
01:29And then at Wilson's prom in September 2022, Simon alleges he passed out and was hospitalised after eating a vegetable wrap.
01:39He says he confided in a doctor that he thought Erin was trying to poison him, and he began tracking his meals in a spreadsheet.
01:47A relative also told the court, in the days after the Leangatha lunch and with the guests close to death, Simon held a family meeting in the Austin Hospital's chapel and told them he believed his illnesses had been a deliberate act.
02:04He stopped eating Erin's food, but never thought others were at risk, which is why he didn't warn his parents when they agreed to Erin's invitation for lunch.
02:13The source of his illnesses was never confirmed.
02:17The defence told the court a professor who analysed Simon's medical records at the time of his third illness concluded that his symptoms were consistent with low potassium levels.
02:29Prosecutors told a later hearing that it had commissioned another report from the professor after an article was found on Erin's computer relating to barium carbonate, a rat poison.
02:41That second report indicated the sudden onset of Simon's illness was also consistent with barium carbonate poisoning.
02:52Erin Patterson has always maintained her innocence and pleaded not guilty to these charges.
02:58In pre-trial hearings, her lawyers argued she would face unfair prejudice if both sets of charges, those related to the lunch and those connected to Simon, were heard at the same time.
03:10The Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal agreed, ordering the trials be split.
03:16With one Court of Appeal judge saying the evidence of the lunch charges appeared stronger than the evidence of the Simon charges.
03:24He said it's a very short hop, skip and a jump to convicting on the other three.
03:30The prosecution then dropped all charges relating to Simon, so they were never brought to trial or tested in front of a jury.
03:38During the Morwell trial, while the jury was out of the room, Simon referenced the dropped charges and his grief.
03:46I'm sitting here, half thinking about the things I'm not allowed to talk about, adding, it is what it is.
Be the first to comment