Rogers says it was “entirely” Patterson’s plan that her two children would not be present at the lunch.
“She made sure the children were away at McDonalds at the cinema by the time the lunch guests were arriving.”
She says this was a “deliberate” step by the accused to ensure the children would not be harmed by the “poison she was about to serve”.
Rogers turns to evidence by Ian Wilkinson that Paterson announced she had cancer after the lunch.
She says the jury should reject Patterson’s claim that she only told them she may need cancer treatment.
“This was the accused simply trying to minimise the lie she told her lunch guests,” she says.
Rogers says Patterson created an “elaborate lie” regarding cancer.
She says the lie was “planted” before the lunch. She point to messages between Patterson and her mother-in-law Gail Patterson when they messaged the month before the lunch about medical appointments the accused had fabricated.
Rogers reminds the jury that that police reviewed Patterson’s medical records and found no evidence of her having an MRI or needle biopsy.
ProsecutorNanette RogersSC is delivering her closing address to the jury.
She says Patterson opted to prepare individual serves of beef wellingtons for the lunch on 29 July 2023, which gave her “control” over the meal which she “exercised with devastating effect”.
“It allowed her to give the appearance of sharing the same meal,” Rogers says.
She asks the jurors to consider what “other reasonable possibility” could explain the four lunch guests falling ill.
Rogers says the evidence surrounding the lunch invitation should satisfy the jurors that Patterson fabricated her cancer claim to create a reason for her otherwise “unusual” meal.
She says Patterson gave her estranged husband, Simon, multiple reasons to attend the lunch:
“She painted a picture of a gathering which was not just social but contained important family business,” she says.
Here’s a recap of what the jury heardwhen court last sat on Thursday:1. A clinic where Patterson said she had a pre-surgery appointment for a gastric-bypass procedure offered liposuction until mid-2024, the court heard. Patterson previously told the court she was also looking into liposuction. She said she lied to her lunch guests about having cancer treatment because she was embarrassed about planned weight-loss surgery.
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Patterson denied lying about her estranged husband, Simon, accusing her of poisoning his parents with a food dehydrator in the days after the lunch.
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Patterson rejected the prosecution’s suggestion she performed three factory resets in August 2023 on a phone she handed to police to “conceal” its “true contents”.
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In her final moments of cross-examination, Patterson denied she deliberately sourced death cap mushrooms in 2022, included the toxic fungi in beef wellingtons she served and intended to kill her lunch guests.
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The defence closed its case. JusticeChristopher Bealetells the jury the evidence in the trial has concluded.
Welcome to day 32 ofErin Patterson’s triple-murder trial.
The evidence in Patterson’s trial concluded last week. In the coming days, the prosecution and defence will deliver their closing arguments to the jury.Justice Christopher Bealewill then issue instructions to the jurors ahead of their deliberations.
Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha in regionalVictoriaon 29 July 2023.
She is accused of murdering her in-laws,DonandGail Patterson, and her estranged husband’s aunt,Heather Wilkinson. The attempted murder charge relates to Heather’s husband,IanWilkinson.
She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The prosecution alleges Patterson deliberately poisoned her lunch guests with “murderous intent”, but her lawyers say the poisoning was a tragic accident.