DrThomasMaybegan giving his evidence yesterday, telling the court that:
death cap mushrooms were most commonly reported in May
there had been three known sightings of death cap mushrooms in the Gippsland region
the “citizen science” website iNaturalist is often used to report sightings
Catch up on what else the mushroom expert has said so far in this report from our justice and courts reporter,NinoBucci.
LawyerSophieStaffordtakes DrThomasMaythrough the visual features of a death cap mushroom which she says has a smooth cap, a white stem which usually has a visible ring and white gills.
May agrees that these are the features he is looking for when trying to identify if a species is a death cap mushroom.
He agrees a “spore print” and DNA testing can also be used to confirm if a mushroom is a death cap if a sample is available.
May says when providing advice to the Victorian Poisons Information Centre he will qualify his opinion.
He says when in the field, when seeing the mushroom in its environment, he will often feel more confident to identify a death cap.
The defence is continuing their cross-examination of DrThomasMay, a mycologist or scientist specialising in fungi.
ErinPatterson’sdefence lawyer,SophieStafford, is cross-examining May.
Under cross-examination, May agrees he has made conclusions in articles that the general public has a poor ability to identify mushrooms.
He also agrees there have been several incidents of misidentification of mushrooms.
“Accordingly, you encourage something you’ve likened to an apprenticeship, which takes a long time to accurately identify mushrooms in the wild,” Stafford says.
“That is correct,” says May.
While we wait for things to begin, here’s what the jury heard on day 10 of Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial:
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DrLauraMuldoon, who treated Erin at Monash medical centre, said the mushroom cook appeared “clinically well” on 31 July – two days after the lunch.
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Medical testing showed Erin had no signs of liver toxicity before she was discharged from Monash medical centre on 1 August, the court heard.
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Jurors were shown a photo of the remains of the fateful beef wellington meal. The photos show a pastry encasing a brown paste. There are also leftovers of the brown paste in the photo.
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An internationally renowned mushroom expert, DrThomasMay, told the court he posted a post of death cap mushrooms he had spotted on a walk to the “citizen science” website iNaturalist. He said the post included several photos, latitude and longitude and geo-coordinates, but not the specific street.
Welcome to day 11 ofErinPatterson’striple murder trial. We’re expecting today’s evidence to begin shortly after 10.30am.
The defence are expected to continue the cross-examination of mushroom expert DrThomasMay, who began giving evidence on Tuesday.
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 regionalVictoria, on 29 July 2023.
She is accused of murdering her in-laws,DonandGailPatterson, and her estranged husband’s aunt,HeatherWilkinson. The attempted murder charge relates to Heather’s husband,Ian.
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.