Prof Rhonda Stuartsays she interviewed Erin when she was in the emergency department at Monash hospital.
Stuart said Erin told her about the dish she cooked for the lunch:
The next witness is ProfRhondaStuart, a doctor and the medical director of infection prevention and epidemiology at Monash Health.
Stuart is providing evidence in the court room in Morwell.
The next written statement is fromUlyssesVillalobos, who was the flying instructor for Erin’s son.
He says the son had booked three flying lessons with him but two needed to be cancelled due to poor weather. Villalobos says he conducted one lesson with Erin’s son on 2 July 2023.
He describes meeting Erin for the first time:
He says he called Erin the day after the lunch around 3.48pm to cancel her son’s lessons due to poor weather:
Friend of Erin Patterson’s son says she seemed ‘like her normal self’ after the mushroom lunch
The prosecution has called their next witness, a friend ofErinPatterson’sson. The friend, who is a child, cannot be named for legal reasons.
His written statement is being read to jurors. He recalls having a sleepover at Erin’s son’s house the evening before the lunch. In the statement, the friend describes the morning of the lunch on 29 July:
After going to McDonald’s and the cinemas, the friend describes returning home to Erin’s house in Leongatha after the lunch:
He says Erin seemed “like her normal self” when she dropped him home the evening of the lunch.
What we know so far
While we wait for today’s evidence to begin, here’s a recap of what the jury heard on Friday:
1.Erin Patterson’sson described his parents’ relationship as “very negative” and said his father “does a lot of things to try and hurt Mum” such as “messing around with schooling”.
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Erin’s son, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he and his sister ate the leftovers of the deadly lunch the following day, describing what he understood to be “eye fillet” beef as “some of the best meat I’ve ever had”. Patterson made leftovers for herself too, he said, but did not eat it as she felt unwell, so he ate her food.
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Erin’s daughter, who also cannot be named, said her mother was a “very good cook”.
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Erin’s son has recalled a “fond” memory of his mother taking a photograph of a mushroom in mid-2020 while on a walk together in the Korumburra botanic park.
“I remember Mum took a picture of them because she thought they looked nice,” he said.
- Erin’s son said he had helped his mother clean up on the day of the lunch and recalled collecting white dinner plates, which he said were all the same, and placing them near the kitchen sink.
JusticeChristopherBealedecided that Monday would be a day off for the jurors, while both Patterson’s legal team and the prosecution sorted through some procedural matters.
Welcome to day 10 ofErin Patterson’s triple murder trial. We’re expecting today’s evidence to begin shortly after 10.30am.
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,DonandGail Patterson, and her estranged husband’s aunt,Heather Wilkinson. The attempted murder charge relates to Heather’s husband,Ian.
She has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The defence’s case is that the events were an accident and Patterson never intended to harm her lunch guests.