The world can now watch mushroom murderer Erin Patterson’s repeated lies to police as her estranged husband’s relatives were dead and dying in hospital.
The 50-year-old convicted triple killer’s police interview was publicly released for the first time on Friday afternoon.
Pre-trial evidence released on Friday also reveals that the reason Simon Patterson didn’t go to the toxic mushroom lunch was because he believed his wife had already tried to poison him several times.
The release of Erin Patterson’s interview with police comes a month after she was found guilty of murdering three members of her estranged husband’s family, and the attempted murder of a fourth, with a toxic beef Wellington lunch.
She was interviewed at Wonthaggi police station on August 5, 2023, after her former mother-in-law Gail Patterson, 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, died in hospital from eating her poisoned cooking.
Don Patterson, 70, would die hours after her police interview, while Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson would eventually recover after weeks in hospital.
“Donald underwent a transplant last night, and his condition is still extremely critical as of last report,” Detective Stephen Eppingstall told Patterson.
“OK,” she replied, shaking her head and looking down.
“Heather and Gail have passed away,” Det Eppingstall continued.
“In relation to Ian, I don’t have a current prognosis in relation to where he’s at. As of late yesterday, the diagnosis isn’t great for him either.
“We’re trying to understand what has made them so ill.”
Patterson replies: “But I’m sure you understand too that, like I’ve never been in a situation like this before.”
This is when her lies begin.
“And I’ve been very, very helpful with the health department through the week because I wanted to help that side of things as much as possible, because I do want to know what happened,” she said.
“So I’ve given them as much information as they’ve asked for and offered up all the food and all the information about where the food came from.”
Patterson claimed she bought dried mushrooms for the Wellington from an Asian store, sending local council and health authorities on a mission to track down toxic products that could be on the shelves, but none were ever found.
She then lied to police about her interest in mushroom foraging, as she later admitted in the witness box to enjoying wild mushrooms and that she may have included foraged fungi in the lunch.
“Obviously we’ve got concerns in relation to these mushrooms and where they’ve come from,” Det Eppingstall said.
“Is that something you’ve done in the past, foraging for mushrooms?”
Patterson shakes her head and says “never”.
She denied she had ever preserved or dehydrated food, despite later admitting to having done both.
Patterson had disposed of a Sunbeam food dehydrator, which was later found to contain death cap toxins, at a local tip days earlier on August 2.
She then explained why she had invited her estranged husband’s family for the July 29, 2023, lunch – because “I’ve got no other family”.
“They’re the only support I’ve got left, and they’ve always been really good to me, and I want to maintain those relationships with them in spite of what’s happened with Simon,” Patterson said.
“I love them a lot.”
‘He thought Erin was trying to poison him’
Simon Patterson didn’t go to the toxic mushroom lunch because he believed Erin had been trying to poison him.
He pulled out the night before as he was “too uncomfortable to attend”. In fact, he believed Patterson had been trying to poison him since 2021.
However, when he was called to give evidence at her trial – after his former wife poisoned his parents, aunt and uncle – he was legally unable to explain why he didn’t go to the fatal lunch.
Media were banned from reporting on pre-trial hearing evidence, to allow her time to appeal. That order was lifted on Friday.
Simon Patterson told a pre-trial hearing in 2024 that he believed his estranged wife had tried to poison him four times before the toxic beef Wellington lunch.
He informed his father, sister and cousin in 2022. He also joked to Patterson about the alleged poisonings, many of which happened on camping trips together.
“Erin was trying to poison him with food in meals that she cooked for him, that only Simon was at risk,” his sister Anna Terrington said about what she was told.
Simon informed his father Don about eight months before the mushroom lunch, in November 2022, adding his father suggested he not “tell too many people about that”.
Simon also told his cousin Tim Patterson, which he said was a “turning point”, in September of that year.
He claimed he “joked” with Patterson before a camping trip that month that “she might put something in the food and poison me”.
The day before the fatal meal, Simon’s mother Gail – who did not know about the attempted poisonings – asked him why he wasn’t going to the lunch. Simon said he didn’t think it would be wise because of “all the things that happened in the recent past with Erin”.
He said his father helped him “move the conversation on from that question”.
Don and Gail, 70, would die in hospital along with Gail’s sister Heather, 66, days after eating the meal Patterson cooked.
Simon told pre-trial hearings he believed he was first poisoned the night before a planned camping trip to Wilson’s Promontory in November 2021.
He ate penne bolognese made by Patterson and vomited at her home next morning, as well as on the way to the campsite, he said.
Patterson arranged accommodation for them instead of camping and the following day he felt like he was “going downhill” and needed to go to hospital. Simon assumed it was gastro and was transferred to Monash Hospital, where he stayed for five days as a doctor was concerned about his kidneys.
The second suspected alleged poisoning happened during another camping trip between May 25-27, 2022, when Simon said Patterson supplied all of the food.
He said he became sick at about midnight. The next morning, they drove to Mansfield Hospital, where he was given anti-nausea drugs and discharged after the vomiting stopped.
However, his condition worsed once they returned home and he called Patterson, who took him to hospital.
Simon fell into a coma and had several surgeries, including one in which part of his bowel was removed. Doctors did not find the cause of the illness, he said.
Simon said he stayed with Patterson and their two children at her Leongatha home for a month while he recovered.
His wife cared for him during that time, communicating with his family, cleaning his home, paying his bills and getting his car serviced and a tyre fixed, he said.
The jury was shown evidence during the trial that Patterson had accessed a death cap mushroom sighting on the iNaturalist website on May 28, 2022.
Weeks later, in July 2022, Simon said Patterson made him a stew for lunch and he began feeling sick by midnight.
He was transferred to Monash Hospital but his symptoms abated and he went back to Patterson’s home again. This time he stayed for two weeks until she became upset and he went home.
In September 2022, Patterson wanted to go for a walk with him and she again brought food for the trip, Simon said.
After eating a vegetable wrap and curry lunch, he started feeling “uneasy” and “a little unwell”. Patterson had the same meal, he said, but without the wrap she had covered in foil and given to him.
Simon said he became increasingly sick, so they left and drove to his parents’ house before an ambulance was called. He said he began to slur his words on the journey to hospital and lost muscle function.
By the time he got to hospital he could move only his neck, tongue and lips. He said those symptoms continued until he was given anaesthetic.
Prosecutor Nanette Rogers alleged Patterson deliberately “allocated certain foods” to Simon in each suspected poisoning, much like she did in choosing different plates for her beef Wellington lunch guests to her own.
But defence lawyers claimed it was not clear whether Simon assisted in preparing some of the meals and said Patterson had eaten the same food.
Simon told his GP, Christopher Ford, about the alleged poisonings and removed Patterson from his medical power of attorney about five months before she served up the poisonous beef Wellingtons.
“He thought that Erin was trying to poison him,” Ford told pre-trial hearings.
When Simon told Ford his family were in hospital on the day after the July 2023 lunch, the GP called and alerted his medical colleagues.
Heather and Ian Wilkinson went to Leongatha Hospital, while Don and Gail Patterson were at Korumburra Hospital.
Ford said he spoke to Leongatha on-call doctor Chris Webster about two people who would be coming to him with food poisoning.
He claimed he warned Webster that “based on previous events that were going on with some of my patients” it was worth keeping an eye on their electrolytes and to “make sure they’re all OK”.
Ford also tried calling Korumburra Hospital but could not get through. He drove there instead to speak to the on-call doctor.
He told them there was a chance Don and Gail’s symptoms would decline and worried they might have been deliberately poisoned by Patterson, the GP said.
Simon started seeing Ford in 2022 and said he told him to compile a spreadsheet of activities and meals before he had fallen ill.
“I couldn’t understand why these things kept on happening to him, almost three near-death experiences,” the doctor said.
“It didn’t fit into any of the medical models that would account for those things.”
Ford said he investigated Simon for low potassium after his fourth hospital admission and Simon was referred to specialists including a gastroenterologist and a kidney doctor.
Simon was at times told he had gastro, low potassium, hypertension, hyperthyroidism and high cholesterol.
During pre-trial, Patterson’s barrister Colin Mandy SC said the claims involving Simon could not be proven on the medical evidence and Patterson denied all attempted murder charges.
Justice Christopher Beale ruled Patterson should face two trials, one for the murders and one for Simon’s alleged attempted murder.
Prosecutors later dropped the latter charges and focused their trial on the murderous lunch.
–AAP
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