60 h. ago Australia mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson jury to begin deliberations after judge’s charge concludes on Monday

Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder over a fatal mushroom lunch in 2023. Follow liveBeale turns to Patterson’s evidence about the dried mushrooms.He says Patterson said she realised on 2 August 2023 that she may have put foraged mushrooms in a Tupperware container including store-bought mushrooms that she used in the beef wellington. Continue reading...

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61 h. ago Australia mushroom trial live: judge’s charge to Erin Patterson jury continues on day 38

Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder over a fatal mushroom lunch in 2023. Follow liveBeale turns to Patterson’s second alleged incriminating conduct - lying about where the dried mushrooms used in the beef wellingtons.The prosecution has labelled certain conduct as incriminating, meaning it is an implied admission of guilt, the court has heard. The defence has argued there are other innocent explanations for the conduct the prosecution relies on Continue reading...

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4 d. ago Australia mushroom lunch trial live: Erin Patterson’s lies must not cause jury to ‘be prejudiced against her’, judge says

Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder following a fatal mushroom lunch in Leongatha in 2023. Follow liveBeale turns to Patterson’s evidence. He says Patterson had no obligation to give evidence in her trial.He says Patterson does not need to prove her innocence. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Erin Patterson trial hears of ‘four calculated deceptions’ at heart of mushroom lunch case as closing address begins

Prosecutor also tells court Patterson lied about cancer to lunch guests because she thought ‘her lie would die with them’Erin Patterson trial LIVEWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom trial?Four calculated deceptions are at the heart of Erin Patterson’s triple-murder case, the prosecution has claimed in its closing address to the jury, including a lie about cancer the accused hoped would “die with” her lunch guests.On Monday, Nanette Rogers SC spent day 32 of the trial closing the prosecution case, outlining these four deceptions: Patterson’s fabricated cancer claim; the “lethal doses” of death cap mushrooms “secreted” in home-cooked beef wellingtons; Patterson’s attempts to make it seem she also suffered death cap mushroom poisoning; and the “sustained cover-up she embarked upon to conceal the truth”.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

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1 week ago Australia mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson intended to kill lunch guests and thought cancer lie ‘would die with them’, prosecution says

Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder following a fatal beef wellington lunch in Leongatha in 2023. Follow liveTears, disagreements and dried mushrooms: how Erin Patterson responded over eight days in the witness boxWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom trial?Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastRogers says Patterson chose the meal for the lunch and was responsible for selecting the ingredients.Rogers says the recipe from the RecipeTin Eats book, which Patterson told police she used for the beef wellington did not call for “multiple individual” pasties. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Tears, disagreements and dried mushrooms: how Erin Patterson responded over eight days in the witness box

Triple murder accused finishes giving evidence in seventh week of mushroom lunch trialWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom trial?It was 12.40pm on Thursday, and Erin Patterson was striding from the witness box to the dock.“Just wait there, Ms Patterson,” Justice Christopher Beale said.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

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2 w. ago ‘You knew how suspicious it would look’: Erin Patterson makes series of denials in tense cross

Patterson also tells triple murder trial she’s ‘puzzled’ clinic she says she had an appointment for a gastric bypass with offers no such surgeryWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom trial?Erin Patterson says she is “puzzled” that a clinic in which she said she had an appointment for a gastric bypass offers no such surgery, and denies lying about making herself vomit in the hours immediately after the beef wellington lunch, a court has heard.In her sixth day in the witness box, Patterson was repeatedly asked under cross-examination by prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC whether she was lying about the deadly lunch and other parts of her evidence before her triple-murder trial. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Admitted lies, emojis and a dehydrator: Erin Patterson spars with prosecutor as fatal mushroom lunch deconstructed

Murder accused cross-examined in Victorian supreme court trial over beef wellington lunch that left three in-laws deadWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom trial?There were times in Erin Patterson’s fourth day in the witness box where it seemed as if her lies she has admitted in her testimony, like the mushrooms she prepared for the beef wellington, were being cooked down as much as possible.Had she pretended to have cancer at the fateful lunch or had she not? What, exactly, were the reasons for her repeated lies to Gail Patterson about a lump in her elbow? How about the lies she told to police? Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Mushroom trial mother accused of poisoning her in laws dumped a kitchen item used to make death cap lunch, court hears

Erin Patterson, 50, said she disposed of the food dehydrator at a local tip because she feared she would be blamed for making her relatives ill and her children would be taken from her.

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3 w. ago Australia mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson tells court she felt ‘scared, responsible’ after husband asked if she poisoned his parents using dehydrator

Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder over a fatal 2023 beef wellington lunch. Follow liveErin Patterson explains health lies, food issues and how she made mushroom lunch as murder trial continuesWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom trial?Erin Patterson says it was ‘a possibility’ foraged mushrooms were in containerMandy turns to preparations for the meal.I cooked that for a very long time.You’ve got to get almost all of the water out so it won’t turn your pastry soggy.I decided to put in the dried mushrooms which I bought from the grocer which I still had in the pantry. Continue reading...

Society

3 w. ago After weeks of silence, Erin Patterson begins to tell her side of the story to deadly mushroom lunch trial

Accused triple murderer gives emotional testimony as she faces questions on beef wellington lunch that killed threeErin Patterson accepts beef wellington served at fatal lunch contained death cap mushrooms, triple murder trial hearsErin Patterson had been in the witness box for 142 minutes, a window to her right showing the rain falling outside in regional Victoria, when her barrister Colin Mandy SC said: “I’m going to ask you some questions now about mushrooms”.Patterson had already spoken to the court about her children and her family, her hefty inheritances, her relationship with her estranged husband, Simon, and their slow and gradual decoupling, in her evidence on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Erin Patterson tells triple murder trial she discovered wild mushroom foraging during Covid lockdowns

Australian woman accused of fatally poisoning relatives describes learning to identify wild mushrooms during the pandemic and says she found them ‘more interesting’ than store-bought kind

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3 w. ago Erin Patterson talks about family rift at fatal mushroom lunch trial

Accused, 50, describes fractured family dynamic and struggles with low self-esteem in court testimony

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4 w. ago Erin Patterson given voice as interview with police fills in some blanks: week five in court

As much as any moment, the video shown to the Victorian supreme court helped give the murder accused shape after weeks of silenceWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom murders trial?Erin Patterson watched herself on a screen, her voice filling court room four of the Latrobe Valley law courts in Morwell.She had done little but stand up and sit down, and watch on silently, throughout the first 20 days of her triple murder trial, as more than 50 witnesses catalogued their own role in her story.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

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last month Lead detective denies police errors in mushroom lunch investigation as Erin Patterson trial continues

Defence argues photos taken by police inside Patterson’s home appear to show computers and a phone that were not seized during searchWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom murders trial?The detective in charge of the investigation into the deadly beef wellington lunch served by Erin Patterson has denied police made several errors in the case, including failing to seize electronic items during a search of her house and wrongly identifying her son on CCTV footage, a court has heard.Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to poisoning her four lunch guests – relatives of her estranged husband, Simon Patterson – with a beef wellington served at her house in Leongatha, Victoria on 29 July 2023. Continue reading...

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