9 d. ago Australia mushroom trial live: evidence concludes in Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial after weeks of testimony from witnesses

Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder after a fatal beef wellington lunch in Leongatha in 2023. Follow liveWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom trial?Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastProsecutor Nanette Rogers SC turns to evidence about factory resets performed on the mobile referred to as “Phone B”. The court previously heard four resets – one in February 2023 and three in August 2023 – were performed on the phone that Erin Patterson provided to police during the search on 5 August 2023. Rogers says one of these resets were done when she was left alone to call a lawyer while police searched Patterson’s Leongatha home. Patterson rejects this and says she phoned a lawyer at 2pm. Rogers says Patterson performed the three factory resets after the lunch to “conceal” the contents on Phone B. Patterson rejects this. Rogers then turns to her final points in the cross-ex...

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2 w. ago Australia mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson agrees text messages with mother

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 liveWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom trial?Mandy takes the jury to messages from June 2023 between Patterson and her mother-in-law Gail.In the messages, Gail asked Patterson about a medical appointment. Patterson later replied and said she had a needle biopsy conducted.I must have told them I was having a medical appointment that day.I think I just said I was having a problem or a lump on my arm checked out.Were those lies?Yes.The issue started to resolve and I felt a bit embarrassed I had made such a big deal about it. I didn’t want their care of me to stop so I just kept it going.I shouldn’t have done it.I became aware of death caps quite early in this period.I don’t specifically remember doing that day but it’s possible it was me.It’s possible that’s part of the process I went through to see if t...

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2 w. ago Female prison guard, 26, who had phone sex with inmate and flooded his mother with more than 900 messages faces jail

Megann Gibson, 26, engaged in sexual communications with the prisoner while working at Wealstun prison near Wetherby, West Yorkshire.

Events

3 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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3 w. ago 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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3 w. ago What police found on Erin Patterson’s computer and text messages with mother

Detective also tells mushroom lunch trial that phone records indicate a sim card was switched while police searched murder accused’s homeWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom murders trial?Electronic records taken from a computer seized by police from Erin Patterson’s house indicated that it had been used to visit webpages listing sightings of death cap mushrooms, a Victorian court has heard.The court also heard on Wednesday that Patterson sent multiple text messages to her mother-in-law, Gail Patterson, about health issues and medical appointments that police found no record of having ever occurred. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial LIVE updates: SIM card was switched between mobile devices ahead of police search of Erin Patterson's home, court told

Follow Daily Mail Australia's live coverage of accused mushroom chef Erin Patterson's murder trial here.

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3 w. ago Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial LIVE updates: Erin Patterson's cancer fear text messages to her mother

Follow Daily Mail Australia's live coverage of accused mushroom chef Erin Patterson's murder trial here.

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3 w. ago Mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson denied owning dehydrator in video interview despite police finding manual during search

Australian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder after a mushroom lunch at her house in regional Victoria in 2023. Follow live updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFarrell describes finding computer and mobile devicesDetectives located a Cooler Master computer in an upstairs bedroom. The jury is shown photographs of the computer. Farrell says he “deduced” the computer was located in Patterson’s son’s bedroom. He says a black Samsung mobile phone was also located in the same bedroom. The jury is shown photographs of the mobile on shelves inside a wardrobe in the bedroom. Farrell says a tablet was also located.That page was spattered with cooking liquids. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Sex up the sexting! Why text messages are the hot new boom area in TV shows

What makes for a believable texting – or sexting – exchange? And why has this suddenly become so crucial for a character’s credibility? We meet the teams who agonise over writing lines that only appear on screen for secondsIn the final episode of Ted Lasso’s second season, Ted sends a text to his ex-wife that reads simply: “Knock, knock.” Nothing too unusual about that you might think, but what is strange is that it appears to be the very first message he’s ever sent the mother of his son. Stranger still, she has never previously texted him either. The blank white space above and below their messages reveals that the characters share zero messaging history.It’s a problem that used to plague TV. Why is the first message Emily in Paris has ever received from her boyfriend: “Hey, how is Paris?” When Rebecca accidentally sends a text to her crush instead of her best friend in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, why is their history blank when we saw him text her about a housewarming party a few episod...

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