Key events
Asked about how Patterson described her relationship with Simon, Cripps says she described Simon as “controlling” and “emotionally abusive”:
She did say they had a good relationship until recently.
Cripps is asked what Patterson said about the lunch on 29 July 2023:
She said it was a great lunch and that the kids were there as well.
That she had been missing them and she wanted to reconnect with them and see them.
Cripps says Patterson said she wanted to discuss a medical issue at the lunch.
Cripps says Patterson told her she found the beef wellington recipe in a RecipeTin[Eats] cookbook.
She says Patterson said she “wanted to do something new and special”.
She says Patterson said she bought pre-sliced mushrooms from Woolworths and dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer.
Cripps recalls Patterson telling her that mushrooms from an Asian grocer would “add a nice flavour to the beef wellington”.
Patterson said the children had eaten the leftovers of the lunch but she had scraped off the mushrooms for them, she says.
Cripps recalls Patterson saying a dispute over Simon listing himself as “separated” on his tax return in late 2022 had led to a strain in the pair’s relationship.
She says Patterson described her relationship with Simon’s parents:
She said that Don and Gail had been like the parents she hadn’t had … They’d always treated her like a daughter-in-law … that relationship had changed recently. She felt isolated from them.
She said the relationship between her and Simon had changed.
Cripps works as a child protection practitioner at the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, the court hears.
On 31 July, the department received a report regarding Erin Pattterson’s two children.
On 1 July, Cripps and a colleague spoke to Patterson, her estranged husband, Simon, and her two children.
Cripps tells the court she has a copy of notes her colleague made from these meetings.
Patterson said she and Simon separated in 2015, Cripps says.
She says Patterson told her the children had discussed not wanting to visit Simon on weekends because he “yelled” at them and slept a lot on the weekends.
The jurors have entered the courtroom in Morwell.
The prosecution calls their next witness, Katrina Cripps.
The jurors have not entered the court room yet.
While we wait for today’s proceedings to kick off, here’s a report from our justice and courts reporter, Nino Bucci, on what the trial heard yesterday:
What we learned yesterday
While we wait for today’s proceedings to begin, here’s a recap of what the jury heard yesterday.
1. Dr Camille Truong, a mycologist, said she did not find death cap mushrooms in two visual examinations of leftovers of the beef wellington lunch that were provided to her.
2. Truong says it was highly unlikely mushroom poisoning would occur from fungi bought from supermarkets or smaller supply shops because they cannot be cultivated.
3. Prof Andrew Bersten, an intensive care specialist, who reviewed Erin’s medical records from 31 July – the day of the lunch – to 1 August 2023 said he thought there was was evidence she had a “diarrhoeal illness”.
4. The jury was shown CCTV footage of a woman disposing of a dehydrator at a tip, the Koonwarra Transfer Station And Landfill, on 2 August – four days after the lunch.
5. The defence raised the case of a Victorian woman who died by accidentally poisoning herself with death cap mushrooms in an unrelated incident a year after the fateful beef wellington lunch.
Welcome
Good morning.
Welcome to day 12 of Erin 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 regional Victoria, on 29 July 2023.
She is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail 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 prosecution alleges Patterson deliberately poisoned her lunch guests with “murderous intent”, but her lawyers say the poisoning was a tragic accident.
