The Missing Campers Trial follows the case of Russell Hill and Carol Clay, and the man accused of murdering them, Gregory Lynn, an accusation he denies.
Bringing you up to date with an investigation that began in March 2020, through to Gregory Lynn's arrest in November 2021, to now.....The Age Crime & Justice Reporter Erin Pearson will be in court each day as he stands trial. With Nine News Reporter Penelope Liersch this podcast will bring to life the testimony and the evidence, giving you an insight into the dynamics of the courtroom - as the prosecution and defence present their arguments to the jury.
After 40 trial days, the jury retires to deliberate. With two jurors balloted off, the remaining 12 are now sequestered, unable to return home. The judge gives them a final warning to avoid discussing the case with anyone outside the secure jury room. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The final instructions to the jury, known as the judge’s charge, are underway. Justice Christopher Beale gives directions on the principles of law while also summarising parts of the evidence. He says the jurors, and only them, are the judges of the facts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Erin Patterson’s barrister finishes his final plea to the jury, telling them they must find his client not guilty. He points to four ‘ridiculous convoluted propositions’ from the prosecution and argues the accused never had any reason to harm the lunch guests. He urges the jurors to put themselves in her shoes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Crown closes its case, accusing Patterson of engaging in multiple calculated deceptions and telling lies even when her lunch guests were gravely ill. Rogers also accused Patterson of trying to play the jury. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
During the accused killer's final hours on the stand, more questions are raised around gastric bypass surgery and an 11th hour bid for a fresh police statement challenges her account. Erin Patterson also maintains she fed fatal lunch leftovers to her children, and answers three final accusations from the prosecution. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The accused disputes claims she was never sick. She is also pressed on possible weight loss surgery and if she has “two faces”. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
During cross examination, Erin Patterson denies telling relatives she had cancer. She also denies ever thinking her cancer lie could remain a secret because her lunch guests would be dead. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Erin Patterson gives evidence that she began to think foraged mushrooms she’d dried in the weeks before the lunch could have ended up in the meal. Telling the court her estranged husband asked if she'd used her dehydrator to poison his parents - and that she panicked, dumping the kitchen appliance and resetting a phone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The accused killer tells the jury she loved mushrooms and developed an interest in foraging for them during covid lockdowns. She admits there must have been death cap mushrooms in the meal she served. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Erin Patterson gives evidence. The accused killer chokes back tears as she recalls a “traumatic birth”. She describes her mother in-law as patient and supportive and reveals she wanted to convert Simon Patterson to atheism before her own spiritual experience. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The lead investigator is quizzed on exactly what CCTV from the evening of the fatal lunch shows. He also tells the jury, pulling all of the accused killer’s phone records was too expensive. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The lead detective continues his evidence cataloguing phones connected to the accused killer, noting one has never been found. Erin Patterson’s shopping receipts and medical records are also shown to the jury. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The jury watches a police interview with the accused killer. When asked why she hosted her ex partner’s family for lunch, Erin Patterson replies ‘I love them’ and denies owning a food dehydrator. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A public health official tells the court she had trouble reaching Erin Patterson on the phone as she tried to find the source of the poisoning. The jury hears the pair exchanged text messages and a digital forensics officer faces questions from the defence. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
An intensive care specialist tells the court how doctors fought to save the four lunch guests' lives, and recalls how close Ian Wilkinson came to death. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Facebook messages discovered on a phone found in Erin Patterson’s home are read to the jury, calling Simon Patterson a ‘deadbeat’ and his parents ‘a lost cause’. The court is also shown photos of mushrooms in a dehydrator and screenshots of cancer information, taken from a tablet police say was seized from Patterson’s home. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The jury is shown internet history taken from devices seized from Erin Patterson's home. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A phone tower expert answers dozens of questions about the limitations of mobile phone records. Service station footage is also played to the jury, showing the accused killer visiting a toilet area. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A phone tower expert says Erin Patterson’s mobile possibly pinged in the same areas where death cap mushrooms were sighted. A poisons expert tells the jury she posted about death caps in Gippsland in the months before the lunch. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A forensic expert tells the jury mushroom toxins were found in leftovers seized from the fatal lunch. Another witness says Erin Patterson told her she cooked up the beef Wellington using the help of the RecipeTin Eats cookbook. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this bonus episode, the court hears a juror in the murder trial is dismissed over concerns they may have discussed the case with friends and family. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A second fungi expert gives evidence that she found no pieces of death cap mushroom in a beef Wellington sample. The jury is also shown CCTV from a Gippsland rubbish tip and photographs of a food dehydrator the prosecution says police recovered from inside an e-waste bin. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A mushroom expert gives the jury a lesson on Amanita Phalloides, the scientific name for death cap mushrooms. In his evidence the mycologist also recalls posting on a website photos and a location, showing where the deadly fungi were growing in Gippsland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode, Simon and Erin Patterson’s children give evidence. Both say they ate meat they believed was lunch leftovers. The son then recalls how he and his mother spotted a mushroom growing in the local botanic gardens during a pandemic walk. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A doctor tells the jury Erin Patterson recalled sourcing mushrooms from a Chinese grocer but was unable to remember which store as a search was launched. As extended family gave further evidence about their family dynamics, the accused killer's sister-in-law recalls the accused killer asking how her unwell lunch guests were faring. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The jury is played a Triple-0 call from a doctor asking for police help, after Erin Patterson discharged herself from hospital. He later tells her she needs to get her children checked out, fearing they may have also been poisoned. He warns her they can be scared and alive, or dead. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Church pastor Ian Wilkinson survived the deadly mushroom lunch. He tells the court Erin Patterson seemed reluctant to let her lunch guests see inside her new pantry. Later, he says he overhead staff looking for the accused killer as he and his ill wife were being rushed to Melbourne hospitals. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Three women who befriended Erin Patterson in a true crime group gave evidence, telling the jury she asked for advice on how to make beef Wellington. The court also heard Patterson was considered a “super sleuth” and self-described atheist, who struggled with her estranged husband’s faith. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The first witness is called to take the stand, and it's Erin Patterson's estranged husband Simon Patterson. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
As the prosecution sets out its case against Erin Patterson, they accuse the 50-year-old mushroom cook of telling a string of lies. The defence admit she did tell lies, but say she never deliberately poisoned anyone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
