I suggest that you didn't love them, correct or incorrect.
That's not true.
I suggest that you were angry that they took Simon's side in your argument with him in twenty twenty two about the child allowance. That's not true, and that feeling towards them continued correct or incorrect, incorrect. In fact, you had two faces, a public face of appearing to have a good relationship with Don and Glee as shown to people like Simon, Anna, Tanya, Matt, Ruth Dubois, Professor Stewart, and police in your record of interview, Agree or disagree?
Are you asking me to agree if I had two faces?
I'm asking you, do you agree that you had a public face of appearing to have a good relationship with Don and Gail.
I had a good relationship with Don and Gale.
I suggest that your private face was the one you showed in your Facebook messenger use correct or incorrect, incorrect, And how you truly felt about Don and Gale was as you expressed it in your Facebook messages. No correct or incorrect, incorrect, And that is how you really felt about Simon Patterson, as expressed to your Facebook friends correct or incorrect, incorrect.
Aaron Patterson faced another grilling today by Nanette Rodgers, as the Crown prosecutor questioned the accused about her estranged husband, her in laws, the only guests who survived the deadly lunch, and his late wife. It was a short session today that it ended on a tense exchange. I'm Brooke Greebert Craig, and this is the mushroom pull. I'm back with my colleague court reporter Laura plassella. We just finished day twenty eight of Aaron Patterson's murder trial, and I do have
to apologize to our listeners. Yesterday I said it was day twenty six when it was actually day twenty seven. I think all the days emerging into one.
And I didn't even realize when you said that. But on behalf of our listeners, we forgive you.
Thanks, Laura. As I said at the start of the episode, today's proceedings were really about Aaron's relationships with her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, his parents Don and Gale Patterson, and his aunt and uncle Heather and Ian Wilkinson. Let's start with what Aaron said about Simon.
Erin was brought back today to some evidence that we heard in the second week of the trial from her Facebook friends. Christine Hunt. One of these friends, told the court that Aaron had painted Simon as coercive and was never happy with his commitment to things. But Erin told the court today that she did not remember telling either
of those things to Miss Hunt. Doctor Rogers also brought Erin to some evidence from another one of these friends, Daniella Barkley, who said that Aaron told her Simon wasn't a very nice person. But again Aaron told the court that she didn't remember telling miss Barklay that. Doctor Rogers also asked Erin today about something else Miss Berkley said about Simon. These are their words, but not their voices.
Danielle Barkley also gave evidence that you weren't happy with his cleanliness.
That's true.
You heard her say that, yes, And is that the truth that you told her that or that you posted that.
Yeah, it is true because I had to spend two weeks cleaning his house at one point.
Doctor Rogers also asked Erin today about a conversation she had with Public Health Director Ronda Stewart from mon Ash Health on July thirty one. Professor Stewart said Aaron told her the lunch wasn't unusual because she had a good relationship with her in laws and her ex husband. Aaron told the court today that she could not recall this conversation with Professor Stewart, but there was one thing she wanted to note.
Now, you've got no memory of having any conversation with Professor Stewart. Is that your evidence? Yes, So you're not able to comment on whether or not you said that correct or anything.
Like that correct, except I wouldn't have called Simon my ex husband because it was not and still is not.
At the beginning of his evidence in the first week of the trial, Simon was asked how he knew the accused. He replied, I'm married to her, and he also confirmed to the court that they were still married.
Doctor Rodgers took erin to a text she sent Simon after he pulled out of the lunch on July twenty eight. She said, that's really disappointing. I've spent many hours this week preparing lunch for tomorrow, which has been exhausting in light of the issues I'm facing. She went on to say, I may not be able to host a lunch like this again for some time. Doctor Rogers asked Erin today why she wanted him at the table.
I suggest that you wanted him to come to the lunch so that you could feed him part of the poisoned beef wellington meal.
That's not true.
I suggest that you prepared a poisoned beef wellington for him just in case he turned up at midday or shortly after midday on Saturday, the twenty ninth of July.
No, that's not true.
And when he didn't show up for lunch at some stage you threw it in your rubbish bin.
I did put the pastry and mushrooms in the rubbish bin. Yes, I did.
After a series of rapid fire questions from doctor Rogers, Aaron said she did tell Simon she wanted to discuss some medical stuff when she invited him to lunch, but she denied that she wanted advice and also denied that it was the purpose of the lunch. Earlier this week, Aaron admitted she misled her guests when she told them she may need treatment for cancer, but she testified today that she was confronting medical issues since she was planning to have gastric bypass surgery.
Let's move on to the questions Doctor Rogers asked Aaron about Don and Gale at the top of the episode. Our listeners would have heard doctor Rogers suggesting to the mother of two that she had two faces, a public one and a private one.
Yes, Erin was asked this today, but she in fact denied the accusation, saying that she loved and still loves Don and Gale. But Doctor Rogers disputed this, pointing her to several messages sent to her Facebook friends that our listeners have heard before. In these messages, Erin describes them as a lost cause, says they have no capacity for self reflection at all, and declares this family I swear
toking God and them. Doctor Rogers suggested to Erin today that these were her true feelings about her in laws, but Erin denied this and said she was simply venting to her friends.
So Erin has pleaded not guilty and has claims she may have accidentally added forage mushrooms into the beef Wellington dish, along with dried mushrooms that she purchased from an Asian grosser. Today, Doctor Rogers suggested to Erin that if she did love Don and Gale, she would have notified medical authorities about the possibility that forage mushrooms had gone into the meal. Here's the exchange that took place.
You've told this jury that it was some time on thirty first of August twenty twenty three, after this conversation when Simon had asked you about did you use a dehydrator to poison my parents? Yep, that you first realized that the forage mushrooms might have been in the tupperware container and might have been used by you in the beef Wellington preparation.
Correct, that that it might have been a possibility, yes, correct, And.
You agreed that you told police in your record of interview that you loved Don and Gale. Correct.
Correct.
Surely if you had loved them, then you would have immediately notified the medical authorities about there being a possibility that the forage mushrooms had gone in the container with the Chinese mushrooms.
Well, I didn't, No, you didn't.
Even though you had the realization on first of August twenty twenty three.
That's correct. But I'd been told that people were getting treatment for possible deaf cat mushroom poisoning, so that was already happening.
But you didn't feel the need to tell any medical authorities about the possibility that the dried foraged mushrooms on your evidence that you had found had gone in the container with the Chinese mushrooms.
That's correct. I did not tell anybody.
On your evidence. You never once told a medical professional that foraged mushrooms were involved or might have been involved. Correct, that's correct. And you never told anyone about that matter, for example, Sally Anne Atkinson. Correct.
Correct.
So this day, this realization on Tuesday, the first I suggest that this was days before anyone had died. Correct, it was even after you were discharged from hospital on that day. You didn't tell a single person that these may have been foraged mushrooms used in the meal. Correct.
Correct Erin was also asked about her relationship with Ian and Heather. I think our listeners should know that Ian was sitting in court today listening to all of the evidence, just as he has been doing throughout the whole trial. He sat in the back row, listening intently, with his arms crossed, and at times he closed his eyes.
The jury has previously heard Ian describe his relationship with Erin as amicable, but he said they were more like acquaintances. Erin agreed today that she did not socialize much with Ian outside of church. She said she spoke more with Heather, but she also agreed they were not close. Here is more of her exchange with doctor Rogers.
But I want to ask you this, why is it that you invited Ian and Heather to the lunch on the twenty ninth of July.
There were a few reasons. Well, Ian had been my pastor for years and years, and I would see and speak with Ian and heathern a lot after church, and I really liked them, and I wanted to have a stronger relationship with them. When I had invited Don and Gale for lunch in June, Gail had said that what I had done to the garden was really nice and Heather would love to see it. And I thought, oh, that's the great opportunity to invite Heather and Ian the next time I have Don and Gale for lunch, and
I did that. I just wanted I just wanted to say thank you to them for being good to me over the years. Heather helped me a lot. When my daughter was little and I started taking her to playgroup at Cornborough Baptist and I was shy and didn't really know many people, and Heather would with me through those playgroup times and was really kind to me, and I wanted to wanted to say thank you to her.
Erin grabbed a tissue as doctor Rogers continued.
Did you invite Ian and Heather to lunch to ensure that Don and Gail would also attend?
I didn't need to do anything. I just needed to invite Don and Gale and they'd come because they loved me.
Did you ask Ian and Heather in an attempt by you to get Simon to attend as well?
No, as always on a Friday. Court finished at one pm today, before Justice Christopher Bill dismissed the jury for the day, Doctor Rogers suggested that Aaron had access the citizen website I Naturalist.
She took erin to the computer records that we've previously spoken about that shows that a computer in Aaron's house accessed a map about death caps on May twenty eight, twenty twenty two. Aaron told the court today that she didn't have a specific memory of this day all that search, but said that it could have been possible that she
did visit this website. She said at some point, she remembers wanting to find out if death caps grew in South Gippsland, and then subsequently finding out that they did not. Earlier this week, Aaron told the court that when she found out mushrooms were growing on her property and that they were probably toxic to dogs, she went online to see if death caps grew in her area. In the final exchange of the day, Doctor Rogers asked Erin, I suggest you had an interest in death cap mushrooms on
May twenty eight, twenty twenty two. Agree or disagree. Erin replied to Doctor Rogers by saying, it depends what you mean by an interest. Rogers replied, well, it's a very straightforward question, miss Patterson. But it was at that point that Justice Bill interjected and said that's all the evidence the jury would hear today.
And error will return to the stand on Tuesday, as Monday is a public holiday and the jury gets a day off.
I think all of us have been looking forward to this long weekend, and Justice Beer wished them a good break, but did remind them not to discuss the case with anyone in their lives.
And on that note, stay tuned for our subscriber only episode with veteran crime reporter Anthony Dowsley. They will be dropping on Sunday,