Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial LIVE updates: Prosecution says Patterson ‘lied’ about feeding her children lunch leftovers to ‘help cover her tracks’

Dr Rogers claimed Patterson’s tale about the Asian grocer was a ‘persistent lie’.

The prosecutor said the jury could reject the ‘obvious and ridiculous lie’ that the Asian store-bought mushrooms was the source of the death caps.

‘It was a lie she told time and time again,’ she said.

Dr Rogers said Patterson bought the dehydrator specifically to dehydrate the death caps and she knew by August 1 that Don and Gail were in comas.

‘No amount of panic could justify holding back information at that stage,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said if Patterson bought the death caps why would remnants be found in her dehydrator.

‘Why would she dehydrate mushrooms that are already dried?’ the prosecutor said.

Dr Rogers said lead defence barrister Colin Mandy SC (pictured) will argue his client made up the story because she was in a panic but she said the jury should reject that notion.

The trial has concluded for the day and Daily Mail Australia’s live coverage will resume from 8am local time on Tuesday, June 17.

Patterson has been accused of lying about the Asian store because she intentionally used foraged death cap mushrooms in her beef Wellingtons.

The jury heard the health investigation into the Asian shops included finding mushrooms were all commercially produced and packaged.

Also, none of the stores had purchased mushrooms from non-commercial vendor suppliers, the court heard.

Dr Rogers said the investigation also found no death caps had made their way onto shelves and investigators could find nothing that fit Patterson’s description.

The jury heard the council never received a complaint about mushrooms.

Patterson also stalled the investigation by dodging calls and messages from Ms Atkinson (pictured), the jury was told.

‘The story she was telling about the Asian grocer was not true,’ Dr Rogers said.

The jury heard an expert said it was ‘impossible’ for death caps to be sold in a shop and the toxic fungi could not be cultivated.

Dr Tom May also said death caps don’t grow in Asia so it was unlikely they got imported from China.

Dr Rogers said had the death caps been store-bought, there would have been other cases of poisoning.

‘Yet there were no reports,’ Dr Rogers said.

Patterson has been accused of being unhelpful with authorities and sending health officials on a wild goose chase.

Dr Rogers told the jury Patterson said the supposed mushroom packaging was not resealable so she placed them inside a Tupperware container.

Patterson was ‘very descriptive’ of the packaging when she spoke to Ms Atkinson, the jury heard.

Patterson described the packaging as clear with a white ‘sticky’ label, had a name and ‘maybe’ a use-by date, and was ‘perhaps’ 100mg in size.

Ms Atkinson sent Patterson pictures of bags, and the accused killer selected the smaller bag which was 20mg.

‘The accused changed her story again,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers claimed Patterson was trying to give the impression the mushrooms were not commercial and cast suspicion on the Asian grocer and she sent health officials on a ‘wild goose chase’.

Dr Rogers said Patterson (legal team pictured) couldn’t remember which store or even which suburb she claimed to have bought the dried mushrooms.

‘She didn’t mention Mount Waverley in this conversation [with a witness] even though she had mentioned that location some six hours earlier,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said Patterson seemed to have a good mind for dates, times and details and at one stage, during cross-examination, corrected Dr Rogers on a date, but in August 2023 she ‘couldn’t recall the shop’.

‘It simply beggars belief,’ Dr Rogers said.

The jury previously heard Patterson spoke to health official Sally Ann Atkinson on August 3 and again said if the grocer was in Oakleigh it would have been near some certain roads.

Patterson also mentioned Glen Waverley as a possible location.

Dr Rogers said Patterson should have done ‘everything she could to try and remember the store’.

‘But the accused sat on her hands,’ Dr Rogers said.

The prosecution said Patterson sent health officials on a ‘frolic’ after claiming she bought dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer.

Dr Rogers said medical staff were desperate to know the source of the mushrooms to treat the lunch guests which had become a ‘public health emergency’.

‘Her story about the Asian grocer kept changing,’ she said.

Dr Rogers said experts said death caps are highly unlikely to end up on shop shelves.

The prosecutor said Dr Webster also asked Patterson where she got the mushrooms.

Matthew Patterson, Patterson’s brother-in-law, was told the mushrooms came from Woolworths and an Asian grocer.

Patterson then told Dr Foote she bought the mushrooms from a Chinese grocer in Melbourne in April.

She later told a toxicology expert she purchased sliced button mushrooms from Woolworths Leongatha and purchased dried mushrooms from a store in Oakleigh in April.

Patterson then said she couldn’t remember where they came from and suggested maybe they came from Glen Waverley and had lost the packaging.

Dr Rogers alleged Patterson lied to a litany of people because she knew she had included death caps in the lunch and if she fed it to the kids it would deflect suspicion.

‘People would more readily believe [it was an accident if the kids had been fed the leftovers],’ Dr Rogers said.

‘This was a lie to help cover her tracks.’

Dr Rogers has told the jury it is the prosecution’s case that Patterson had prepared a poisoned Wellington for Simon which he would have consumed if he went to the lunch.

‘The prosecution’s case is had Simon Patterson changed his mind and decided to attend the lunch after all, he too would have been served that sixth poison beef Wellington,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers also said Patterson tried to make it look like she volunteered to get the leftovers which she claimed had been what was scraped off her kids’ meals.

Dr Rogers claimed the leftover pastie in the bin was intended for Simon.

The jury heard it was the quick thinking of Dr Chris Webster (pictured) that police were able to obtain the leftovers from a bin at Patterson’s Leongatha property.

Dr Rogers said the meat from the dish carried the toxin.

‘It is impossible the accused could have served up a piece of the steak with all of the poisonous mushrooms removed,’ she said.

Dr Rogers said even forensic experts failed to remove all the mushrooms from their sample.

Dr Rogers claimed Patterson didn’t want the kids tested because she knew they hadn’t eaten the poison.

The prosecutor called on the jury to ‘reject claims’ Patterson delayed kids being assessed because she wanted it explained what the concerns were.

Dr Rogers said by the time Patterson was assessed she hadn’t arranged for her kids to be seen by a doctor.

Patterson said she asked Dr Foote if blood tests could solve if the kids were unwell.

Dr Rogers said she knew they would be clear.

The jury heard Patterson continued to declare she’d scraped the mushrooms off, and she took hours to get the kids medically assessed.

By the time they got to Monash, Patterson continued to standby her scraping the mushrooms off her kids’ serves story, the jury heard.

Dr Rogers said Patterson was reluctant because ‘she knew they had not eaten death cap mushrooms at all’.

Dr Rogers also said the evidence suggested the kids would have experienced some symptoms had they eaten the mushrooms.

The jury heard the toxins had remained on the cooked meat.

Dr Rogers said Patterson repeatedly stated she scraped off the mushrooms, but the scientific evidence suggested that would not have been enough to stop the kids from ingesting the deadly toxins.

Dr Rogers said it all added up to ‘incriminating conduct’ and not the actions of a ‘doting mother’.

Dr Rogers said the suggestions Patterson’s children ate the leftovers came only from the accused herself.

The prosecutor told the jury the time first Patterson mentioned the kids was when she was at Leongatha Hospital.

‘What followed was a series of lies over multiple days to multiple people,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said Simon called Patterson on July 30 and told her all four guests were ‘crook’ and at hospital.

Patterson confirmed that when she spoke to child protection officer Katrina Cripps (pictured).

Patterson knew they were unwell and claimed she too was unwell.

Dr Rogers asked why Patterson would ‘feed leftovers to her kids knowing it led to the hospitalisation of her guests?’.

‘And why would she feed them the meat section?’ Dr Rogers asked.

Dr Rogers said the children did not eat the same steak as the one served at the lunch which ‘highlighted’ how Patterson’s story shifted.

Dr Rogers has told the jury she has now reached the ‘fourth deception’ about how Patterson allegedly ‘lied and acted deceptively to avoid blame and suspicion’.

The jury heard Patterson lied about feeding her kids leftovers from the lunch.

Dr Rogers also said Patterson lied about using just mushrooms bought from Woolworths and an Asian store in the beef Wellingtons.

Patterson also dumped the dehydrator and got rid of a phone, the jury was told.

Dr Rogers said the state of health of the lunch guests including their age did not justify the huge difference in their health compared to Patterson (pictured) after the lunch.

Dr Rogers took the jury to expert advice on how death cap mushrooms effected the human body.

An Austin Hospital doctor said the poison is internally recycled within the body which is why activated charcoal was used on the lunch guests.

The guests were also given an antidote to the poison but Patterson received none of this treatment and was medically cleared.

Dr Rogers said the defence will argue she had less of the poison and it impacted her differently due to her weight.

Dr Rogers said the jury should recall an expert said a death cap survivor would still ‘expect quite adverse outcomes’.

‘That is a far cry from what we saw the accused experience, she was in hospital for a day,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers claimed the case is Patterson was not sick because she did not eat ‘any amount’ of death cap mushrooms.

She said Patterson ‘designed’ the story of pretending to be sick

‘She knew she was not sick,’ Dr Rogers said.

‘But realised she needed to look sick like the others.’

Dr Rogers told the jury Patterson claimed she binge ate almost an entire cake brought to the lunch by a guest and then vomited it up later.

‘There is no evidence from any expert witness as to whether vomiting after ingesting poisons would reduce the effects of the poison,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said Patterson was ‘vague’ about when she vomited and how much.

‘She claimed she had no idea of what she vomited,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said the most ‘notable aspect’ was that Patterson did not tell a single medical professional that she’d vomited sometime after the lunch.

‘We suggest that if the accused had truly vomited… that is a detail she would have shared with medical staff,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said Patterson’s evidence she vomited should be ‘rejected as a lie’.

Dr Rogers spoke to the jury about the leftovers recovered from Patterson’s home.

The jury was shown images of the contents recovered.

Dr Rogers said the images depicted two halves of one single pastry and what was in the photos was the ‘total sum’ of the leftovers

The prosecutor said Patterson prepared one Wellington for Simon.

Dr Rogers also claimed Patterson, therefore, ate her whole portion of beef Wellington.

Dr Rogers reminded the jury Don was critically ill with multiple organ failure about 2.30pm on July 31.

‘At this time the accused was being transported to the Monash Medical centre by ambulance and was calm and chatty,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said Don, Gail (pictured together) and Heather died from mushroom poisoning.

‘Ian Wilkinson very nearly died with the same diagnosis,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers then asked the jury ‘was the accused just less sick than the others?’.

Dr Rogers said it’s inexplicable as to why ‘four of five’ people ate the same meal and only one person did not become ill.

The prosecutor said Gail only ate half of her beef Wellington but was not far off Don in regards to her illness.

Patterson told some people she only ate half of her meal, the jury heard.

‘She still ate the same meal as Gail Patterson,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said Patterson’s account of how much she ate shifted.

‘She’s trying to manufacture an explanation for why she didn’t suffer the same fate as her lunch guests,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers told the court medical staff observed Don and Gail to be seriously ill with both being taken routinely to the toilet.

‘Don was unable to tolerate any fluids,’ Dr Rogers said.

‘And going to the toilet every 10 minutes.’

Dr Chris Webster said he saw Ian and Heather vomiting and ‘neither could hold down water’.

‘This is the same morning (her son) said the accused was sitting at the table drinking a coffee,’ Dr Rogers said.

The jury heard by Sunday evening, Don had a high lactate reading with organ damage.

Dr Rogers said Don had kidney damage and was transferred to the Austin ICU.

‘This is the same evening the accused apparently served herself and her children leftovers of the beef Wellington,’ Dr Rogers said.

On Monday July 31, a nurse observed Ian was unwell while Heather went back and forth to the toilet.

‘This is the same morning the accused drove her two children to the bus stop and then herself to hospital,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers has reminded the jury of the condition of Patterson’s lunch guests.

Dr Rogers said Heather Wilkinson had suffered organ failure while Patterson had just spent a total of 24 hours in hospital.

‘Not one medical professional observed her to be unwell,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers claimed she ‘certainly’ did not suffer from death cap mushroom poisoning.

The prosecutor reminded the jury that what Patterson told Simon about her illness, her symptoms were different to that of her lunch guests.

‘They all reported feeling okay early on,’ Dr Rogers said.

‘They started feeling sick about midnight or 1am the following night.’

Dr Rogers also noted the Wilkinsons appeared well during their meeting at 4pm with church staff after the lunch.

Mr Wilkinson gave evidence he and Heather started feeling sick after going to bed about 10.30pm to 11pm.

Don had 40 incidents of vomiting and diarrhoea by the next day and Ian and Heather had it all night and didn’t make it back to bed, the jury heard.

Dr Rogers said nurse Cindy Munro claimed Patterson didn’t look unwell like Heather (pictured) and Ian.

Ms Munro said Patterson ‘didn’t look unwell to me’ and the paramedic who transported the accused killer to the Monash Medical Centre said her patient ‘appeared well’.

A toxicology expert who assessed Patterson noted her vital signs were normal.

However, by this time Don was already in an induced coma and later required a liver transplant.

But by Tuesday, health department Sally Anne Atkinson said Patterson told her she was feeling ‘okay’.

Professor Bersten said Patterson’s potassium results were normal at Leongatha Hospital but dropped once she received treatment.

‘Stress can cause this,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said Patterson complained to medical staff she had experienced ‘explosive’ diarrhoea every 10 minutes.

Professor Bersten said multiple tests revealed Patterson didn’t suffer dehydration.

However, Professor Bersten concluded, based on test results, Patterson had been ‘somewhat dehydrated’ and had a ‘mild level of dehydration’ when she presented at hospital.

Dr Rogers said the jury could find this was not consistent with symptoms of diarrhoea.

Prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers has continued giving her closing address to the jury.

Dr Rogers has reminded the jury about Patterson’s blood test results which were included in an ‘aide memoir’ prepared by expert witness Professor Andrew Bersten (pictured).

The jury heard the various tests ranged in the normal to upper reference range, with one test a ‘little high’, another test in the normal range and another test ruled out as dehydration.

Dr Rogers said Patterson’s lactate levels were normal following liver tests compared to her lunch guests’ lactate numbers which were in a serious state.

‘Professor Bersten said the was no bio-chemical evidence of an acute liver [issue]… and had not suffered amanita phalloides [death cap] poisoning,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said the only abnormal blood test results were low level potassium and elevated haemoglobin.

Dr Rogers reminded the jury Patterson was transported to the Monash Medical Centre via ambulance.

The jury heard Patterson did not need to use the toilet while she travelled in the ambulance and her vital signs remained the same throughout that journey.

The jury heard Patterson falsely claimed to have been sick.

Dr Rogers said the only bowel motions observed were by one nurse at Leongatha and there was no evidence Patterson had any medications to stop the runs.

Dr Rogers also said Patterson’s heart rate and blood pressure were normal.

The jury heard Patterson’s heart rate elevated later but then settled.

Medical witness Dr Veronica Foote (pictured right) suggested stress and anxiety can make your heart go up and down and Dr Rogers suggested Patterson’s heart rate changes were due to stress.

The trial has taken a break and will resume at 2.15pm.

Dr Rogers alleged much of Patterson’s actions after returning to hospital amounted to ‘incriminating conduct’.

‘We say the accused’s behaviour was inconsistent with being unwell in other ways as well,’ Dr Rogers said.

The prosecutor also said Patterson was resistant to being treated with IV fluids.

‘Why would she be resistant to treatment if she was genuinely really sick?’ Dr Rogers said.

‘Her reluctance to receive medical treatment is inexplicable.’

Dr Rogers said this was ‘incriminating conduct’.

Dr Rogers said Patterson later said she wanted to leave hospital to get her children.

Dr Rogers said Simon (pictured) could have picked them up and it was suggested someone call the school to help.

Other family members could have helped too, such as the accused’s sister-in-law Tania Patterson.

Patterson told Simon she wanted to get the kids in a three-hour round trip

Simon said ‘I’m glad you feel healthy enough now’ to collect the kids.

Dr Rogers said Patterson then changed her mind to allow Simon to get them.

Dr Rogers said Patterson was closely monitored when she returned to hospital.

The jury heard Patterson went to the toilet four times in a 15-minute window.

Dr Rogers said it was the only time anyone saw Patterson go to the toilet so many times.

Patterson’s poo was described as ‘watery’, the jury heard.

‘It does look like a wee but it is a bowel motion,’ Patterson told the nurse

The nurse said she’d seen bowel motions like that before but was relying on what she’d been told by Patterson.

Dr Rogers said no viral or bacterial pathogens were found in those bowel motions.

‘They were not caused by eating death cap mushrooms,’ Dr Rogers insisted.

Dr Rogers said Patterson was untruthful about her movements after leaving the hospital.

‘She certainly wasn’t exhausted by illness,’ Dr Rogers said.

The jury heard Patterson appeared well on the hospital CCTV and drove herself home.

‘Even had she had a sleep, it did not account for the time she spent away from the hospital,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers also highlighted the evidence of Dr Sorell who said phone data indicated 20 minutes after leaving the hospital, Patterson’s phone pinged at Leongatha until 8.55am and then hit Outtrim.

In the meantime, Dr Webster was calling Patterson and at 8.47am he left a message.

Dr Rogers told the jury Patterson’s phone was in Outtrim while Dr Webster was phoning her.

Dr Sorrell said the records indicated Patterson had taken a major road south-west of Leongatha.

‘In other words the Bass Highway,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said the jury ‘ought dismiss any suggestion’ Patterson was home during that time period.

Dr Rogers (pictured) claimed Patterson gave various accounts about what she did after leaving hospital.

She said Patterson disputed being told by medical staff they had concerns about her children when she first visited hospital.

Dr Rogers told the jury a nurse who gave evidence about warning about the children ‘ought be believed’.

The jury heard Patterson left the hospital but returned an hour and 38 minutes later.

Dr Rogers said it made no sense for her to leave hospital when her life was in danger.

The prosecutor also alleged Patterson’s explanation of what she did after leaving the hospital ‘didn’t make sense’.

Patterson told Simon she lay down ‘for a while’ when she went home, the jury was told.

Dr Rogers described her account as ‘untrue’.

‘We say these are not truthful accounts… firstly it simply makes no sense the accused will go home and just lie down,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers claimed Patterson left the hospital in a ‘drastic’ fashion to go home and cover up her alleged crimes.

The jury heard medical staff conveyed to Patterson they were worried about her and asked her not to leave.

Dr Rogers said Patterson’s decision to leave was ‘so drastic’, Dr Webster called her three times to return

‘There is only one logical or reasonable explanation for why the accused left the hospital,’ Dr Rogers said

‘She realised that what she had done was going to be uncovered.’

Dr Rogers said Patterson fled to ‘attempt to cover up the crime’.

‘She knew very well that she had not eaten death cap mushrooms,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said Patterson called Simon (pictured) on Monday, July 31 and told him she’d been having diarrhoea ‘every 20 minutes’ and feared she would ‘poo her pants’ if she drove herself to hospital.

Dr Rogers said she was approached at Leongatha Hospital by Dr Chris Webster who spoke to her ‘plainly’.

‘There’s a concern of death cap poisoning,’ Dr Webster said.

Dr Webster also warned Patterson she may have been exposed to a ‘potentially deadly toxin’.

‘This was the first time she realised what she had done had not gone undetected,’ Dr Rogers said.

The jury heard Patterson then immediately wanted to leave the hospital.

Patterson’s son said his mother was insistent they attend a flying lesson in Tyabb the Sunday afternoon after the lunch.

Dr Rogers said Patterson could have cancelled the lesson but didn’t.

The jury heard Patterson drove towards Tyabb for more than an hour before being told it was cancelled.

On the way back, Patterson claimed she had to go to the toilet in the bush but her son made no mention of it and if she had ‘that is something he would have recalled’.

The jury was then reminded Patterson was seen on CCTV at the Caldermeade BP where she made a nine-second visit to the toilet.

Dr Rogers said Patterson then ‘leisurely’ entered the BP and bought food.

‘There was nothing in her behaviour on the CCTV to indicate she was suffering from a serious illness let alone explosive diarrhoea,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said Patterson barely had any time to clean herself in the BP toilet and told the jury they could dismiss any notion it had anything to do with her supposed ‘bush poo’.

Patterson also claimed she took Imodium but never mentioned that to staff at the hospital.

Dr Rogers said Patterson would have told hospital staff if that was true and told the jury to reject that claim.

The prosecutor said Patterson did not have diarrhoea on the Sunday ‘at all’.

Dr Rogers also said Patterson’s daughter could not even recall going to Tyabb that day and called on the jury to treat her version of events ‘with some caution’.

Dr Rogers alleged Patterson ‘couldn’t keep her story straight’ about when she got sick.

The jury heard when Patterson turned up at hospital for the second time, she told a nurse she’d had the runs all day.

Dr Rogers also highlighted Patterson told a doctor she had nausea and diarrhoea that persisted until Monday.

Patterson’s son claimed he found her having a coffee at the dining table the morning after the lunch.

Patterson told her son she was sick, but he told police she ‘looked normal’.

He made no note of her going to the toilet regularly.

The jury heard Patterson drove her son’s friend home and both boys recalled she ‘seemed normal’.

Dr Rogers suggested Patterson would not risk ‘pooing her pants’ in front of the kids when she made that drive.

Dr Rogers also said her son didn’t notice Patterson being ill that Saturday night.

The prosecutor reminded the jury Patterson told health department officer Sally Ann Atkinson (pictured) a different story than what she’d told Simon about the timeframes that she began feeling ill.

Dr Rogers said Patterson, on August 1, hours after conversations with Ms Atkinson, told child welfare officer Katrina Cripps she went to the supermarket but feared she’d have an ‘accident’.

Patterson claimed she had sat in the car so the position would ‘create a cork’ so she wouldn’t poo her pants.

The jury heard again how death cap toxins work to kill a human.

Dr Rogers claimed Patterson had not suffered from death cap poisoning at all and went out of her way to make it look as though she had.

She called on the jury to reject any suggestion Patterson suffered even a mild version of death cap poisoning.

Dr Rogers said Patterson pretended to be ill because she knew she had not been poisoned.

‘And knew how suspicious this would look to everyone… so she had to try and look unwell like the others,’ Dr Rogers told the jury.

Dr Rogers told the jury that Patterson had ‘complete control’ over the ingredients of the lunch and ‘took steps’ to make sure she didn’t accidentally consume the death caps herself.

Dr Rogers turned to Patterson’s attempts to make it appear she ate the exact same food as her guests.

‘She did this, we say, to conceal her crimes,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers has referred to the evidence given by Patterson’s son who recalled seeing white plates.

But Dr Rogers asked the jury not to be concerned about his evidence

The Crown asserted Patterson served herself on a different coloured plate.

‘The only reason she would do that is because she knew there were poisonous mushrooms in the other meals,’ Dr Rogers told the jury.

‘Because she put them there.’

The jury heard Ian’s deceased wife Heather (pictured together) also noticed Patterson served herself on a different coloured plate

‘This was clearly something that stuck in Heather’s mind,’ Dr Rogers said.

The jury heard Heather mentioned the plate at least twice and while she was being driven to hospital.

She called on the jury to reject any notion the plates were all the same.

‘She allocated herself the different plate by picking it up and carrying it to her place at the table,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said there was no suggestion Patterson ever mentioned to her guests the lunch contained foraged mushrooms.

She also said Patterson served herself a different coloured plate, referring to lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson’s (pictured) evidence.

Dr Rogers said Mr Wilkinson had ‘no doubt’ about what he’d seen

‘Ian Wilkinson was a compelling witness,’ Dr Rogers said.

She said he had a ‘clear memory’ of exactly what was served at the lunch.

‘You will have no trouble in being satisfied that he is a reliable witness,’ Dr Rogers said.

The jury was previously told Patterson’s guests ate from large grey plates while she ate from a smaller coloured plate.

Dr Rogers said Dr May said death caps spore for a short period of time after rain and they go bad ‘pretty quickly’ if not refridgerated.

‘They remain deadly even after being cooked,’ the prosecutor told the jury.

Dr Rogers told the jury Patterson had attended Loch, found and collected the death caps and then bought the dehydrator for the ‘very purpose of dehydrating and preserving those death cap mushrooms’.

Dr Rogers suggested Patterson blitzed the death caps into a powder and hid them in the Wellingtons.

‘This is why they were detected in the leftovers,’ Dr Roger said.

The jury has been reminded of photos found on a Samsung Galaxy seized from Patterson’s Leongatha home on August 5, 2023.

The photos depicted the dehydrator Patterson dumped at the tip, the court heard.

Dr Rogers said it was likely the photo was taken some time between April 28 and April 30.

The jury was also shown the photo of sliced mushrooms on a dehydrator tray.

There was another photo of mushrooms on a set of scales on a bench shown to the jury.

Dr Rogers said these scales were seized and police identified the bench at Patterson’s home.

The jury also saw two photographs of pieces of mushrooms with the weights 255.8mg and 287mg.

‘But look at their condition, they’re clearly foraged…,’ Dr Rogers said of those mushrooms.

‘Even the accused in her evidence said “they’re not looking good”.’

Dr Rogers said Patterson practiced drying button mushrooms before she was ‘confident’ of attempting to dry death cap mushrooms.

Dr Rogers said had Patterson just been driving through, you’d expect to see connections to other towers ‘which the evidence simply does not show’.

Dr Sorrell said he identified several other connections to mobile base stations near Loch and Outtrim.

The jury heard Dr Sorrell said a small number of the connections suggested Patterson had remained in the areas but suggested her phone was likely passing through.

Dr Rogers said Patterson’s connections to towers on the two days she was said to be at Loch following the death cap sighting post and the visit to Outtrim on May 22 were ‘outliers’.

‘Visiting these areas is not something the accused usually did,’ Patterson said.

Dr Rogers said on May 22, 2023, the day after Dr May’s Outtrim iNaturalist post, Patterson’s phone records suggest she travelled to the area.

The jury heard Patterson’s phone connected in Outtrim exclusively on that day, supporting the proposition she had ‘lingered there’.

Dr Rogers said Patterson’s phone later pinged back in Leongatha, suggesting she travelled to Outtrim for 25 minutes before returning home.

‘Not passing through to somewhere else,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said Patterson was ‘not simply travelling down the Bass Highway’.

Dr Rogers said telecommunications expert witness Dr Matthew Sorrell’s (pictured) evidence on mobile phone data ‘tends to show the accused had the opportunity to source death cap mushrooms’ close to the lunch.

Dr Rogers said Patterson’s phone data showed she was connected at towers around Loch.

She said while Dr Sorrell said his data is not definitive, she had the ‘potential’ to have been in and about Loch.

Dr Rogers said the fact Patterson purchased the dehydrator the same day two hours after a possible visit to Loch ‘should not be forgotten’.

The jury heard Patterson possibly visited Loch again.

Dr Rogers highlighted the iNaturalist searches found on the PC.

‘You can safely infer that it was the accused undertaking those searches,’ Dr Rogers said.

‘She also looked up the local pub at the same time and made an order.’

Dr Rogers said the only other people living in the house were her children and the jury could be safe to assume it was Patterson (whose legal team is pictured) who conducted the searches.

Dr Rogers said Dr May said only three reports of death caps existed in the area – one near Morwell in the past 20 years, one in Loch in April 2023 and in Outtrim in May 2023.

Dr Rogers discussed how witness Christine McKenzie had found the death caps in Loch and removed as many as she could.

The Outtrim mushrooms had been located by Dr May himself and he provided precise location details.

Dr Rogers said there is no ‘direct evidence’ of where Patterson sourced the death caps but claimed the accused was aware of the iNaturalist website that identified where to find them, the court heard.

The jury was reminded forensic searches had found artefacts on her computer that indicated Patterson searched up iNaturalist.

Dr Rogers said Patterson then navigated to that website and looked up a world map of death cap sightings.

The prosecutor said Patterson only looked up death caps and no other mushrooms.

The jury was reminded about the death cap posts related to Victoria and a particular sighting in Moorabbin which was posted to iNaturalist.

The prosecution claimed the death caps detected in the meal along with non-toxic edible mushrooms were ‘most likely’ not chopped like the others and prepared in a way where they ‘couldn’t be identified’.

The jury heard how Patterson sent photos of mushrooms and the dehydrator to her online friends and she told her friends about how effective the dehydrator was.

Dr Rogers told the court Patterson did not eat the same mushroom paste as the guests and they would never have noticed if their dish was different.

Dr Rogers referred to the 700mg of mushrooms required for the recipe and reminded the jury Patterson said she ate a kilo of mushrooms in the days before the lunch.

‘I suggest you can reject that,’ Dr Rogers said.

‘She had more than enough [mushrooms], there was absolutely no need to add a packet of dried mushrooms.’

Dr Rogers asked why Patterson would add mushrooms that smelt funny to a special meal.

The jury was reminded of the evidence of fungi expert Dr Tom May (pictured) who said dried death caps smelt ‘very unpleasant’.

Dr Rogers has gone into Patterson’s (pictured) second alleged deception – preparing the fatal beef Wellington lunch.

The jury was told Patterson deliberately sought out the death caps and secreted them into the Wellingtons while ensuring she would not suffer the same fate as her guests.

‘The sinister deception was to use a nourishing meal,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said the RecipeTin Eats Cookbook did not call for individual pasties.

‘This was not a shared dish,’ Dr Rogers said.

‘Why deviate so significantly?’

The prosecution said it was a deliberate choice and the only way to be sure Patterson wouldn’t eat any death caps herself.

Dr Rogers reminded the jury about all of the lies Patterson told about her cancer claims.

‘She was setting up a fiction that she was facing a serious health issue,’ Dr Rogers said.

The prosecutor also reminded the jury Patterson told the guests she had cancer but there was no record showing she ever did.

Dr Rogers said Patterson thought ‘the lie would die with them’.

‘That she counted on all her guests dying,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said ‘these were calculated, deliberate lies’ designed to get her guests to the lunch.

Dr Rogers said there was no dispute the children did not attend.

The prosecutor claimed Patterson (her legal team is pictured) made sure the kids were away to insure there was ‘no chance’ they would eat the food.

The jury heard Patterson announced she had cancer to her lunch guests and asked advice about what to tell the kids.

Patterson spoke about scans, a tumour, and they prayed together, the jury heard.

Dr Rogers told the jury to reject Patterson’s claims she ‘might need treatment’.

Dr Rogers said Patterson was ‘minimising the lie’.

The prosecutor said Patterson ‘planted the seed’ of this medical issue well in advance of the lunch.

Dr Rogers also said Patterson provided ‘multiple incentives’ for her estranged husband Simon to attend.

The jury was reminded Simon was firm in his evidence Patterson wanted to break the news of her medical issue to the kids.

Dr Rogers told the jury it should be clear Patterson used a ‘fake medical issue’ to convince the guests to attend.

Dr Rogers then went further into what she termed the ‘cancer lie’.

‘She fabricated a cancer claim,’ Dr Rogers said, to lure her guests in.

The jury heard it was rare for Patterson to invite people over and all guests were surprised about the invitation.

Dr Rogers said Don and Gail were intrigued about the invite ‘as were Ian (pictured) and Heather’.

The prosecutor said it was an ‘unusual invitation and said Patterson’s claims that it was not unusual was ‘simply not the case’.

Dr Rogers said there were four deceptions to Patterson’s alleged crime.

The jury was told Patterson fabricated a cancer claim to lure her guests over for lunch.

Dr Rogers said Patterson ‘secreted’ lethal doses of poison into the Wellingtons.

The prosecutor added Patterson faked an illness after the lunch.

And finally, Dr Rogers said Patterson had a ‘sustained cover-up she embarked upon to conceal the truth’.

Crown Prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers SC has commenced her closing address.

Patterson, who is today wearing a brown paisley jacket, listened as Dr Rogers summarised the case to the jury.

Dr Rogers told the jury Patterson cooked individual Wellingtons when the recipe she used called for one whole Wellington.

The jury heard Patterson made the Wellingtons this way so she could make it appear to her lunch guests they were sharing the same meal.

‘She alone chose what to cook, obtained the ingredients and prepared the meal,’ Dr Rogers said.

Dr Rogers said Patterson’s choice to make individual portions gave her ‘complete control’ in preparing the meal which was ‘exercised with devastating effect’.

‘What other reasonable explanation could be made?’ Dr Rogers told the jury.

On Thursday, Dr Rogers wrapped up her case against the accused with three final questions.

The prosecutor asked Patterson if she deliberately sourced death caps.

‘Disagree,’ Patterson said.

Dr Rogers asked Patterson did she put the death caps in the beef Wellington.

‘Disagree,’ Patterson replied.

‘And did so intending to kill them, agree or disagree?’ Dr Rogers asked.

‘Disagree,’ Patterson said.

The defence asked Patterson another few questions and closed their case.

The trial will resume today at 10.30am.

During her marathon time in the box, Patterson (pictured) made a series of admissions.

Patterson admitted she gorged two-thirds of a cake after the lunch but later vomited it up.

Patterson said she couldn’t tell what was in her vomit when pressed by Dr Rogers.

Patterson also claimed she ate a kilo of mushrooms between July 23 and July 27.

Dr Rogers suggested Patterson purchased 1.75kg of mushrooms between July 23 and July 27.

‘Incorrect,’ Patterson replied.

Patterson said the amount was a kilo-and-a-half and she ate one kilo and used the rest of the mushrooms for the Wellingtons.

Dr Rogers suggested that is an ‘untruth’.

‘Disagree,’ Patterson said.

Dr Rogers suggested Patterson had twice the amount of mushrooms the RecipeTin Eats recipe she used to make the Wellingtons called for and there was no need to add extra mushrooms.

Patterson also claimed she took an emergency roadside poo while driving with her children the day after the lunch but Dr Rogers also suggested this was a lie.

Patterson spent eight days in the witness box across two weeks of the marathon trial.

The accused killer was grilled by Dr Rogers who asked Patterson dozens of questions ending with the line ‘correct or incorrect?’ or ‘agree and disagree?’.

During her time under cross-examination, Patterson was shown a photo of suspected death cap mushrooms on a scale and was asked if she weighed those mushrooms to ensure she had enough to kill her lunch guests.

Patterson denied the prosecution’s accusations.

Patterson was first questioned by her own counsel defence barrister Colin Mandy SC (pictured).

Mr Mandy ended his line of questioning by asking Patterson if she intended to poison her lunch guests.

Crown Prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers SC (pictured) is expected to commence giving her closing address to the jury.

Dr Rogers previously indicated her address will last two days and maybe more.

The prosecutor will summarise the key aspects of the case against Patterson.

Last Thursday, Erin Patterson entered the witness box for her eighth and final day in her own marathon murder trial.

Patterson has been a big drawcard with dozens of members of the public braving the cold to queue up outside (pictured) the courthouse very early each morning to get a front row seat in the courtroom.

Patterson, 50, is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, after allegedly serving them a beef Wellington lunch made with death cap mushrooms.

Patterson is also accused of attempting to murder Heather’s husband, pastor Ian Wilkinson, who survived the lunch after spending several weeks in an intensive care unit.

The court heard Patterson’s estranged husband, Simon, was also invited to the gathering at her home in Leongatha, in Victoria’s Gippsland region, but didn’t attend.

Witnesses told the jury Patterson ate her serving from a smaller, differently-coloured plate than those of her guests, who ate off four grey plates.

Patterson told authorities she bought dried mushrooms from an unnamed Asian store in the Monash area of Melbourne, but health inspectors could find no evidence of this.

Justice Christopher Beale said the prosecution will commence its closing address today.