New vision shows police seizing mushroom murderer Erin Patterson's phone

Australia Broadcast Center

10 hours ago

Victoria's Supreme Court has released police footage of Erin Patterson handing over a "dummy" phone to officers as they investigated the mass poisoning at her Leongatha home.
Patterson, who was last month found guilty of murdering three relatives with beef Wellingtons containing death cap mushrooms and attempting to murder a fourth, can be seen handing over the device to a homicide detective in August 2023.
In the days after the fatal lunch on July 29, 2023, Patterson embarked on a cover-up to distance herself from the horrific illnesses suffered by Don and Gail Patterson, Heather Wilkinson and sole survivor Ian Wilkinson.
Patterson switched her phone and provided police with another device that had been factory reset on numerous occasions. She also dumped a food dehydrator used to prepare the deadly meal.
Prosecutors alleged Patterson feigned illness to doctors, claiming to have eaten the same contaminated meal.
In the newly released footage, Patterson can be seen sitting at her dining table opposite Detective Sergeant Luke Farrell, as officers conduct a thorough search of her house.
"Thanks for your patience today, Erin," Detective Sergeant Farrell says.
"We're completing our search. The only outstanding item is that mobile phone that you've got there, so I'll seize that from you.
"Is there a pin code on your phone? Do you know what it is?"
Patterson replies, however the phone unlocks without a pin code, and is taken by the detective.
"Makes your job easy," Patterson quips.
The device, which came to be nicknamed Phone B, had already been factory reset by Patterson, who managed to remotely wipe the device a final time after it was in a police safe.
During Patterson's trial, prosecutors said nothing meaningful was found on the Samsung device.
The main phone Patterson had been using in the lead-up to the lunch, nicknamed Phone A, was never located.
However, officers were able to retrieve cell tower data, which placed Phone A in the vicinity of sites where death cap mushrooms were growing.
Patterson denied hiding Phone A, and insisted it had been missed by officers who searched her home.
The Supreme Court also released footage of Patterson dumping a dehydrator at the Koonwarra Transfer Station four days after the lunch.
She can be seen parking her red SUV and carrying the dehydrator into a large green shed which houses electronic waste bins.
Testing on the dehydrator later revealed traces of death cap mushrooms.
Patterson is yet to be sentenced over the murders of Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson, and the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson.
She has always maintained her innocence and argued that she did not deliberately include death cap mushrooms in the meal served up to the lunch guests.
Patterson's police interview, in which she told further lies to detectives, was tendered as evidence during the trial but has not been released by the court.
During the trial, prosecutors did not allege a motive for the crime, but argued Patterson's relationship with her in-laws had been in decline.