Erin Patterson trial: Alleged mushroom poisoner changed phones frequently
On Monday jurors in the trial, now in it's sixth week, continued to hear from Detective leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall.
Under cross examination from defence barrister Colin Mandy SC, Constable Eppingstall was taken through a 'flow chart' that tracked Ms Patterson's phones from 2019 to 2023.
The record indicates she changed between seven different phones, from LG, Nokia, Samsung and Oppo, nine times until August 2023.
The detective agreed the chart indicated the 'reasonably frequent setting up' of phones.
Previously the jury was told prosecutors allege a Samsung A23, dubbed Phone B in the trial, was factory reset three times before it was handed over to police on August 5 and once remotely the following day.
Mr Mandy took Constable Eppingstall to a section of the flow chart, that showed a factory reset on February 12 was followed by Ms Patterson's son's SIM card being placed into the phone.
The barrister asked if this was 'consistent' with the son taking over the use of that phone.
'Yes, sir,' the officer responded.
Next Mr Mandy took Constable Eppingstall to phone records from a second Samsung A23 dubbed 'Phone A' in the trial.
Prosecutors allege this was Ms Patterson's phone used in the period preceding and immediately after the lunch.
Last week, Constable Eppingstall told the jury the phone had never been located by police.
Mr Mandy confirmed the Telstra records indicate the SIM card 'lost connection' with the network sometime between 12.01pm and 1.45pm on August 5.
It next connected in a different handset, receiving a text message at 1.44am on August 6, he said.
Constable Eppingstall agreed, saying 'that's my understanding' of the records.
Constable Eppingstall, the jury was told last week, was the final witness prosecutors planned to call in their case against Ms Patterson.
The 50-year-old is facing trial after pleading not guilty to murdering three of her husband's relatives and the attempted murder of a fourth.
Prosecutors allege a beef Wellington lunch she served on July 29, 2023, was deliberately poisoned with death cap mushrooms, while her defence argues the case is a tragic accident.
Her husband Simon Patterson's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt, Heather Wilkinson died from organ failure in after falling ill following the meal Ms Patterson hosted at her Leongatha home in Victoria's southeast.
Ms Wilkinson's husband, long-serving Korumburra Baptist Church pastor Ian Wilkinson, fell ill following the lunch but recovered after spending about a month and a half in hospital.
The trial continues.
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Mushroom killer's evidence released: dumped dehydrator, factory-reset phone
A Victorian court has released footage that shows convicted triple-murderer Erin Patterson dumping a dehydrator and handing police a factory-reset phone. Two sets of footage, both tendered as evidence during the trial at the Latrobe Valley Magistrates' Court in Morwell, were released on August 4. The first video, CCTV from the Koonwarra Transfer Station, showed Patterson dumping a Sunbeam food dehydrator in August 2023. The video was filmed days after Patterson served a fatal meal of beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms to her in-laws. Patterson was found guilty of murdering her estranged husband's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, as well as Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson. Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson survived. The dehydrator was seized by police and Patterson's fingerprints as well as traces of death cap mushrooms, were found. READ MORE: Erin Patterson's next steps as the death cap killer faces a long prison stint Another video, also filmed in August 2023, showed Patterson sitting at the dining room table of her Leongatha home with a detective. Patterson was asked to hand over and unlock her mobile phone after police searched her home for almost four hours. Prosecutors later alleged that Patterson gave police a phone that had undergone a factory reset, instead of her main personal device. Patterson was found guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder in July. She awaits sentencing. A Victorian court has released footage that shows convicted triple-murderer Erin Patterson dumping a dehydrator and handing police a factory-reset phone. Two sets of footage, both tendered as evidence during the trial at the Latrobe Valley Magistrates' Court in Morwell, were released on August 4. The first video, CCTV from the Koonwarra Transfer Station, showed Patterson dumping a Sunbeam food dehydrator in August 2023. The video was filmed days after Patterson served a fatal meal of beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms to her in-laws. Patterson was found guilty of murdering her estranged husband's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, as well as Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson. Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson survived. The dehydrator was seized by police and Patterson's fingerprints as well as traces of death cap mushrooms, were found. READ MORE: Erin Patterson's next steps as the death cap killer faces a long prison stint Another video, also filmed in August 2023, showed Patterson sitting at the dining room table of her Leongatha home with a detective. Patterson was asked to hand over and unlock her mobile phone after police searched her home for almost four hours. Prosecutors later alleged that Patterson gave police a phone that had undergone a factory reset, instead of her main personal device. Patterson was found guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder in July. She awaits sentencing. A Victorian court has released footage that shows convicted triple-murderer Erin Patterson dumping a dehydrator and handing police a factory-reset phone. Two sets of footage, both tendered as evidence during the trial at the Latrobe Valley Magistrates' Court in Morwell, were released on August 4. The first video, CCTV from the Koonwarra Transfer Station, showed Patterson dumping a Sunbeam food dehydrator in August 2023. The video was filmed days after Patterson served a fatal meal of beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms to her in-laws. Patterson was found guilty of murdering her estranged husband's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, as well as Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson. Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson survived. The dehydrator was seized by police and Patterson's fingerprints as well as traces of death cap mushrooms, were found. READ MORE: Erin Patterson's next steps as the death cap killer faces a long prison stint Another video, also filmed in August 2023, showed Patterson sitting at the dining room table of her Leongatha home with a detective. Patterson was asked to hand over and unlock her mobile phone after police searched her home for almost four hours. Prosecutors later alleged that Patterson gave police a phone that had undergone a factory reset, instead of her main personal device. Patterson was found guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder in July. She awaits sentencing. A Victorian court has released footage that shows convicted triple-murderer Erin Patterson dumping a dehydrator and handing police a factory-reset phone. Two sets of footage, both tendered as evidence during the trial at the Latrobe Valley Magistrates' Court in Morwell, were released on August 4. The first video, CCTV from the Koonwarra Transfer Station, showed Patterson dumping a Sunbeam food dehydrator in August 2023. The video was filmed days after Patterson served a fatal meal of beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms to her in-laws. Patterson was found guilty of murdering her estranged husband's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, as well as Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson. Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson survived. The dehydrator was seized by police and Patterson's fingerprints as well as traces of death cap mushrooms, were found. READ MORE: Erin Patterson's next steps as the death cap killer faces a long prison stint Another video, also filmed in August 2023, showed Patterson sitting at the dining room table of her Leongatha home with a detective. Patterson was asked to hand over and unlock her mobile phone after police searched her home for almost four hours. Prosecutors later alleged that Patterson gave police a phone that had undergone a factory reset, instead of her main personal device. Patterson was found guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder in July. She awaits sentencing.
7NEWS
21 hours ago
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Never-before-seen footage shows Erin Patterson questioned by police at the dining table where relatives were poisoned
Never-before-seen footage shows Erin Patterson calmly questioned by police at the table where three of her relatives were poisoned. The first released footage shows Erin Patterson inside her Leongatha home in Victoria on August 5, 2023, a week after the 50-year-old served a beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms. WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Vision of Erin Patterson grilled by police released. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today The footage was tendered as exhibits during Patterson's trial, but was only released to the media on Monday. Seated at the same dining table where she hosted the deadly lunch, Patterson appears composed as she speaks with a detective, even handing over what police later suspected was a dummy mobile phone. 'Thanks for your patience today, Erin,' Detective Sergeant Luke 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.' Farrell then asks Patterson for the PIN to her phone, and she offers two possible combinations, saying she can't remember which one is correct. The phone later unlocked without a PIN code. 'Makes your job easy,' Patterson says. 'We were later to find out that the police believe there was a second mobile phone, so perhaps that helps to explain why she is so calm,' criminologist Dr Xanthe Mallett said. The phone, a Samsung Galaxy A23 nicknamed Phone B, was one of four devices owned by Patterson. Investigators believe it was factory reset once before and then remotely wiped again after it was seized. Prosecutors told the court the Samsung device contained no significant data. Meanwhile, the main phone Patterson used before the deadly lunch, known as Phone A, was never found. Another piece of footage released on Monday shows Patterson dumping a food dehydrator she used to dry the death cap mushrooms. She attempted to dispose of it four days after the lunch, but police later recovered it, with samples of the deadly fungi still found on the trays. On July 7, Patterson was found guilty of murdering her husband Simon Patterson's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, as well as attempting to murder Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson. The mother-of-two maintained her innocence throughout the trial, claiming the poisonings were accidental. She is yet to be sentenced, and remains in custody at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, a maximum security prison for women in Melbourne's western suburbs.
Perth Now
a day ago
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Videos from mushroom murder trial released
Footage of Erin Patterson speaking with detectives at the table where she served her deadly lunch has been released, almost a month after she was convicted of three murders. The Victorian Supreme Court has also released a second clip of Patterson disposing of a food dehydrator, which was used as critical evidence to prosecute the convicted mushroom cook killer. Patterson, 50, was found guilty on July 7 of murdering her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, 70, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, and the attempted murder of Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson. The jury found she deliberately served the four people beef Wellingtons laced with death cap mushrooms at her Leongatha home in regional Victoria on July 29, 2023. Both videos were played during the 11-week trial in Morwell. The first clip is dated August 2, 2023, and shows CCTV of Patterson dumping a food dehydrator at Koonwarra Transfer Station. She is seen getting out of her red SUV and pulling a black dehydrator from the boot before she placed it in an e-waste bin inside a green shed. The dehydrator, which police seized from a tip days after the meal, contained traces of death cap mushrooms. The other video released, dated August 5, 2023, shows Patterson sitting at her dining table with Detective Sergeant Luke Farrell. Leaning on her hand, Patterson appears to engage in conversation in the moments following a police raid on her home, during which electronic items, including a phone and computer were seized. Det Sgt Farrell is heard thanking Patterson for her patience before requesting her phone and asking for the passcode. She then hands over the phone. The Supreme Court had released dozens of pieces of evidence that helped prosecutors secure the convictions within hours of the guilty verdicts in July. They included photos showing remnants of beef Wellington leftovers as they were tested by toxicologists, after police found them inside a bin at Patterson's home A video of Patterson discharging herself from Leongatha Hospital minutes after she had arrived was also previously released, while images of her at the hospital revealed a pink phone police say they never recovered. Patterson, who is facing the possibility of life behind bars, will return to court for a pre-sentence hearing later in 2025. After her sentence is handed down, she will have 28 days to file an appeal.
