Kieren Daniel Mittelheuser: Life of ‘The Crabman' charged over Pheobe Bishop murder revealed
Social media accounts of Kieren Daniel Mittelheuser, also known as 'The Crabman', paint a picture of a man with simple tastes.
But he is now facing serious charges over the 17-year-old's death.
On Tuesday, police arrested him outside a fast food drive-thru in Bundaberg West.
Mr Mittelheuser was later charged with two counts of accessory after the fact to murder and is also facing other charges of driving while disqualified, fraud and drug possession.
Police said it will be alleged he used Pheobe's mobile phone to interfere with their investigation.
Mr Mittelheuser's lawyer told court the fraud charge and the accessory after the fact charges were related, during a first hearing for the case,
The Courier Mail
reports.
Mr Zeller M, solicitor with Indigo Law, said the fraud charge involved the alleged use of a credit or debit card that is also relevant to the accessory allegations.
Mr Mittelheuser's arrest came after that of Pheobe's housemates James Wood, 34, and Tanika Bromley, 33, who were charged with her murder and interfering with a corpse on June 5.
The teenager had been living with them in a garbage-strewn property in the small town of Gin Gin, near Bundaberg before she vanished on May 15.
Pheobe failed to board a flight to WA to visit her boyfriend and was reported missing, sparking a major search.
Her remains were found just over three weeks later in the Good Night Scrub National Park on June 6.
Mr Mittelheuser, who was born in March 1995 and attended Bundaberg State High School, is a father but reportedly does not live with his child and is estranged from the mother.
Over recent years, Mr Mittelheuser has set up numerous social media accounts showing off his love of fishing, cars and heavy metal bands including Slipknot and The Amity Affliction.
The day Mr Wood and Ms Bromley were charged with Pheobe's murder, Mr Mittelheuser posted to Instagram, 'I don't even care about my foot hanging off my bed anymore, come get me demons. Bring me home', a popular reference that is part of a TikTok trend.
On one of his Facebook pages, Mr Mittelheuser refers to being 'rinsed' by Trent McRae — a man who is one of two charged over the death of Bundaberg father Matty Nilsen, 34, who was riding his bike when he was hit and killed during an alleged hooning incident on April 29.
Mr Mittelheuser's case is next due in court on August 25.
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Perth Now
4 hours ago
- Perth Now
Texts reveal breakdown in Erin's marriage
A series of messages tendered into evidence in Erin Patterson's triple-murder trial provide a stark insight into the decline of her relationships. Patterson, 50, was found guilty of murdering three members of her husband Simon Patterson's family and the attempted murder of a fourth with a beef wellington lunch on July 29, 2023. She had pleaded not guilty, with her defence arguing the case was a tragic accident and Patterson did not intentionally poison the meal with death cap mushrooms. Erin Patterson denied she wanted to harm her in-laws. 9 NEWS. Credit: Supplied Don and Gail Patterson and Gail's younger sister, Heather Wilkinson, died in the week following the lunch while Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, recovered following a month and a half in hospital. During the trial, the jury heard Patterson and her husband had separated in 2015 but spent much of the following years maintaining an amicable relationship. Continuing to co-parent their two children, the couple remained friends and attended family events together and took family holidays. But, the jury was told, their relationship began to sour in the latter half of 2022. Simon Patterson gave evidence he understood this occurred after he was listed as separated on his tax return for the first time, believing this to have financial consequences for Patterson. Patterson herself disputed this account, but told the jury the relationship first began to change weeks later after Simon began refusing to pay medical bills and school fees. Simon Patterson, who remains married to Patterson, was the first witness called in the trial. NewsWire/Ian Currie Credit: News Corp Australia Messages sent from Patterson to a Facebook chat group with women she'd grown close to online over a period of four days in December 2022 captured her 'true feelings', prosecutors alleged. But in emotional testimony, Patterson said she regretted sending those messages and that she'd unfairly directed her frustration with Simon onto his parents. 'I wish I'd never said it. I feel ashamed for saying it and I wish that the family didn't have to hear that I said that,' she said. 'They didn't deserve it.' Beginning on December 6 at 10.19am, the Facebook user Erin ErinErin, who Patterson identified as herself, vented that Don had contacted her to say he and Gail had tried to get Simon's side but 'he refused to talk about it'. 'So Don said they can't adjudicate if they don't know both sides and Simon won't give his side. (emoji),' the message continues. 'So he said all he can ask is that Simon and I get together to pray for the children (emoji) (emoji) this family I swear to f--king God. 'I said to him about fifty times yesterday that I didn't want them to adjudicate (emoji) nobody bloody listens to me. At least I know they're a lost cause.' A court sketch taken of Erin Patterson during the trial. NewsWire / Paul Tyquin Credit: News Corp Australia Responses from the other women in the group were edited out of the logs shown to the jury, but Patterson responds questioning if 'they've got any capacity for self reflection at all?' 'I mean clearly the fact that Simon refuses to talk about personal issue in part stems from the behaviour of his parents and how they operate, according to them they have never asked him what's going on with us, why I keep kicking him out, why his son hates him etc, it's too awkward or uncomfortable or something,' she wrote. 'So that's learned behaviour. Just don't talk about this s--t.' Patterson continues by saying she'd received a call from Don the previous night suggesting Simon and her 'get together and try to talk and pray together'. '... he also said Simon had indicated there was a solution to the financial issues if I withdraw the child support claim!' the messages continue. 'My head nearly exploded and I was like what?? And Don goes oh sorry just ignore what I said I don't want to get involved. 'So anyway I sent a group message to them all last night saying how Simon is behaving is unconscionable and asking me to withdraw the child support claim is wrong and disadvantages me and his children and how dare he etc.' Don and Gail Patterson died a day apart in early August 2023. Supplied Credit: Supplied The messages continue, with Patterson explaining Don had told her Gail and him 'didn't want to get involved in the financial things'. She writes she told Don she understands it was 'uncomfortable and awkward for them' but that Simon needs to be held accountable. 'I would hope they care about their grandchildren enough to care about what Simon is doing,' she writes. Patterson wrote Don had told her Simon refused to talk about their issues so Gail and he would be staying out of it. 'I'm sick of this s--t I want nothing to do with them,' she said. 'I thought his parents would want him to do the right thing but it seems their concern about not wanting to feel uncomfortable and not wanting to get involved in their sons personal matters are overriding that so f--k em.' The following day at 11.20am, Patterson writes that both Simon and his parents had messaged her the previous day but she did not want to read them. 'I don't want to hear it. Simon's will just be horrible and be gaslighting and abusive and it will ruin my day and his parents will be more weasel words about not getting involved so I think I'm going to just move on,' the message reads. Members of the Patterson and Wilkinson families, including lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson (centre), were present in court throughout the trial. NewsWire/ David Crosling Credit: News Corp Australia Patterson then goes on to say Don and Gail had taken their son's side and suggested if their daughter was 'laying all the same complaints' against her husband, they would believe her. 'If their daughter's husband just walked away and refused to support her kids they would have things to say to him but by refusing to hold Simon to account they've made it clear his word means more than mine,' she writes. 'They've had Simon for tea every night for three months and never once picked up the phone to me since the separation and asked if I'm okay and need help. 'So that tells me their choices. Simon wants to walk away from his responsibilities too. Well that's his choice.' She goes on to write that maybe this is a 'blessing in disguise' and if Simon doesn't want to contribute to their children's private school fees, she could unilaterally decide to change schools. Two days later, on December 9, 2022, Patterson wrote one further message saying Simon's mum was 'horrified' she'd claimed child support for their two children. 'Why isn't she horrified her son is such a deadbeat that I had no choice but to claim?' In her closing address, senior Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC described the messages as 'bitter' and 'angry', suggesting the divide between Patterson and her in-laws was 'deeper than they ever knew'. Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC led the prosecution case against Patterson. NewsWire/Ian Currie Credit: News Corp Australia Dr Rogers argued Patterson had expressed her 'real feelings' towards her husband's family to her online friends. 'The point of this evidence is that it shows, we say, that the accused was leading a duplicitous life when it came to the Pattersons,' she said. 'When Don and Gail sent the accused messages about her ongoing financial issues with Simon and mentioned praying, she replied with an eye roll emoji. 'She was mocking them and their religious beliefs, despite attending church with them.' Patterson's defence, on the other hand, argued it was an 'entirely unremarkable minor blow up'. 'It stands out in this case because it's the only one. These people are eternally polite to one another,' barrister Colin Mandy SC said. Colin Mandy SC argued the dispute was an 'aberration' that ignored years of positive relationships. NewsWire/ David Crosling Credit: News Corp Australia Mr Mandy argued the messages actually depicted Patterson venting to a supportive group of friends, suggesting jurors might think that was actually healthy. They (the prosecution) say to you ignore the long history of love and support … and instead rely on three days of upset from Erin and recollections of these online friends,' he said. 'This was an aberration in her dealings with the Pattersons and there's nothing to say otherwise.' The barrister suggested that the only reason these messages were before the jury was the prosecution scratching around to find some reason to explain why she would deliberately poison the beef wellington. 'They want to try and show that there was some kind of difficulty in the relationship between Erin and Simon and that that, 22 therefore, that might provide a reason for her to murder his parents and his aunt and uncle six months later, seven months later,' he argued. 'Even just saying it aloud demonstrates, in our submission to you, how unpersuasive that argument is.' Patterson will return to court at a later date.
West Australian
4 hours ago
- West Australian
Erin Patterson: Texts reveal breakdown in mushroom killer's marriage
A series of messages tendered into evidence in Erin Patterson's triple-murder trial provide a stark insight into the decline of her relationships. Patterson, 50, was found guilty of murdering three members of her husband Simon Patterson's family and the attempted murder of a fourth with a beef wellington lunch on July 29, 2023. She had pleaded not guilty, with her defence arguing the case was a tragic accident and Patterson did not intentionally poison the meal with death cap mushrooms. Don and Gail Patterson and Gail's younger sister, Heather Wilkinson, died in the week following the lunch while Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, recovered following a month and a half in hospital. During the trial, the jury heard Patterson and her husband had separated in 2015 but spent much of the following years maintaining an amicable relationship. Continuing to co-parent their two children, the couple remained friends and attended family events together and took family holidays. But, the jury was told, their relationship began to sour in the latter half of 2022. Simon Patterson gave evidence he understood this occurred after he was listed as separated on his tax return for the first time, believing this to have financial consequences for Patterson. Patterson herself disputed this account, but told the jury the relationship first began to change weeks later after Simon began refusing to pay medical bills and school fees. Messages sent from Patterson to a Facebook chat group with women she'd grown close to online over a period of four days in December 2022 captured her 'true feelings', prosecutors alleged. But in emotional testimony, Patterson said she regretted sending those messages and that she'd unfairly directed her frustration with Simon onto his parents. 'I wish I'd never said it. I feel ashamed for saying it and I wish that the family didn't have to hear that I said that,' she said. 'They didn't deserve it.' Beginning on December 6 at 10.19am, the Facebook user Erin ErinErin, who Patterson identified as herself, vented that Don had contacted her to say he and Gail had tried to get Simon's side but 'he refused to talk about it'. 'So Don said they can't adjudicate if they don't know both sides and Simon won't give his side. (emoji),' the message continues. 'So he said all he can ask is that Simon and I get together to pray for the children (emoji) (emoji) this family I swear to f--king God. 'I said to him about fifty times yesterday that I didn't want them to adjudicate (emoji) nobody bloody listens to me. At least I know they're a lost cause.' Responses from the other women in the group were edited out of the logs shown to the jury, but Patterson responds questioning if 'they've got any capacity for self reflection at all?' 'I mean clearly the fact that Simon refuses to talk about personal issue in part stems from the behaviour of his parents and how they operate, according to them they have never asked him what's going on with us, why I keep kicking him out, why his son hates him etc, it's too awkward or uncomfortable or something,' she wrote. 'So that's learned behaviour. Just don't talk about this s--t.' Patterson continues by saying she'd received a call from Don the previous night suggesting Simon and her 'get together and try to talk and pray together'. '... he also said Simon had indicated there was a solution to the financial issues if I withdraw the child support claim!' the messages continue. 'My head nearly exploded and I was like what?? And Don goes oh sorry just ignore what I said I don't want to get involved. 'So anyway I sent a group message to them all last night saying how Simon is behaving is unconscionable and asking me to withdraw the child support claim is wrong and disadvantages me and his children and how dare he etc.' The messages continue, with Patterson explaining Don had told her Gail and him 'didn't want to get involved in the financial things'. She writes she told Don she understands it was 'uncomfortable and awkward for them' but that Simon needs to be held accountable. 'I would hope they care about their grandchildren enough to care about what Simon is doing,' she writes. Patterson wrote Don had told her Simon refused to talk about their issues so Gail and he would be staying out of it. 'I'm sick of this s--t I want nothing to do with them,' she said. 'I thought his parents would want him to do the right thing but it seems their concern about not wanting to feel uncomfortable and not wanting to get involved in their sons personal matters are overriding that so f--k em.' The following day at 11.20am, Patterson writes that both Simon and his parents had messaged her the previous day but she did not want to read them. 'I don't want to hear it. Simon's will just be horrible and be gaslighting and abusive and it will ruin my day and his parents will be more weasel words about not getting involved so I think I'm going to just move on,' the message reads. Patterson then goes on to say Don and Gail had taken their son's side and suggested if their daughter was 'laying all the same complaints' against her husband, they would believe her. 'If their daughter's husband just walked away and refused to support her kids they would have things to say to him but by refusing to hold Simon to account they've made it clear his word means more than mine,' she writes. 'They've had Simon for tea every night for three months and never once picked up the phone to me since the separation and asked if I'm okay and need help. 'So that tells me their choices. Simon wants to walk away from his responsibilities too. Well that's his choice.' She goes on to write that maybe this is a 'blessing in disguise' and if Simon doesn't want to contribute to their children's private school fees, she could unilaterally decide to change schools. Two days later, on December 9, 2022, Patterson wrote one further message saying Simon's mum was 'horrified' she'd claimed child support for their two children. 'Why isn't she horrified her son is such a deadbeat that I had no choice but to claim?' In her closing address, senior Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC described the messages as 'bitter' and 'angry', suggesting the divide between Patterson and her in-laws was 'deeper than they ever knew'. Dr Rogers argued Patterson had expressed her 'real feelings' towards her husband's family to her online friends. 'The point of this evidence is that it shows, we say, that the accused was leading a duplicitous life when it came to the Pattersons,' she said. 'When Don and Gail sent the accused messages about her ongoing financial issues with Simon and mentioned praying, she replied with an eye roll emoji. 'She was mocking them and their religious beliefs, despite attending church with them.' Patterson's defence, on the other hand, argued it was an 'entirely unremarkable minor blow up'. 'It stands out in this case because it's the only one. These people are eternally polite to one another,' barrister Colin Mandy SC said. Mr Mandy argued the messages actually depicted Patterson venting to a supportive group of friends, suggesting jurors might think that was actually healthy. They (the prosecution) say to you ignore the long history of love and support … and instead rely on three days of upset from Erin and recollections of these online friends,' he said. 'This was an aberration in her dealings with the Pattersons and there's nothing to say otherwise.' The barrister suggested that the only reason these messages were before the jury was the prosecution scratching around to find some reason to explain why she would deliberately poison the beef wellington. 'They want to try and show that there was some kind of difficulty in the relationship between Erin and Simon and that that, 22 therefore, that might provide a reason for her to murder his parents and his aunt and uncle six months later, seven months later,' he argued. 'Even just saying it aloud demonstrates, in our submission to you, how unpersuasive that argument is.' Patterson will return to court at a later date.
7NEWS
5 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Erin Patterson found guilty by jury of murdering three people with mushroom lunch in Leongatha
Erin Patterson has been found guilty of murdering three people with a toxic mushroom lunch following a marathon ten-week trial in Victoria. Justice Christopher Beale sent the jury to deliberate last Monday, urging them to resist feelings of bias. After seven days of deliberating, the 12 jurors returned with a unanimous verdict, finding Patterson guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. Patterson's former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66, died days after attending a lunch at her Leongatha home, in Victoria's Gippsland region, on 29 July 2023. Heather's Baptist pastor husband, Ian, 68, spent months in hospital, but survived. Patterson maintained her innocence throughout the trial, claiming the poisonings were accidental. She will be sentenced at a later date. When the jury were sent to deliberate, Justice Beale advised jurors that prosecutors did not have to specify a motive to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt. But Justice Beale also said jurors could consider the lack of motive in Patterson's favour when assessing whether she had an intention to kill. More than 50 witnesses gave evidence at the Supreme Court hearing in Morwell - including members of the Patterson and Wilkinson families, medical staff, Facebook friends, public health officials, scientists, digital experts, and police - as Patterson's horrific crimes were laid bare. The court heard tension ignited between Patterson, her estranged husband Simon, and his parents over child support issues in late 2022, with the mother-of-two complaining about them in expletive-filled messages to her Facebook friends. Although messages between Patterson, Simon, Don and Gail appeared to show the troubles quickly blew over, just months later she began plotting their murders. In autumn 2023, she foraged for death cap mushrooms - the most toxic fungus in the world - before purchasing a food dehydrator to dry them out so she could later use them to kill. Telephone data shown to the court suggests Patterson travelled to Loch and Outtrim in April and May, just days after death cap mushrooms sightings were reported on citizen website iNaturalist - a webpage that computer analysis showed she had used from as early as May 2022. Just hours after her phone pinged in Loch on April 28 2023, Patterson went to a local store and bought a $229 Sunbeam food dehydrator, sending photos of her drying out mushrooms to friends. A few weeks later, in June 2023, she began planting the seed for her heinous scheme by sending Gail and Don messages claiming she had medical appointments booked for a suspicious lump on her elbow. With her trap laid, she invited Simon, Gail, Don, Heather, and Ian over to lunch, with her estranged husband recalling to the court how she told him she had medical issues she wanted to discuss in the absence of the kids. While Simon pulled out the day before, his parents, aunt, and uncle still went to Patterson's Leongatha home, where she served up individual beef wellingtons laced with amatoxins to her guests on matching plates, while she ate from a different coloured dish. After they finished their meal, Patterson told her in-laws she had ovarian cancer, leading the group- who had unknowingly just been poisoned at her hands - to pray for her and her health. Over the next few hours and days, her guests' health rapidly deteriorated as they began to experience excruciating symptoms as their organs began to shut down, including vomiting blood, nausea, stomach pain, and diarrhoea. Meanwhile, Patterson swiftly moved to try and cover her tracks - feigning symptoms, dumping the food dehydrator, lying to police and public health authorities, and tampering with her phone. In court, Patterson claimed she, too, was a victim and was sick with nausea and diarrhoea after inadvertently picking deadly mushrooms and adding them to the beef wellingtons. She said she did not begin to suspect her foraged mushrooms had made their way into the meal until after she and everyone became sick. Patterson claimed she then 'panicked' and began destroying evidence and lying to authorities out of fear she would be blamed for the poisonings and would lose custody of her kids. But jury panel - of seven men and five women - did not believe her. In finding Patterson guilty, the jury ruled the prosecution had succeeded in proving the four elements of the charges of murder and attempted murder 'beyond a reasonable doubt'. For murder, the elements include: the accused caused the death of the deceased by serving them a poisoned meal; that the alleged conduct was conscious, voluntary and deliberate; that at the time she intended to kill or cause really serious injury to them and that she did so without lawful justification or excuse. The elements of attempted murder include: that the accused consciously, voluntarily and deliberately served Ian Wilkinson a poisoned meal; that her acts were more than merely preparatory; that she intended to kill him; and that her alleged conduct had no lawful justification or excuse. The verdict brings to an end the almost two-month long trial, which captured international headlines as dozens of journalists descended on the small mining community of Morwell, a town of around 14,300 people a 50 minute drive northeast of Leongatha. The trial also drew massive crowds as members of the public swarmed to the area from near and far, sometimes waiting outside in the cold for hours, to bag a spot inside the court room. After giving his testimony, Ian Wilkinson sat in the public gallery every day listening to the proceedings, often accompanied by other members of the Patterson and Wilkinson families. The woman who murdered his wife and almost took his life sat just metres away, at the back of the room, in the dock. As Patterson awaits her fate, she will be remanded in at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, a maximum security prison for women in Melbourne's western suburbs. The facility has housed some of Australia's most infamous female offenders, including teen killer Caroline Reed Robertson, gangland widow Roberta Williams and German drug smuggler Andrea Mohr. Other high-profile inmates Patterson will be bunking with include pedophile rapist Malka Leifer, black widow Robyn Lindholm, Melbourne crime queen Judy Moran, and serial con artist Samantha Azzopardi. While Justice Beale will have to weigh several factors when deciding Patterson's sentence, the nature of the crimes could see her jailed for the rest of her life. In Victoria, the maximum penalty for murder is life imprisonment while attempted murder carries a sentence of up to 25 years behind bars.
