Bombshell cancer revelation in Erin Patterson's death cap mushroom trial

Senior prosecution lawyer Nanette Rogers SC told Latrobe Valley Court on April 30 that Ms Patterson invited her estranged husband's family over for lunch after saying that a lump was found on her elbow.

The accused allegedly told the family that further tests had revealed ovarian cancer and that she was seeking their guidance in telling her children.

But there are no records of the accused having received a cancer diagnosis, Dr Rogers told the court.

This comes in the first week of Erin Patterson's triple-murder trial in Morwell, Gippsland.

She is facing three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder after allegedly poisoning a home-cooked beef Wellington with death cap mushroom on July 29, 2023.

She has pleaded not guilty to these charges and has always maintained her innocence.

Ms Patterson's in-laws, Gail and Don Patterson, allegedly died after the meal. Gail's sister Heather, who was at the lunch with her husband Ian Wilkinson, also died. Mr Wilkinson survived.

The jury heard that Ms Patterson prepared individual beef Wellingtons for all lunch guests, made from eye fillets covered in finely-diced mushrooms and encased in pastry.

The prosecution said that Ms Patterson, 50, served the meal to her guests on four large plates but had eaten hers from a smaller plate.

"Is Erin short of crockery?" Heather Wilkinson asked her nephew as he drove her to the hospital a day after the lunch, the court heard.

"She served her [beef Wellington] on a different plate, I've puzzled about it since lunch," she reportedly said.

Simon Patterson and the accused met in the early 2000s while working for Monash City Council in Melbourne. The court was told that the pair married, had two children and settled in Gippsland.

The couple separated several times for short periods, Dr Rogers said, but they split permanently in late 2015.

They "remained amicable and shared custody" of their children and continued to go on holidays together, Dr Rogers said.

But their relationship dynamic shifted after Mr Patterson reported on a tax return that he was single, the court heard.

"In 2022, Simon first noticed a sustained change in his relationship," the prosecution said.

Their amicable communication declined and additional child support payments were raised, Dr Rogers said.

In its opening statement, the prosecution outlined its case against Ms Patterson, saying that lawyers intended to argue that four alleged victims were poisoned during the lunch and that three died as a result.

Dr Rogers went on to allege that Ms Patterson did not suffer from death cap mushroom poisoning, as she claimed at the hospital and to her relatives at the time.

The prosecution also alleges that Ms Patterson did not feed any leftovers to her children on July 30, as she claimed to hospital staff.

"She knew that, like her, they hadn't eaten poisoned food," Dr Rogers said.

The prosecution went on to argue that Ms Patterson did not buy the fatal mushrooms from an asian grocer in Melbourne's southeast suburbs and that she did dispose of a dehydrator at Koonwarra Transfer Station.

Ms Patterson's barrister Colin Mandy SC told jurors that the charges against her are simply allegations.

Mr Mandy said that Ms Patterson was unwell after the lunch and that she had not lied to hospital staff.

"She didn't intend to cause anyone any harm on this day. It was a terrible accident," he said.

Three additional attempted murder charges against Ms Patterson, relating to her estranged husband Simon, were dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions, the jury was told on April 29.

Her trial is expected to run for more than five weeks in the sleepy Gippsland town.

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