A MOMENT that many thought might never come, the introduction of Erin Patterson into the witness box at her own triple murder trial, in the Supreme Court in Morwell, arrived at 3.30pm on Day 24 of the trial on Monday, June 2, 2025.
Her first spell of evidence, guided by defence counsel Colin Mandy SC, took less than 40 minutes but those in a packed public gallery, and in the jury box, hardly dared breathe throughout.
Much of it was scene-setting, ahead of addressing the key issues so far raised in the trial around the meal of beef Wellington she prepared and served to her guests, and to herself, at her Leongatha home on Saturday, July 29, 2023.
It is as a result of that meal, and the death of three family members, as well as the lengthy hospitalisation of another, that Erin Patterson has been charged with three counts of murder and one of attempted murder.
She has however pleaded not guilty to all charges maintaining that what happened on that day was a tragedy and a terrible accident.
Mr Mandy started by asking Erin about her children and what life was like for her in July 2023.
Erin Patterson’s answers flowed clearly and calmly at first with moments of emotion coming later as discussion turned to her marriage in June 2007 and the arrival of her first child in January 2009.
The children, she said, had just started at a new school, and had settled in well, already making a few friends.
They were living at home with her most of the time, but Simon could see them whenever he wanted to.
Erin had temporarily shelved plans to study for a bachelor of nursing and midwifery at Federation Uni, while some issue was sorted out with the health of one of the children, but she planned to get started at the beginning of the 2024 university year.
“I was comfortable financially, such that I could afford to go to university and I didn't need to work a full-time job at the same time,” she said.
Erin and the kids had moved into the new Leongatha house, designed by both Erin and her civil engineer husband Simon, in June 2022 and Erin told the court that she really liked living there.
“I saw it as the final house. I wanted it to be a house where the children would grow up, where after they moved away for uni or work, they could come back and stay whenever they liked, bring their children, and I'd grow old there. That's what I hoped,” said Erin.
They’d covered the good things in her life at that stage but there were parts of her life, suggested Mr Mandy, that weren’t so good in July 2023.
Erin responded that for some months her relationship with the wider Patterson family had drifted especially with Don and Gail partly to do with the distance to Korumburra, after the move, but also because she felt Simon wasn’t wanting her to be involved as much and not inviting her to the family events she had previously been included in.
She described her relationship with Simon as “functional”, mainly related to the logistical things to do with the children and church but without the friendly banter they had previously enjoyed.
Asked by Mr Mandy later the reason for their separation in 2015, Erin said it came down to communication.
“Primarily what we struggled with over the entire course of our relationship, if we had any problems at all was, we just couldn't communicate well when we disagreed on something.
“We could never communicate in a way that made each of us feel heard or understood, so we would just feel hurt and not know how to resolve it.”
Erin Patterson’s evidence will continue on Tuesday as the trial goes into its sixth week.
