VIDEO footage from the inside of Erin Patterson’s Gibson Street home in Leongatha, where the meal of beef Wellington with death cap mushrooms took place in July 2023, was shown to the Supreme Court in Morwell on Tuesday this week.
The excerpt of the video footage taken by police at Mrs Patterson’s house on Saturday, August 5, depicts the accused seated at the dining table where the lunch occurred a week earlier, handing over her mobile phone to Detective Sergeant Luke Farrell who had executed a search warrant there at 11.40am.
Det Sgt Farrell is overheard asking Mrs Patterson if he needed a pin code to access the phone with Erin providing two options, learning across the table to the detective, in an effort to assist but ultimately no code was required.
The exchange came towards the end of an extensive search of the home, between 11.40am and 3.45pm on August 5, 2023.
Questioned on a number of points about the search including whether photos were taken of the plates allegedly used for the lunch and what computers and other devices were seized, defence counsel for Erin Patterson, Colin Mandy SC also asked Det Sgt Farrell if he was aware that Mrs Patterson knew that someone had died.
“I’m not sure what she knew,” he responded.
Mr Mandy asked if Erin Patterson had been told that Heather Wilkinson had died.
He said yes and acknowledged Erin had expressed surprise about the information.
Heather Wilkinson had passed away at 2.50am the day before, on Friday, August 4 and Erin Patterson’s mother-in-law, Gail Patterson had passed away at 5.55pm the same day, August 4, 2023.
Both were deceased by the time police arrived to conduct their search on August 5, 2023.
In further questioning to follow Mr Mandy’s cross-examination, prosecutor Jane Warren asked Det Sgt Farrell if police had informed Erin Patterson on arrival that they were investigating the deaths of two people.
He agreed they had saying Mrs Patterson responded by asking: “Who died?"
The trial continues in the Supreme Court at Morwell.
Erin Patterson has been charged with three counts of murder and one of attempted murder arising out of the family lunch on Saturday, July 29. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges maintaining that what happened on the day was a tragedy and a terrible mistake.
The only person to survive the meal, other than Erin Patterson herself, Ian Wilkinson, was in court again on Tuesday, as he has been every day since giving evidence in the trial on Day 6, Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
