ON MONDAY, July 7, 2025, Leongatha mother of two, Erin Patterson, was found guilty on four charges, three counts of murder against her in-laws Gail and Don Patterson and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, and one of attempted murder against Ian Wilkinson.
But originally, when the charges were first filed by police on Friday, November 3, 2023, there were eight charges; four where her husband Simon Patterson was the alleged victim.
These were later reduced to three charges of attempted murder, as follows:
- Charge 1: The accused in the State of Victoria (trip to Wilsons Promontory) on November 16, 2021, did attempt to commit an indictable offence namely the murder of Simon Patterson.
- Charge 2: The accused in the State of Victoria (trip to Howqua) on May 25, 2022, did attempt to commit an indictable offence namely the murder of Simon Patterson.
- Charge 3: The accused in the State of Victoria (trip to Wilsons Promontory) on September 6, 2022 did attempt to commit an indictable offence namely the murder of Simon Patterson.
One of the original four charges, relating to Simon’s invitation to attend the deadly lunch at Leongatha on July 29, 2023, had been discontinued well before the start of proceedings.
Everyone knew about the allegations that Erin had attempted to kill her husband three times before trying to compel him to attend the family lunch, even going so far as to prepare a sixth beef Wellington pastie for him, according to the prosecution, laced with death cap mushrooms, should Simon have a change of heart and attend.
At the time the charges were laid, wide publicity was given to these additional attempted murder charges, including in the Sentinel-Times, because, while the community was aware by then of the suspicion surrounding Erin Patterson as the cook of the deadly mushroom meal, few knew of the allegations that she had tried to kill her husband on three prior occasions.
So, what happened to those three attempted murder charges?
They were buried in legal proceedings and officially dropped on Day One of the trial.
There was hardly any reference to the charges during the trial, because of a suppression order, although Justice Beale acknowledged during his instructions to the jury on Day One that most if not all of the jurors were probably aware of the attempted murder charges in relation to Ms Patterson’s estranged husband.
“Those charges have been discontinued by the Director of Public Prosecutions. In other words, those charges have been dropped, and you must put them out of your mind.”
One person who wasn’t able to put them out of his mind, while giving evidence on the first few days of the trial, was Simon Patterson.
In an aside to the judge during his first session in the witness box, while the jury wasn’t in court, Mr Patterson said he had been left in a difficult position as a result of the charges being dropped, not being able to give evidence about them or even refer to the alleged incidents.
“All the hearings that have led up to this, all the discussions about the way we got to this point here, where I'm sitting here, half thinking about the things I'm not allowed to talk about and I understand, I don't actually understand why, it seems bizarre to me, but it is what it is.”
In fact, the police and the prosecution wanted to proceed with the charges relating to Simon Patterson and took the objections of the respondent’s defence counsel, Colin Mandy SC, agreed to by Justice Beale in pre-trial hearings, to the Court of Appeal on April 3, 2025 for a ruling. They lost. They were not given leave to appeal Justice Beale’s ruling that the probative value of coincidence evidence, around the alleged poisoning of Simon Patterson, was substantially outweighed by the prejudicial effect on the accused.
“His Honour considered that a finding that the respondent deliberately poisoned the four lunch guests would create a very significant risk of the jurors misusing or overvaluing the evidence in relation to the charges concerning the events allegedly relating to Simon Patterson.
This matter, the video recording of Erin Patterson’s police interview on Saturday, August 5, 2023 and a whole host of other material, not presented to the jury and previously not made public were released last Thursday, August 8 by the trial judge when he lifted a suppression order on almost all of the remaining matters covered by the order, on application by the media, but against the objections of Erin Patterson.
The ABC ‘Mushroom Daily’ podcast “All the times Erin allegedly poisoned Simon – and much more” provides an excellent summary and explanation of the complex nature of the issues involved. You can access it HERE.
Justice Beale also set the date for the plea hearing, on Monday and Tuesday, August 25 and 26, ahead of sentencing on a date yet to be fixed. The plea hearing, which is likely to feature a considerable number of victim impact statements, will be held in the Supreme Court in Melbourne as the Latrobe Valley Law Courts are not available while renovation works are in progress.
For the ABC Mushroom Case Daily podcast, click here:
