Erin Patterson trial live: mushroom cook plated all beef wellingtons despite family offering to help, only survivor of lethal lunch tells court

Court adjourns for lunch break

The trial will recommence at 2.15pm when Ian Wilkinson’s cross-examination will continue.

Erin Patterson is accused of murdering her estranged husband Simon Patterson’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister and Simon’s aunt, Heather Wilkinson, by feeding them a meal of beef wellington laced with death cap mushrooms in July 2023. She has pleaded not guilty.

Here is a reminder of the key figures involved.

A quick amendment, readers. Today’s crown prosecutor is Jane Warren, not Sarah Lenthall as previously stated.

Ian Wilkinson says he saw meal served at fatal lunch come from an oven tray

Mandy turns to Ian’s evidence about how Erin placed the beef wellington lunch on plates.

He asks Ian if he remembers each beef wellington being served from a tray.

“Can I suggest to you, you saw them come from a tray, possibly an oven tray,” Mandy says.

Ian says he cannot recall this.

After some back and forth, Mandy takes Ian to his evidence to police on 5 September 2023 while at Austin hospital where he said the beef wellingtons were served on a tray.

Ian agrees this is what he told the police officers. He says this has jogged his memory and believes he can picture it.

Erin Patterson’s lawyer, Colin Mandy SC, has begun his cross-examination of Ian.

He takes Ian to the point in time when the four lunch guests arrived at Erin’s house in Leongatha, which had been recently built.

Mandy puts to Ian that Erin was “proud of the house” she had invited the group to. Ian replies:

I don’t think it was that clear.

Mandy takes Ian to his previous evidence given in pre-trial hearings where he agreed that Erin was proud of her house:

On reflection, I felt those answers were not satisfactory …. I hadn’t thought a great deal about the house and Erin being proud of the house before you asked me those questions …. On reflection, I felt those answers weren’t … a fair representation of the events.

But he says the guests “didn’t have a house tour” and Erin was not driving the conversation about her house.

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Ian and Heather were then transported to Dandenong hospital via ambulance due to suspicion of potential mushroom poisoning, the court hears.

Ian says while at Leongatha hospital he overheard staff talking about Erin being there as well.

Under questioning, Ian says he has no memory about his time at the Dandenong hospital after he consumed a charcoal substance drink.

He was then sedated, intubated and transferred to Austin hospital in Heidelberg where he was treated for death cap mushroom poisoning, the court hears.

Ian was later transferred to a rehabilitation ward before being discharged home on 21 September 2023, jurors are told.

Warren has finished examining Ian Wilkinson.

Ian Wilkinson says Heather reminded him about different-coloured plates while in hospital

Prosecutor Jane Warren asks Ian about his conversation with Heather about the mismatched plates the beef wellington lunch was served on.

Ian recalls the conversation in Leongatha hospital:

I remember Heather reminding me that there were different plates.

She just noticed the difference in colours between the plate Erin was using and our plates.

At first, hospital staff were focusing on the meat from the beef wellington meal as a possible cause of their illness, Ian says.

Simon urged family members to visit hospital, Ian Wilkinson tells court

Around dawn the next morning, Heather Wilkinson had a phone conversation with the other lunch guests and discovered they were also unwell, jurors are told.

Erin’s estranged husband, Simon Patterson, visited Ian and Heather later that morning.

Ian describes himself as “quite unwell” when Simon arrived.

Don and Gail had called an ambulance and Simon told his aunt and uncle, Ian and Heather, that they should do the same, the court hears.

Simon then rang an ambulance. Due to ambulance delays, Simon drove Ian and Heather to Leongatha hospital.

Ian Wilkinson says he and wife became ill that evening

Erin and Simon’s son and his friend then returned home, which cut short the conversation about Erin’s illness, the court hears.

Ian then led the guests to pray for Erin.

He recalls leaving Erin’s house at about 2.45pm, as he and Heather had guests coming over at 3pm.

Ian and Heather went to bed at about 10.30 or 11pm that evening, jurors are told.

He says before they had fallen asleep Heather “abruptly” got up from bed and vomited in the laundry:

I felt alright when Heather initially got up. But it wasn’t very long after that I also felt the need to go and vomit.

The couple were vomiting and had diarrhoea through the evening, the court hears.

He says he and Heather did not return to bed that night as they needed to stay close to the toilets in the house.

Ian is then asked what happened after the meal:

After the lunch, Erin announced that she had cancer. She said that she was very concerned because she believed it was very serious, life-threatening.

She was anxious about telling the kids. She was asking our advice about that.

Erin spoke about a diagnostic test which showed a tumor, Ian says.

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Ian Wilkinson tells court he ate entire meal at fatal mushroom lunch

Ian says the five people said grace before they began to eat lunch.

He says he and his wife, Heather, ate the entire meal.

Gail, Erin’s mother-in-law, ate her vegetables and half of her beef wellington, the court hears.

Don ate his meal and his wife Gail’s leftover half, Ian says:

There was talk about husbands helping their wives out by eating extra food. Heather mentioned we should have shared a beef wellington because she felt the meal was a bit on the large side for her. That’s the reason I remember who ate what – because of that little exchange.

Ian says he can’t recall how much of the meal Erin ate. But he says he cannot remember comments about Erin not eating much.

Gail had prepared a cake and Heather had brought a fruit platter to the lunch, the court hears.

Ian says not much of either was consumed as the guests were “fairly full” from the main course.

He says it was a “help yourself” serving arrangement for the cake and fruit, with plates on the table.

Ian says he cannot remember if the same plates from lunch were used.

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Erin took ‘odd’, differently coloured plate to her place at the table, Ian Wilkinson tells court

Ian Wilkinson describes the individual beef wellingtons served to the lunch guests:

It was very much like a pasty... it was a pastry case and when we cut into it, there was steak and mushrooms.

He says the dish was “entirely encased” in pastry.

Prosecutor Jane Warren asks Ian about the plates Erin used to serve the food:

There were four large, grey dinner plates and one smaller plate – a different colour. It was an orangey-tan sort of colour.

Gail picked up two of the grey plates and put them on the table, Heather picked up two of the grey plates and put them on the table.

Erin picked up the odd plate and placed it on the table … she took it to her place on the table.

The four guests then joined Erin in her garden where they discussed some of her plants.

Once inside again, Ian Wilkinson says lunch preparations began.

He says he saw Erin mashing potatoes and putting food on plates. He says he did not see any other food being prepared.

The jury is shown a photo of Erin’s dining room table, with a kitchen bench to the left.

Ian says Erin was on the kitchen side of the bench while she was putting food on plates. Gail and Heather were on the dining room side of the bench, leaning against it.

He says both women offered to help Erin plate the food.

The offer was rejected. He says Erin plated all of the food.

On the plates served to the guests were mashed potatoes, green beans and an individual beef wellington each.

Ian says he did not see where the beef wellingtons came from before they were placed on the plates.

Ian and Heather were picked up by Don and Gail “a little after 12” from their house before travelling to Erin’s house on 29 July 2023, the court hears.

The four lunch guests arrived at Erin’s house at about 12.30pm, Ian says.

Arriving at Erin’s house, Ian says Heather remarked “oh, Simon’s car’s not here”.

Don or Gail said Simon Patterson was not attending the lunch, Ian says (a reminder that Simon is Don and Gail’s son, and Ian and Heather’s nephew).

Erin then met the four guests and they went into the kitchen and lounge room area in the house:

There was general conversation … then we started conversing about the house.

Erin mentioned there was a pantry behind the wall:

Heather was very interested in pantries at the time because we’d just built one at home.

On hearing about the pantry, she started walking towards it … Gail started following.

Ian says Erin was “very reluctant” about the visit to the pantry. He says Erin then followed Heather and Gail to the pantry.

Ian says he did not follow because he thought Erin may have been embarrassed about mess in the pantry.

Heather Wilkinson’s diary shown to court

The court is shown a photo of Heather’s diary. A handwritten entry on 29 July reads “Erin’s for lunch 12:00”.

Ian Wilkinson says the couple needed to be ready at midday for Don and Gail to pick them up for the lunch.

Underneath is the word “fruit”. Ian says this refers to the fruit platter he and Heather were planning to take to Erin’s house.

On the morning of 29 July, Ian says he had breakfast but cannot recall what he ate. He says it was a “typical breakfast meal” and he “probably had a nice bowl of porridge”.

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