Erin Patterson told the court she believed she accidentally added foraging mushrooms to the beef Wellington mixture while trying to improve its "light" flavor and lied to lunch guests as she was embarrassed about the upcoming bariatric surgery because she was embarrassed about the cancer.
On the third day in the witness box, Patterson also admitted to lying multiple times in the case of her mother-in-law’s medical appointments, partly because she wanted her to continue to show care.
Patterson, 50, faces three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder while lunching at her home in Leongatha on July 29, 2023.
Patterson pleaded not guilty to the murder of her estranged husband Simon, parents Don and Gail Patterson, as well as his aunt Heather Wilkinson, and attempted to murder Simon's uncle and Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson.
Erin Patterson hosts lunch for the parents of Don and Gail Patterson of her estranged husband Simon, as well as his aunt and Uncle Heather and Ian Wilkinson. Patterson serves Beef Wellington.
All four lunch guests were taken to the hospital with stomach-like symptoms.
Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson died in the hospital.
Don Patterson died in hospital. Victoria police searched Erin Patterson's home and interviewed her.
Ian Wilkinson was taken to the hospital a few weeks after intensive care.
Police searched Erin Patterson's home again, and she was arrested and interviewed. She is charged with three counts of murder with Don, Gale Patterson and Heather Wilkinson's death and Ian Wilkinson's attempted murder.
The murder trial begins. The jury learned that the allegations of attempting to murder her estranged husband Simon were discarded.
Patterson's lawyer said the death cap mushroom poisoning was a tragic and terrible accident.
In an inquiry with attorney Colin Mandy SC on Wednesday, Patterson said she made several changes to the recipe she followed to prepare beef Wellington.
She said it was a dish she had never cooked before, but she wanted to try something special for her guests.
The changes were mainly due to her inability to follow the steak “logs” specified in the recipe and instead had to buy a separate steak.
That means she needs more mushrooms to make Ducheer and more pastries, Patterson said.
On lunch morning, she said, she started cooking mushrooms because she needed to remove almost all the water from them to stop the pastry in the dish from getting wet.
But after cooking for about 45 minutes, she tasted the mixture and found it was bland.
She went to the pantry and sourced dried mushrooms from a container she thought there were only mushrooms, which she bought from an Asian grocery store in Melbourne a few months ago.
“As far as you know, what’s in the Tupperware container.”
Patterson replied: "It was just mushrooms...from Melbourne."
"What do you think now?" Mandy asked.
“Now, I think there are people foraging there too.”
After the answer, Patterson paused for a long time, seemed to get emotional, and then wiped his eyes and cheeks with a tissue.
She also said she lied to her guests after her fear of ovarian cancer because she was too “embarrassing” to tell them about the plan for a weight loss surgery.
"Not proud of it, but I convinced them that I might need some treatment … in the coming weeks and months (ovarian cancer).
“They all showed a lot of sympathy for it…Ian said, why don’t we pray for Erin, so that’s what we do.
“I do lie to them.”
When Mandy asked, "Why don't you tell them the truth about the facts you intend to do," she replied, "I am ashamed of my lack of control over my body or what I eat. I am ashamed of it, and I am very embarrassed."
"I don't want to tell anyone, but I shouldn't lie to them."
Ian Wilkinson, the only surviving lunch guest who appeared on Wednesday, stared at modestly.
Patterson told the court Tuesday that she accepted the death cap mushroom, which was the beef she prepared.
She was brought to a series of photos earlier on Wednesday, where she said she photographed mushrooms she had foraged in 2020.
She also showed her a series of news, after having read to the court about communications about medical tests and biopsy of elbow mass.
Patterson said she had previously suffered from elbow pain and “thinked” she had a lump that had shown her care when she told Gale and Don.
Despite the pain relief, she decided to say the disease persisted.
She admitted to lying to Gail, taking dates, needle biopsy and MRI.
"Why are you lying?" Mandy asked.
Patterson replied: “So, a few weeks ago, I had been having painful problems with my elbow…I told Don and Gale.”
“They showed a lot of care about it and it felt really good.
"The problem started to be solved...I don't want them to care about me to stop, so I just kept moving forward."
Later, Patterson admitted another "misleading statement" about obtaining results for the elbow test.
She said she hopes it could be a way to solve the "logistical" problems that may arise when a child is about to undergo an upcoming gastric bypass surgery and she doesn't want to tell anyone.
“What I’ve been thinking about in the background and preparing me, and I came to the conclusion that I wanted to do something once and for all to understand my weight and poor eating habits, so I was going to have a gastric bypass surgery.
“I remember thinking I didn’t want to tell anyone what I did, I was really embarrassed, so I thought it would be a bit embarrassing to convince them that I needed to be treated seriously…(will help me with the logistics around the kids, I don’t have to tell them.”
Patterson said she preselected the surgery scheduled for September 2023.
Patterson also told the court there were no designated plates or seats and she had no gray boards. Ian Wilkinson had previously told the court that lunch guests were served on grey plates, while Patterson used smaller colored plates for food.
Her evidence continues.