What Erin Patterson’s Messages Tell Us About Deadly Mushroom Meal

The Mushroom Murder Trial continues with a focus on digital evidence revealing complex relationships between Erin Patterson and her alleged victims before the fatal lunch. Friday's proceedings examined Signal messages showing warm interactions between Ms Patterson and her in-laws, juxtaposed against private Facebook conversations where she vented frustrations.

• Defendant Erin Patterson, 50, faces three murder counts and one attempted murder count over a lunch of Beef Wellington
• Signal messages from early 2022 show cordial relationships with in-laws Don and Gail Patterson
• Evidence includes Mother's Day messages where Erin called Gail "the best mother-in-law anyone can ask for"
• Defence presented Facebook group chat messages to provide context to family tensions
• Private chat described as "a space for venting" showed Ms Patterson's frustrations with in-laws
• Both sides questioned prosecution's last witness, Leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall
• Case has generated over 6,000 news articles about Erin Patterson in Australian media alone

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Case Introduction
• 0:54 Defendant and Charges Overview
• 1:25 Signal Messages with Don Patterson
• 2:39 Facebook Group Chat Evidence
• 5:36 Newsletter and Book Announcement

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Hello and welcome to the Mushroom Murder Trial Podcast. My name is Lisa and thank you so much for your time today. This case is attracting worldwide coverage and I just checked the Newsbank database and there were more than 6,000 articles alone in Ms Patterson's name and that was just for newspapers and the internet, and just in Australia as well, and apparently the court is packed with journalists. Anyway, I'm excited today because I'm trying out some new software Adobe Podcast so let's see how it goes. Quick reminder, before we launch into today's update head to mushroommurdertrialcom to subscribe to my newsletter and if you haven't yet, please make sure you subscribe to this podcast on your preferred platform so you never miss an episode. Now, as we know, the case background is the defendant is Erin Trudy Patterson, age 50, of Leangatha, victoria. The charges are three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, and her plea is not guilty. The news we received on Friday is that this triple murder trial will sit for at least tomorrow at this stage, but on Friday both sides were questioning the prosecution's last witness, leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall. The jury heard that between February 22 and 24, 2022, ms Patterson exchanged signal messages with Don Matt Patterson and he was one of the attendees at the lunch about COVID and his grandson's schooling. Her father-in-law offers to collect books for the children and says he will pray for Erin's health. The pair arranged for Don to tutor his grandson in algebra, which Ms Patterson said he had been finding very difficult. Thank you for the jitsu with son's name. He says it's great and you're good at explaining maths, she wrote. Don responded no worries, he's a good student. Fast forward to May 8, 2022, where Gail messaged Erin happy Mother's Day, bless you. Erin responded happy Mother's Day to the best mother-in-law anyone can ask for. Leading Constable Eppingstall was asked about the signal messages from November 14 to 24, where Gail thanked Ms Patterson for making two slices. Erin replied and she thanked her in-laws for the kind message and noted their granddaughter helped out and they had a bit of fun. On the 18th of November, ms Patterson's children were away from home and Gail remarked it quote must have been quiet last night. Ms Patterson replied she didn't like it.

Speaker 1: 2:59

Earlier in this trial we heard about Facebook messages sent between Miss Patterson and some online friends. The defence described this group chat as quote a private space for venting about their lives. On the witness stand, detective Eppingstall agreed with the description and he said yes, that's fair. In one exchange Jenny Hay, a previous witness in the trial, responded to Erin with what? Morons? When she was referring to Miss Patterson's in-laws, don and Gail, and a dispute with her husband, simon. Other messages showed friends offering support and making further commentary about Simon Patterson's alleged behaviour. The prosecution had earlier presented messages from this group chat while the defence added context, including the comments calling the elder Patterson's morons. A selection of these comments was tendered to the court by the defence.

Speaker 1: 3:59

Ms Patterson's barrister Columandi SC read out the messages from others in the chat. He said that some of the messages came in the context of wider discussions. Erin quote I said to him in brackets Donald Patterson about 50 times. I didn't want them to adjudicate. Now I know they're a lost cause. Anonymous user.

Speaker 1: 4:22

So you haven't heard from Simon, another anonymous user. It's pathetic. Even if he doesn't want to talk about your marriage, they could at least demand to know he is financially supporting the kids Erin. No, nothing. But also more happened. Don rang me last night to say he thought there was a solution to all of this if Simon and I get together and try to talk and pray together. And he also said Simon had indicated there was a solution.

Speaker 1: 4:52

Anonymous user. Well, you've tried. I would wipe them too now, anonymous user. At least you've given them something to think about. Erin, I suspect the best thing I can do is just forget about all of them and live my life. Simon is probably loving how upset I am about all of this. Another user, anonymous. You are human and you have every right to be upset. If he is loving that, then that makes him even worse. Hopefully he will have to pay up soon.

Speaker 1: 5:22

Anonymous user. I'm so sorry, erin. It's so effing hard when you're not believed or listened to or understood. I went through the same with my ex-in-laws. So everyone, thank you so much for listening today. I appreciate your time. I will be back tomorrow morning, monday, in Australia.

Speaker 1: 5:41

For more information, go to my website. Make sure you subscribe to my newsletter Now. There's a reason why you need to subscribe on mushroommurdertrialcom it's packed with news about the trial, but also I've got loads of new content coming. I've got a book coming after the trial and newsletter subscribers will get first look at everything. I've got a book coming after the trial and newsletter subscribers will get first look at everything.

Speaker 1: 6:03

I also have something huge which I'm not allowed to talk about until later, but it's a secret for now. But you can find me on my socials. I will put them in the show notes, the links, and, if you feel like rewarding me for the one million gazillion hours I've spent on this work, I have a Buy Me A Coffee membership which allows you to pay $5 one-off as thanks and I get the coffee, and this goes towards editing, studio hire, liability insurance, equipment, sound and voiceovers. Plus, you'll be getting lots of exclusive material before anyone else and there's some good stuff on the way material before anyone else and there's some good stuff on the way. So thank you so much. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and we shall chat very, very soon. Bye.