From Spiritual Awakening to Mushroom Murder Suspect: Erin Patterson Takes the Stand

Erin Patterson, the woman at the centre of Australia's mushroom poisoning case, takes the stand as a defence witness in her murder trial. She provides detailed testimony about her personal life, relationships, and the deterioration of family ties with her in-laws who later became alleged victims in the case.

• Living a relatively stable life in July 2023 with her children in her new "final home" in Leangatha
• Experiencing increasing emotional distance from the wider Patterson family, particularly her in-laws Don and Gail
• Meeting Simon at work in 2004 and transforming from "fundamentalist atheist" to having a spiritual awakening in church
• Marrying in 2007 and embarking on a road trip around Australia where she gave birth to their first child
• Brief separation from Simon in 2009 after growing tired of travelling, though they continued co-parenting

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Chapters

• 0:01 Mushroom Murder Trial Introduction
• 0:36 Erin's Life in July 2023
• 1:57 Meeting Simon and Spiritual Awakening
• 4:22 Family Travel and Relationship Tensions
• 6:29 Trial Updates and Closing Remarks

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Hello, and today we are continuing our coverage of the Erin Patterson trial in Morwell, australia. I'm Lisa and thank you so much for your time today. The news we've received is the mushroom cook was giving evidence in her murder trial today, after she was called as a defence witness. The woman at the centre of the Leangatha mushroom poisoning case gave a detailed account of her personal life, relationships and family history In a testimony that spanned years of major life events. Ms Patterson, now age 50, recounted her life in July 2023 as a period of relative stability. Her children had recently started at a new school earlier in July and they were acting better than she expected. They were living with her full time, seeing their father, simon Patterson, on weekends and evenings, although recently one of her children was only seeing their father at church or youth group. Ms Patterson told the jury she had deferred a 2023 university offer for a Bachelor of Nursing and Midwifery but had intended to begin the course in early 2024. She told the court she had moved into a new house on Gibson Street, leangatha, in June 2022, which she described as a quote final home, a place where she would. She hoped her children would grow up and she would grow old. She spoke warmly of the house she helped design, saying she enjoyed living there and had landscaped the block. Financially she said she was comfortable by 2023,. Cracks had begun to appear in her personal life.

Speaker 1: 1:54

Ms Patterson's testified to feeling an increasing emotional distance from the wider Patterson family, in particular Simon's parents, don and Gail Patterson. She claimed Simon had been ensuring she was excluded from the family events allegedly. Despite this, their relationship remained quote functional, but it had noticeably deteriorated. Physically, she said she was struggling. She had ongoing self-esteem issues that left her exhausted and she was no longer able to exercise like she once had. She eventually wanted to go and have weight loss surgery.

Speaker 1: 2:37

In tracing the origins of her relationship with Simon, erin described how they first met at work. She was an admin assistant from the RSPCA, located at Monash Council in Victoria. Simon was a traffic engineer in late 2004. They became friends and started a romantic relationship in mid-2005. She met his parents in that same year and travelled with him to Corrumburra and other camping trips with groups of friends. At the time Ms Patterson identified as a quote fundamentalist atheist and recalled trying to persuade Simon away from religion. However, she experienced what she described as a spiritual awakening during a church service in Corrumburra which left her overwhelmed. Ms Patterson recalled that inside the church there was a banner on the wall behind where Ian Patterson, the pastor, and one of the attendees at the lunch, was preaching. It said faith, hope and love. Ms Ms Patterson was offered communion and was welcomed to the church. I had what can basically be described as a spiritual experience. She said it had been an intellectual experience up until then. The couple later joined a Bible study group at their church which lasted about 18 months to two years. They became engaged in February 2007 and married in June of the same year.

Speaker 1: 4:13

During that time, ms Patterson was living in a rural hamlet near Corrumburra, while Simon remained working in Melbourne. She recalled the warm hospitality from Don and Gail during visits Following their wedding. The couple briefly lived in a Melbourne unit owned by Don and Gail before giving away almost everything they owned and embarked on an ambitious road trip around Australia, starting in Sydney. Miss Patterson gave birth to their first child in Perth, western Australia, in January 2009. She described it as a traumatic delivery involving forceps, a lost heartbeat and an eventual C-section. Their son spent time in neonatal intensive care and, despite doctors' advice that she wasn't healed enough to leave, simon and Erin wanted her to go home. She expressed gratitude to Gail Patterson, who came later, for her support. During that time, her mother-in-law helped her settle her son after a feed and when he cried, and she offered good advice on how to relax and quote enjoy her baby. After this, the family continued travelling along Australia's coast, meeting friends and family in Broome and Tennant Creek. By November 2009, ms Patterson said she'd had enough of travelling and flew home to Perth from Townsville, which is in Queensland, while Simon and their son drove back over the course of a week. During that time apart, she had rented a cottage for herself and her son during the brief separation, which lasted about two to three months, and Simon was nearby at a caravan park. Despite the tensions, she said, it remained important for her and Simon to cooperate as parents, even if communication between them often broke down during conflict.

Speaker 1: 6:16

The trial continues and I think tomorrow will be very, very interesting and I will be updating you as soon as I can via my social media. So today I was on Twitter and Facebook doing updates, but I'll make sure you get an episode around this time tomorrow. So thank you so much. Make sure you head to mushroommurdertrialcom. Make sure you subscribe to my fabulous newsletter and if you haven't yet, please subscribe and review this podcast on your preferred platform so you never miss an episode. So thank you for your time. My name is Lisa and I hope you have a fabulous evening. Thanks, bye.