The prosecution alleges that online, Patterson shared true feelings about her family’s Baptist religion and what she thought about the estranged husband who had also been invited to the mushroom meal lunch but declined attending the night before.
“She went to church, is the impression I got, because of the family situation. But she was saying to us, publicly in that group, that she didn’t necessarily believe in God,” Facebook friend Christine Hunt told the court.
From left: Don Patterson, Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson died from mushroom poisoning. Ian Wilkinson survived after weeks in hospital.
Hunt gave evidence via video link from Queensland, and told the jury she met the accused killer about six years ago through an online Facebook page of 2000 members set up to discuss the “Keli Lane case”.
When splinter groups formed and the wider Facebook group dropped to below 20 in number, Hunt recalled friendships formed between other members, including Melbourne woman Daniela Barkley and Tasmanian social worker Jenny Hay.
The court heard Erin Patterson was known as a “super sleuth” for her ability to research true crime and was highly regarded in her online group.
Some witnesses said the accused woman began to share online details of her family life, and in particular, her alleged thoughts about estranged husband Simon Patterson, a civil engineer she separated from in 2015 but remained in close contact with.
Simon Patterson outside court on Monday.Credit: Jason South
“Coercive and controlling” were words the 50-year-old used about Simon, Hunt told the jury.
“And also, that his family were very demanding, and that she was really challenged by their demands and particularly around the kids attending a faith-based education,” Hunt said.
“She found that challenging, and in particular the decisions around things like divorce, separation, how the kids should be educated and brought up. She found all that very controlling and demanding.”
In this group, the court heard, other things were also discussed, including politics, current affairs and crime.
The women shared recipes and cooking tips, and in April 2023, when Erin Patterson purchased a $229 black Sunbeam dehydrator to cook mushrooms in, she posted photographs of it to the group. A Sunbeam dehydrator was later fished out of an e-waste bin at the local tip by police after the fatal lunch.
Prosecutors allege that around April 2023, the relationship between Simon and Erin Patterson was breaking down.
Tanya Patterson, the wife of Simon’s brother Matthew, gave evidence that in the year leading up to the July 2023 beef Wellington lunch, she noticed Simon and Erin no longer interacted as much together.
Simon didn’t go on the Christmas holiday that year to New Zealand with Erin and children, Tanya told the court.
Tanya Patterson (centre) outside court in Morwell on Thursday.Credit: Jason South
“Erin had taken the kids out of school and [enrolled them] into a different school without telling Simon,” she said.
Ruth Dubois, the daughter of Ian and Heather Wilkinson, told the jury that in her eyes, Erin Patterson was more of an “acquaintance” to whom she’d greet in passing, despite her marrying into the wider family and attending the same church.
Over the weekend of July 29-30, 2023, Tanya Patterson, Ruth Dubois, Anna-Marie Terrington and their cousins and siblings said they first learnt of their parents falling ill.
Within days of the lunch, Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson died from death cap mushroom poisoning in the Austin Hospital. Ian Wilkinson, a church pastor, spent weeks in hospital but survived.
Ruth Dubois (right) arrives at court on Thursday.Credit: Jason South
Erin Patterson has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder after serving a fatal lunch of beef Wellington at her home in Leongatha on July 29, 2023. She says the poisonous mushrooms were a tragic accident.
During his time in the witness box this week, Ian also said he was surprised by the lunch invitation as he largely came across Erin during church services on average once a month.
“I would say our relationship was friendly, amicable. It didn’t have much depth. I think we were more like acquaintances. We didn’t see a great deal of each other,” he said.
On Friday, Erin and Simon Patterson’s son, who was 14 at the time of the alleged murders, said in recorded evidence he knew the importance of telling the truth.
During questioning about his parents’ relationship, he said he knew they were still married, but their interactions had grown negative, and he hadn’t enjoyed going to his father’s home as much.
“I know Dad does a lot of things to try and hurt Mum, such as messing around with schooling,” the boy said.
When asked about the family dynamics, he said he knew his mother had organised the lunch, recalling Don and Gail Patterson – the boy’s grandparents – had been over for a meal before, but not the Wilkinsons.
The boy said his mother didn’t interact much with the Wilkinsons, and described their relationship between his mother and the couple as “not a negative one, but it’s not strong”.
The trial continues.
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