The husband of an Australian accused of having killed three people including his parents-in-law by serving them a “special meal” with poisonous mushrooms said Thursday, on the second day of the 50-year-old trial, that his father was “bent” of pain before dying.
Erin Patterson must answer for three murders and an attempted murder whose mobile is unknown, during this trial very followed by the media and which must last six weeks in the Australian state of Victoria, in the south-east of the country.
At the opening of the trial on Wednesday, she pleaded not guilty of all the counts, her defense claiming that it was a “terrible accident”.
In July 2023, the mother had organized a lunch in her village in Leongatha, during which she had served her guests the specialty of English cuisine made from beef and puff pastry, but with poisonous mushrooms.
Hearing as a witness to the Morwell Court of Justice, a hundred kilometers east of Melbourne, Simon Patterson told his parents at the hospital on Thursday after they were poisoned. “Dad was much worse in time than mom. He really had trouble, “he said at the helm. “He was lying on the side, curled up,” adding that his father’s face was “really discolored”.
Simon Patterson, who was separated from the accused, had declined the invitation to the meal. He had sent him an SMS the day before to tell him that he did not feel “comfortable” to go there. Erin Patterson urged her to reconsider her decision, saying that she had prepared a “special meal” and spent a “little fortune” for the beef net. “I hope you change your mind,” said one of his messages, read in the courtroom.
Erin Patterson had claimed to suffer from cancer and wanted to ask his guests their opinion on how to announce it to his two children. Medical tests then revealed that she had no cancer.
The prosecutor of the Nanette Rogers crown accused the day before Erin Patterson of having “deliberately poisoned” his guests. The autopsy of the three guests as well as analyzes on the survivor had revealed that they had been victims of poisoning with poisonous mushrooms, she said.
Police found the remains of Wellington beef at the home of Erin Patterson, who were analyzed and contained traces of fatal mushrooms, according to the magistrate.
