Patterson faces court over alleged involvement in mushroom killing

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The Leongatha mother charged with murder over an alleged plot to poison former family members with mushrooms has appeared in court.

Erin Patterson, 49, appeared in Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court on Friday in a glass-screened dock and flanked by two security guards. She wore a beige jumper and greeted the magistrate with a nod and “morning” during the brief appearance.

Erin Patterson, seen here outside her home in August, has appeared in court.Credit: Marta Pascual Juanola

The court heard police would need extra time to prepare their case because they needed to analyse computer material seized during a search of Patterson’s Leongatha home on Thursday.

Magistrate Tim Walsh said he felt it was important for the matter to progress as quickly as possible and not to “languish for too long”.

“Twenty weeks to analyse computer data. When the informant was confident they had enough evidence to charge this lady yesterday,” he said. “I imagine materials are going to be voluminous.”

Patterson’s lawyer Bill Doogue, from Doogue and George, consented to the delay.

“It seems to be based on a lot of analysis that we haven’t received and hasn’t even been completed, which is why they’re asking for extra time,” Doogue said. “We’ve been involved for a while.”

Erin Patterson’s lawyer, Bill Doogue, outside court.Credit: Chris Hopkins

“It’s likely to be a committal, and it could well go for a very long time,” he said.

Patterson was remanded to reappear in court in May. She has been charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.

Walsh noted the large media contingent who appeared in his courtroom before reminding Patterson he did not have the power to hear bail hearings for people accused of murder.

The Supreme Court would need to hear such an application at a later date.

“I don’t have the power,” Walsh said. “I direct the brief of evidence against you to be served on your solicitor’s office by no later than the 25th of March. What normally happens there is you have to apply for permission to cross-examine witnesses. If a committal [hearing] is going to take a long time and can’t be timetabled … we may well send the matter down to Melbourne.”

Doogue said the defence and prosecution agreed to the matter being moved to a Melbourne court next year, but Walsh disagreed, ordering Patterson to appear at Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court via video link in May.

Victoria Police said on Thursday the murder charges and two of the five attempted murder charges related to the mushroom meal served in Leongatha on July 29.

Patterson’s former in-laws Don Patterson, 70 and Gail Patterson, 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, all died in hospital days after the lunch, where beef Wellington was served. Heather’s husband, Baptist pastor Ian Wilkinson, 68, was released from the Austin Hospital after seven weeks of treatment, most of which he spent in a coma.

Don Patterson, Gail Patterson, Heather Wilkinson and Ian Wilkinson were poisoned by the mushroom meal.

Police allege that poisoning was caused by death cap mushrooms. The death cap is responsible for 90 per cent of mushroom poisoning deaths. One bite is enough to kill someone, causing severe gastroenteritis and eventually organ failure.

Patterson, 49, was arrested on Thursday in a dramatic day during which investigators searched her home with specialist dogs that can sniff out phones, laptops, SIM cards and USB sticks. The dogs are trained to detect unique odours excreted by the technology.

Detectives spent several hours searching her sprawling Leongatha property, where the allegedly fatal lunch was served on July 29.

Investigators searched Patterson’s car, a garage, outdoor furniture, and a meter box located on the back deck. An armchair and bushes close to the house received particularly close attention from the canines.

A source with knowledge of the search but not authorised to speak publicly said the highly trained canines included the Australian Federal Police’s top electronics sniffer dog, Georgia, who was flown down from Queensland.

Patterson, whose home was also searched in August, had already handed over her mobile phone to police for examination shortly after detectives began investigating the deaths.

Her estranged partner, Simon Patterson, also provided his phone to investigators more than a month ago, a source with knowledge of the investigation told The Age.

Detectives were seen bagging evidence collected from the property and storing it in an unmarked police car parked in the driveway.

About 2pm, officers quietly ushered Patterson to a second police vehicle and drove her 30 minutes south-west of Leongatha to Wonthaggi’s 24-hour police station for questioning. She had yet to be charged at that stage.

Curious locals gathered outside the station, phone in hand, hoping to get a glimpse of the woman at the centre of the biggest mystery in South Gippsland in decades.

Scores of journalists, TV crews and photographers also camped out on the nature strip outside the building, awaiting an update from investigators.

Homicide squad Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said on Thursday Patterson’s arrest was the next step in a complex and thorough investigation.

“Over the last three months … this investigation has been subjected to incredibly intense levels of public scrutiny and curiosity,” he said.

Reporters wait outside the Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court in Morwell on Friday morning. Credit: Chris Hopkins

“I cannot think of another investigation that has generated this level of media and public interest, not only here in Victoria, but also nationally and internationally.“

Thomas said that while police wanted to provide timely updates about the matter, it was critical that it was done in a way that did not adversely impact the investigation or any future processes.

“I think it’s particularly important that we keep in mind that at the heart of this, three people have lost their lives,” he said.

“These are three people who, by all accounts, were much beloved in their communities and are greatly missed by their loved ones.“

Police had previously named Patterson as a suspect because she cooked the meal suspected of poisoning the group.

She strenuously denied wrongdoing and said she could not explain how the meal could have caused the group’s illnesses and deaths.

In a statement provided to the police documenting her version of events, Patterson said she had purchased the mushrooms from an Asian grocery store several months before the lunch and mixed them with button mushrooms from a local supermarket.

Patterson claimed she had also eaten the meal and developed gastro-like symptoms, but that they had subsided after she was given a liver-protecting drug in hospital. The mother of two said she had scraped the mushrooms off the dish and fed the leftovers to her children, who did not fall ill.

In the statement, Patterson also admitted she had intentionally dumped a food dehydrator found by police in a skip bin at the Koonwarra Transfer Station after being accused of intentionally poisoning the meal.

Police have conducted forensic testing of the dehydrator but have not released the results.

Investigators had previously interviewed Patterson, in the days after the deadly lunch, but released her without charge.

“In smaller communities such as Leongatha and Korumburra a tragedy such as this can reverberate for years to come,” Thomas said.

“I encourage people to be particularly mindful of unnecessary speculation and the sharing of misinformation … at the heart of these matters are the recent deaths of three people, and families and loved ones who are trying to come to terms with this.”

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