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Erin Patterson Trial Plays Police Interview and Home Search Footage

Jurors saw Patterson ask 'Who died?' during a search, with her interview tape showing denials of foraging and dehydrator knowledge.

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Victoria Police digital forensics officer Shamen Fox-Henry leaves after giving evidence to Erin Patterson’s trial, where she has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one of attempted murder over a poisoned beef Wellington lunch in July 2023 at the Latrobe Valley Magistrates' Court in Morwell, Victoria, on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. Victoria Police examined devices seized from Erin Patterson’s home (AAP Image/Emily Woods) NO ARCHIVING, IMAGE TAKEN BY JOURNALIST
Barrister Colin Mandy SC arrives to the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court in Morwell, Victoria, Thursday, May 1, 2025. Erin Patterson is accused of murdering her former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66. (AAP Image/James Ross) NO ARCHIVING

Overview

  • The jury viewed footage of Patterson’s August 5 police interview in which she expressed surprise at her guests’ deaths, professed love for them and said she had cooperated fully with health investigators.
  • Detective Sergeant Luke Farrell detailed the Leongatha home search, describing the seizure of a Sunbeam food dehydrator manual, electronic devices and a spattered beef Wellington recipe page from her RecipeTin Eats cookbook.
  • In her recorded statements, Patterson denied ever foraging for mushrooms or knowing about a dehydrator and said her beef Wellington combined fresh Woolworths mushrooms with dried ones bought from an Asian grocer.
  • Senior health adviser Sally Ann Atkinson, under cross-examination, confirmed that Patterson’s accounts of mushroom sourcing had shifted and that the public health probe deemed the incident isolated with very low risk to the wider supply chain.
  • The trial resumes with prosecutors emphasising alleged deliberate poisoning and the defence maintaining the deaths were a tragic accident.