Mushroom chef Erin Patterson’s estranged husband denies accusing her of poisoning his parents after deadly lunch

Simon Patterson has denied accusing his estranged wife Erin of poisoning his parents in the days after the deadly lunch. 

Concluding his evidence on Monday, Mr Patterson was taken to a conversation he had with Patterson at Monash Medical Centre after the deadly lunch on July 29, 2023. 

The court heard Patterson had a conversation with her husband about a dehydrator she had used to hide mushrooms in their children’s muffins. 

‘Is that what you used to poison them?’ Patterson’s barrister Colin Mandy SC claimed Mr Patterson remarked. 

‘I did not say that to Erin,’ Mr Patterson responded. 

The jury has previously heard Patterson panicked after she discovered that the food she prepared had resulted in her guests becoming sick.

She later lied to police about not owning a food dehydrator.

CCTV footage showed her dumping the dehydrator at the local tip and a forensic analysis showed it had traces of death cap mushrooms, and her fingerprints.

Simon Patterson makes his way into court in Morwell on Monday 

Patterson has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Patterson’s parents Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson.

They died after consuming death cap mushrooms served in a beef Wellington during lunch at her Leongatha home. 

The jury heard more about Mr Patterson’s frosty relationship with his wife as the pair squabbled over child support and the payment of school fees. 

Mr Patterson maintained Patterson had been ‘aggressive’ in a group chat that included his parents, despite detectives not recovering those messages. 

Mr Patterson told the court Patterson had made a point of attacking him in the group chat. 

At the time, his mother had been unwell and he recalled his parents developed a policy that would ensure she would not read Patterson’s messages. 

‘Dad and I were very relieved they had that policy,’ Mr Patterson told the jury. 

The court heard Patterson ‘had a crack’ at her husband after he asked her to get their son to bed earlier as he appeared exhausted during a weekend visit. 

Erin Patterson’s legal team enter the Latrobe Valley law courts on Monday 

WErin Patterson as she appeared on day one of the trial 

‘She messaged the group chat about that, extremely inflammatory,’ he said. 

‘It was a message to me … it was having a crack at me and accusing me of some things in response to what I messaged her about.

‘She sent it to mum knowing mum’s condition and what that could do to mum … I’m still upset about that.’

Simon also maintained his wife had shown no interest in the welfare of his parents after they became ill from the lunch she served them and had not asked him how they were doing.  

‘What I’m suggesting to you, Mr Patterson, is that she asked that question,’ Mr Mandy suggested. 

‘No, I can’t recall her asking that,’ he replied.

‘I would have thought that would be something that she’d be interested in asking about.’ 

When pressed, Mr Patterson said it was ‘possible but unlikely’ she enquired about his parents.

Erin Patterson in the days following the deadly lunch

The Leongatha home where the deadly lunch was served

‘It’s a feeling I remember as that’s odd,’ he said.

The court heard Patterson had been annoyed her husband had changed his relationship status to ‘separated’ on his tax return, which saw her lose out on a family tax benefit that came from being in a relationship. 

‘I’m sorry, but I can’t stop thinking about the comment that Don made on the phone, that the financial issues are probably easily solved and that Simon can “reverse the single thing in his tax return”,’ she wrote on the group chat between December 4 and 17 in 2022.

‘That is mind boggling in its implication, if that’s really what he said he would do.

‘Reversing the single thing is basically telling the government that Simon and I are not separated any more, and that we are still married and living together as a couple and shared finances, so that they consider our income as a whole.

‘The immediate implication of that would be that I can no longer get family tax benefit … Now I have no income from a job because I quit to care for the kids … and if he reverses the single thing then I’ll not be able to claim family tax benefit and I’ll not be entitled to any child support …

‘Simon is hiding behind the communication from the government that now that I have made a child support claim, he doesn’t have to pay any bills outside it. That is an instruction for people who want to be a bare minimum parent.’

The court heard Don did his best to stay out of the ongoing argument. 

Simon Patterson and his media representative Jessica O’Donnell on Monday 

‘Thanks Don. I understand your position and that you and Gail don’t want to be involved in certain aspects of these difficulties as it is uncomfortable and awkward,’ Patterson responded. 

The jury heard Mr Patterson remained puzzled about why his estranged wife put his name on the title of a house in Mount Waverley years after they had separated. 

‘I didn’t understand her purpose. We’d been separated for quite some time,’ he said. 

‘I guess I didn’t understand the purpose of her wanting me to be on the title.’

The jury was also taken back to the supposed purpose of the deadly lunch. 

They had previously heard Patterson had planned to tell her in-laws about a ‘medical issue’ she needed advice with. 

Search for The Trial of Erin Patterson where you get your podcasts now. To listen ad-free, plus get access to other fascinating true crime series, subscribe to The Crime Desk, the home of arresting podcasts

Asked on Monday why he didn’t ask his parents or Patterson about that issue, Mr Patterson said he couldn’t be confident she actually had a medical issue. 

‘I remember feeling puzzled after she invited me to the lunch that although she’d communicated it was a serious medical issue that was to be talked about, it was going to be weeks later that the conversation was going to happen,’ he said. 

‘I couldn’t reconcile those two facts.’

The trial continues.  

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk