Did Erin Patterson Intentionally Poison Gail Patterson? Justice Christopher Beale Guides Jury in Mushroom Murder Trial

Justice Christopher Beale has delivered his initial phase of instructions to the jury in the Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial, emphasising they alone must determine if the prosecution has proven her guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The case centres on whether Ms Patterson deliberately laced a beef wellington with death cap mushrooms, killing her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, while severely poisoning Heather's husband Ian.

• Trial now in its ninth week with intense media scrutiny
• Ms Patterson pled not guilty to all charges and testified for eight days
• Justice Beale warned jurors to base verdict solely on evidence presented
• Key issue is whether Ms Patterson bears criminal responsibility, not whether the meal caused deaths
• Jury expected to retire later this week to deliberate
• Case has attracted "unprecedented media attention" according to Justice Beale

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is the Mushroom Murder Trial Podcast.
My name is Lisa and welcome tomy show.
We're now in the ninth week ofone of the most closely watched
criminal trials in recentAustralian history the case of
Erin Patterson.
Yesterday, justice ChristopherBeale delivered his instructions
to the jury inside the SupremeCourt sitting at Morwell, a

(00:24):
regional town in Victoria'sLatrobe Valley.
Erin Patterson, age 50, isstanding trial for the alleged
murders of her formerparents-in-law, don and Gail
Patterson, both age 70, andGail's sister, 66-year-old
Heather Wilkinson.
She's also accused ofattempting to murder Heather's

(00:44):
husband, ian Wilkinson, a68-year-old Baptist pastor.
The prosecution alleges MsPatterson served the four a
homemade beef wellingtondeliberately laced with death
cat mushrooms during a familylunch at her home in Leongatha
in July 2023.
Ms Patterson has pled notguilty to all charges.

(01:10):
As he began his summing up,justice Beale reminded the jury
of their role.
He said, and I quote you arethe only ones in this court who
can make a decision about thesefacts.
Justice Beale was clear.
The jury must base theirverdict solely on the evidence
presented during the trial,including testimony exhibits and

(01:31):
agreed facts.
Comments made by himself allthe lawyers during the
proceedings were not to betreated as evidence.
He also emphasized that thejury must assess Ms Patterson's
evidence in the same way as theywould with any other witness.
The mother of two was the finalwitness to take to the stand.

(01:52):
She gave evidence over anexhaustive eight days.
Justice Beale urged the jurorsto put aside all external
influence and emotion.
He said quote the fact MsPatterson told lies must not
cause you to be prejudicedagainst her.
He went on.
Any reasonable person wouldfeel great sympathy for the

(02:14):
Patterson and Wilkinson'sfamilies but reminded the jury
they must not be swayed byemotion.
The key issue, justice Bealesaid, is not whether the meal
was served by Patterson causedthe fatal consequences that is
not in dispute but whether theprosecution has proven beyond
reasonable doubt that AaronPatterson is criminally

(02:38):
responsible for thoseconsequences.
I apologise about theexpression of that word, I
always have trouble saying it,but I'm sure you know what I
meant.
He acknowledged the intensepublic scrutiny surrounding the
case.
Quote the case has attractedunprecedented media attention
and excited much public comment.

(02:59):
This is my comment here.
I bet you they're not thrilledwith that.
If any of that has reached yourears or eyes or does so in the
coming days, you must beparticularly careful not to let
it influence you in any way.
He added, you and you alone arebest placed to determine
whether the prosecution haveproved their case beyond

(03:22):
reasonable doubt.
The jury is expected to retirelater this week to deliberate
the weight of the three deathsand one near fatal poisoning
resting squarely on theirdecision.
We'll continue to follow theErin Patterson trial as it
unfolds.
So thank you so much forlistening to me today.

(03:42):
This short update.
For more information, visit thewebsite.
Make sure you subscribe to mynewsletter.
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That's where you sign up.
It's Jan Patrick News about thetrial.
Also, please message me via thewebsite's Contact Us tab if
you'd like me to send you yourfree thank you gift, which is a

(04:04):
mushroom sticker that bearswitness to this journey we've
taken together.
So if you'd like that, I'm morethan happy to send it to you.
Plus, my social media is in theshow notes and if you're feeling
like rewarding me for the 1million hours I've spent on this
work a lot of it this weekactually is me being complaining
about how tired I am Again.

(04:26):
It's a bit pathetic.
I need a new line, but anyway,I have a Buy Me A Coffee
membership which allows you topay $5 as a thanks and I get a
coffee, but only if you canafford it, only if you want to.
But I would suggest you get onthe newsletter at
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It's free and I'm going to bereleasing quite a lot of new

(04:48):
things as soon as we have averdict.
So get ready for that, if we doindeed have a verdict.
You never know.
Now, the $5 goes towards myediting studio, high liability
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(05:09):
So it's thank you from me inthe land of the never-ending
trial, and this is the MushroomMurder Trial podcast.
Thank you so much, have awonderful day and I will speak
to you very, very soon.
Thanks, bye.