Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is the Mushroom
Murder Trial Podcast.
My name is Lisa and welcome tomy show.
So get yourself a coffee, a teaor a Diet Coke, because we have
a lot to talk about, especiallynow.
I can tell you really what Ithink about Erin Patterson,
triple murderer and nowfull-time resident of Dame
Phyllis Frost Detention Centrein Melbourne.
(00:22):
Now I just have somehousekeeping to start, just to
let you know, one of thejournalists on this case, duncan
McNabb, has a book coming outvery, very soon.
He is the best-selling authorof Roger Rogerson.
You may have heard of him.
He was the, I suppose, the mostcorrupt and most vicious police
(00:42):
officer New South Wales hasever had.
So Recipe for Murder will giveyou the poisonous truth behind
Erin Patterson, the mushroommurderer of Leangatha.
I've seen the cover.
It looks fabulous.
It's out very soon and he'salso going to come on the show.
So we're going to do a liveshow and talk about our
(01:03):
experiences covering the case,because we've been in this from
the start, through the pre-trialand the trial and now post
trial.
Now I'm also going to talk toJohn Ferguson.
He's the reporter who broke thestory of the tragic lunch for
the Australian.
So we've just got to make surewe can get a ton together and
(01:25):
you can listen to him.
Now, before we start, make sureyou subscribe to my newsletter
at mushroommurdertrialcom.
It's full of updates andinformation about the trial.
I hope everyone got their emailabout the jury that I sent
through recently that they wereabout to make a decision, so let
me know if you didn't, becauseI don't trust the internet Now.
(01:49):
I also would love you guys, ifyou could, to subscribe and
review the Mushroom Murder Trialpodcast.
So, since I've been coveringthis case, I've been doing a lot
of thinking, and it's about theconcept of familicide, which is
where a killer annihilatesmembers of his or her own family
.
(02:09):
I'm very interested in thissubject due to the shocking
Chris Watts crimes from the USA.
Now, he was someone quite likeAaron that you never could have
predicted was a budding murderer.
He was very introverted as well, and he lurked in the
background just like the cook ofLangatha.
I describe Chris Watts as ahuman weasel because in 2018, he
(02:34):
annihilated his beautiful wife,shanann, and their two darling
little toddlers, bella andCeleste.
He'd been having an affair andhe wanted to start a new life,
so that was his solution.
It's ridiculous, isn't it?
You just leave someone, youdon't kill everyone.
So this monster stuffed hisgirl's bodies into oil tanks on
(02:58):
the company facility where heworked and he buried his wife
face down in a hastily dug ditch.
Like Erin, he maintains he'sinnocent, even though he's on
camera driving away with thebodies.
Sound familiar anyone?
Let's go and ditch thedehydrator at the tip in front
of all the cameras.
(03:18):
Have you seen that?
I will be getting thoseexhibits as well and putting
them on the website.
So Watts also did bizarre mediainterviews.
You might have seen the episodeI put through yesterday about
Erin versus the media.
Check it out.
There's a link in the shownotes and Watts is in there as
well.
But both of their cover-upswere blundersome and full of
(03:44):
some extremely bizarre lies.
These crimes were shocking intheir cruelty and I believe Erin
, as I said, is no different toWatts.
But at the end of the day,someone that's Erin who was so
desperate to keep the love andattention of the Patterson
family, ended up killing some ofthem in a domestic setting, her
(04:06):
kitchen, essentially the heartof her home.
This is the same woman who saysshe had a terrible, neglectful
childhood, but she targeted ahappy family.
So there's so much to thinkabout.
There's an article that was inthe Australian on July 8th and
it is by Claire Harvey, and itsays what on earth was Erin
(04:30):
Patterson's motive?
It's obvious domestic violence,coercive control.
Yes, someone's finally said itPatterson is like every man who
slaughters his children topunish his wife, every DV
monster who terrorizes a womanwho tries to get away her
patterns of behavior control,withholding affection.
(04:52):
I have to tell you somethingwhen we were in that Facebook
group Erin this is like 2019,2020, she all gave us the
impression that Simon was livingwith her and they were married
and living as man and wife.
That is weird, don't you think?
So it makes me wonder about thetruth, about how she got the
(05:13):
secret cleaner and Simon didn'tknow about it.
Why would he care whether herhouse is cleaned or not?
I just have so many questions.
Patterson is like every man whoslaughters his children and she
goes on to say her patterns ofbehavior control, withholding
affection, isolating husband,simon Patterson are signs of
(05:37):
abuse we're used to diagnosingwhen men are the perpetrators,
yet because she's a woman, oursociety struggles with it.
Well, not me.
The dominant partner frequentlyexcludes and marginalises their
spouse who spends time.
Yes, simon spent time incaravan parks and rented flats
and who idolise the dominantpartner, hoping in vain for a
(06:01):
permanent resolution.
The dominant partner usesemotional blackmail, claims of
illness suffered by themselvesand the children to create a
sense of drama and suspense.
That's what Erin was like inthe group dramatic, seeking
attention and wanted to be ineveryone's business.
When the dominant partner wrongfoots the submissive partner by
(06:22):
choosing moments to suddenlywalk away, like on a family
holiday drive around Australia,just like Erin, and then returns
with the cool expectation ofbeing restored to their dominant
position, the dominant partnerdemeans and mocks the submissive
partner's faith and family.
So when the powerless partnermakes a step, a first step,
(06:45):
towards independence,self-describing as separated on
a tax return, something solittle that it set her off, the
dominant partner is enraged andbegins a campaign of abuse,
belittlement, rage anddisparagement.
So yes, we heard in the courtErin's son say that Dad had been
(07:07):
doing a lot of bad things toMum.
Well, how would he know, otherthan Erin told him that there's
trying to unsuccessfully drawextended family into the dispute
.
The dominant partner organises ashowdown where a made-up
dramatic story of a seriousillness is to be told.
That's the cancer story.
(07:28):
We know that, don't we?
So when the crime is discovered, the dominant partner lies
blames.
The spouse claims to be thereal victim.
That's what Erin Excels at isclaiming to be the victim.
She did it in the group andthose emails like I wasn't close
with Erin but I annoyed her acouple of times I think.
(07:51):
And I got these emails and whenI saw them in court I was just
like, oh my God, because it'sjust so, what's the word I'm
looking for?
Just so.
Self-satisfied, but you're alsothe victim.
Dissatisfied, but you're alsothe victim.
Mate, you're not the victim.
As we know, it's coercivecontrol.
She wiped out his family andthat's the motive.
(08:12):
I agree with Claire Harvey.
One partner in the marriage wasindependently wealthy and
dominant in every wayintellectually, financially and
in terms of the time they candevote to controlling the house,
the children, access toextended family.
Okay, so now let's move on tothe errand I knew in the Keep
(08:34):
Kelly Lane Behind Bars Facebookgroup, the Herald Sun.
I've got to say they'rebringing out the exclusives at
the moment.
I've even subscribed becausethey've been incredible.
So Brooke Crabbett-Craig hasgot an article that says the
lies that got quote, crazyerrands sacked from an air
traffic control gig.
My friend was over hereyesterday and she said to me
(08:59):
Lisa, you told me she was an airtraffic controller.
When, yeah, she said that's sodisturbing.
I agree, I'm sure you do too.
This is just an amazing story.
It's just got so many coloursof grey.
So former colleagues of triplemurderer Erin Patterson have
described her as a quotepathological liar who managed to
(09:20):
get guys wrapped around herlittle finger.
That's fascinating.
We must get to the bottom ofthat.
Wrapped around her littlefinger, that's fascinating.
We must get to the bottom ofthat.
So she was known as Scutter theNutter by her air traffic
controller course mates beforeshe was sat for lying about her
working hours.
So she worked at Air ServicesAustralia between February to
(09:41):
November 2001.
Wow, she made such animpression in such a short time.
So her maiden name was Scutter.
Back then A course mate whoasked not to be named said she
was also called Crazy Erin.
Quote something was not quiteright.
She was a bit strange.
She would say some weirdoff-the-cuff things.
She wasn't a nice person, shejust wasn't someone you
(10:03):
connected to.
The course mate said Pattersonwas super secretive about her
life.
She didn't engage nice person,she just wasn't someone you
connected to.
The course.
Mate said Patterson was supersecretive about her life.
She didn't engage with anyone.
She had no friends, she was aloner.
Another colleague saidPatterson's time at Air Services
Australia ended under a cloud.
They said management becamesceptical that she was regularly
leaving work early but claimingthe time After checking the
(10:28):
CCTV.
There you go, erin.
You should have learnt thefirst time from the car park.
They were able to confirm theirsuspicions.
The air traffic controller saidit was put to Patterson who
lied until she was shown thetimestamp footage of her leaving
.
Ah, you got me.
There was what she said.
They recalled she was alsodescribed as manipulative quote.
(10:51):
She was not a gregarious person.
She was aggressive.
In many ways she was ritual,habitual and pathological liar.
She would say just aboutanything just to get away with
anything.
Wow.
Now the former colleague said,despite some personality issues,
a number of men on staff hadpursued Patterson and became
(11:13):
quote smitten.
One was a married man whoturned up at her house in the
early hours saying he wanted toleave his wife for her.
I have no words.
She managed to get guys wrappedaround her little finger.
They said there you go.
Erin Learned a lot of thingsabout you there.
Scutter the nutter.
And then we've got crazy Erinbut love machine as well.
(11:36):
That's fabulous.
Okay, this is from AAP Mushroomkiller.
Erin Patterson spent the firstfew nights of her trial cold and
sleepless inside a police cell.
She had requested the trial tobe held in the small Victorian
town of Morwell, where she washeld underneath the local police
(11:56):
station.
Had the trial been conducted inMelbourne, she may have been
afforded more comforts insidethe Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, a
maximum security women's prison, where she was driven back and
forth every weekend over the11-week trial.
Now, on the first day,patterson's lawyers complained
(12:17):
that she wasn't giving him adoona nor access to a computer
and writing materials in herself.
Well, that's fair enough, butthere had been some suggestion
to her that she wasn't going toget special treatment by custody
officers, that's her barrister,colin Mandy, on April 29.
Someone who was in police cellsfor five weeks facing a
(12:39):
murdered child with a massivebrief of evidence should be
afforded some accommodation, hesaid, because in some ways she
requires special treatment.
I'm sure Erin would agree withyou, mr Mandy, so we can do our
job properly, so she can provideus with proper instructions, so
that she's not uncomfortable.
(13:00):
So there were media seatsdirectly in front of Patterson
while she was in the dock, butreporters had to turn around to
get a glimpse of her and theyhad to actually physically
swivel and face her.
She would often turn her headon an angle and stare directly
into the eyes of the reporters,leaving a menacing impression.
(13:24):
Do, do, do, don't menacereporters, erin, we don't agree.
Okay, photographers and cameraoperators outside the court were
banned from photographingPatterson during the trial, with
a prohibition on quote anyimages of the accused which
suggest, expressly or impliedly,that she is in custody.
Well, we all know she's incustody now, don't we?
(13:48):
She's got 28 days to launch anappeal, but as far as I
understand, when it comes to anappeal, it's very narrow.
You don't have a lot of scope.
So we'll see what happens there.
There's more suppression ordersand then we will have another
hearing for Erin, herpre-sentencing hearing I don't
know when that is yet and thenfollowing that will be the
(14:10):
sentence.
So I'm going to one of those.
So thank you for listening.
I appreciate it so much.
For more information, visit mywebsite.
Make sure you subscribe to thenewsletter on
mushroommurdertrialcom Plus.
I'm on Instagram and I'm alsoon YouTube and Twitter, and
(14:30):
those links are in the shownotes as well.
And if you're feeling likerewarding me for the thousands
of hours I've spent on this work, I have a buy me a coffee
membership where you can one-offpay me five dollars as a thank
you, but only if you can affordit.
I mean you giving me your timeis the greatest honour.
I really appreciate it.
So thank you.
(14:50):
Now, those people who arewaiting for their stickers.
Right forager of facts, you'llbe able to get your sticker very
, very soon.
I just haven't got to the postoffice, even though it's less
than 100 metres away from myhouse.
But that's what happens whenyou're covering the mushroom
trial.
So have a fabulous day.
(15:12):
I will talk to you very, verysoon.
Thanks, bye.