July 8, 2025 • 23 mins
This episode was recorded in 2024.
Have you ever witnessed the unraveling of an online community, entwined with mystery and real-life implications? Prepare to be drawn into the heart of such a digital maelstrom as my guest, Daniel, and I bring to light the drama of Erin Patterson's entanglement with a Facebook group dedicated to the Keli Lane case.
This isn't just a recount of social media; it's a deep dive into the effects of Erin's virtual persona and the subsequent police interest in her digital trail, reported by the Herald Sun.
We bring you a first-person perspective on our group's chaotic dissolution and the pivotal role played by other profiles in January 2020.
Our journey doesn't end in the digital world, as we traipse alongside Simon and Erin, venturing across Australia's rugged terrain and revisiting the poignant chapters of their lives.
From the demise of a book business to the emotional toll of a geriatric pregnancy, we traverse the complexities that shadow Erin's story.
Daniel and I offer a compassionate look at the family now under Simon's care, navigating the sensitive territory of the allegations against Erin with an adherence to the presumption of innocence.
Tune in for an episode that promises not only a gripping narrative but also an empathetic exploration of the people at its core, complete with supportive evidence found directly on our website.
You can find Lisa on Twitter
@LisaPodcasts
Instagram:
@Erin_Podcast
Plus you can learn more about this case and send a message through the website.
Also please rate and review The Erin Patterson Podcast. It helps other people find our work.
Thank you so much for listening today. Follow The Mushroom Murder Trial Podcast on Apple, Spotify and all other platforms.
You can sign up to our email list. That way you will always know when there’s a new episode.
Plus you can support our work here for just $5.
Moreover, please rate and review The Erin Patterson podcast. It helps other people find us.
And we do promise you're going to get the whole story of the Beef Wellington with mushrooms.
In the spirit of reconciliation, this podcast and its authors acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
Is an opinion platform hosted by Marvin “Truth” Davis. My life and career...
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello and welcome to the Erin Patterson podcast, a
show about a tragic family lunchof beef, wellington and
mushrooms.
I'm Lisa Tate and I'm ajournalist who has been
recording true crime podcastssince 2019.
And on the line today I have mytrue crime BFF Daniel, and we
(00:25):
were both in the same Facebookgroup as Erin Patterson.
Hi Daniel, hi Lisa, I'm veryupset you don't have your Gucci
tracksuit on.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Well, you know, I put my Madonna t-shirt on for you
anyway.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Yes, you saw Madonna.
What two weeks ago?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Yeah, that's exciting ?
Not even maybe.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Yeah, it was fun, so we had a connection with Erin
between 2018 and 2020.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yes, so the documentary that we were
following Exposed the Case ofKelly Lane came out in 2018.
And I think we both joined thesame Facebook group.
It was an offshoot of the ABCdocumentary, so Erin was in that
group as well.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yes, and we kind of kept in contact for quite a long
period of time.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah, it was years, yeah, so I remember there was a
podcast being made because theABC documentary just seemed to
glaze over quite a few detailsand so once we deep dived into
the Kelly Lane case, we realizedit wasn't the whole truth.
So we started chatting in thatbig group and then I became an
(01:41):
admin and our mutual friendbecame an admin, and then we
both got booted out, not surewhy, probably because we weren't
on the Kelly is innocent side,but we started.
Then.
We started our own group, whichwas much smaller, and there was
, yeah, a whole bunch of us thatbecame friends, basically, and
(02:01):
we were doing research for apodcast about Kelly Lane.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Yes, and originally it was called Problem Child.
Yes, that's correct.
Yeah, but then it changed itsname.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah it's not available anymore, but we were
doing research.
There was too much that went onin the group.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yes, and there was also a high amount of drama in
the group.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Oh God, yes, yeah, there sure was, we had.
How many do you reckon therewere in the group towards the
end?
Like 50 of us, maybe?
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yeah, that's what I thought yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yeah, so there was about 50 of us.
We kept there were a lot offake profiles in that group too,
people with multiple accountsand so forth, and I remember
there was such high drama andthen it all kind of imploded.
I think it must've been aroundthe time of COVID, maybe 2020.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
It was.
It was January 2020.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yeah, so it imploded, the group imploded.
I was admin of the group atthat time and I actually ended
up handing the podcast oh sorry,the group over to Erin, which
is interesting because Erin thenwas sort of in the crosshairs
of people who wanted the groupdeleted and those who wanted it
(03:14):
to stay.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
And I've got some and we'll get into those in a
moment later on where sheactually says to me I'm just
stuck in the middle, I don'tknow what to do, I've got
everyone going off at me, so Itold you high drama.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Yeah, it was high drama.
She kept inviting me back tothe group.
I went back a couple of times.
One of the last messages I gotfrom Erin was hi, daniel, what
the hell you left again.
And that was sort of where itwas left.
I didn't realise we were stillFacebook friends because she
deactivated that account.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
I didn't either.
I was still Facebook friendswith her too, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yeah, so she reactivated it around the time
that Simon got sick.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
And I remember because I was Simon's her
husband.
Yep, yes.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
So I remember, because I thought we weren't
friends anymore and we hadn'ttalked in a while, and so I
think this was in 2021.
And I remember because I was inMelbourne at the time and I saw
it pop up and it was justdescribing his hospital stay and
you know how.
They didn't know what was goingon and that kind of thing and I
(04:16):
thought why am I still friendswith her?
So I think I must have at thattime, either deleted or blocked
her.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Okay, right, so, yeah , well, there's a lot we can
talk about today, about that.
That's just the introduction,and I'm quickly going to just
talk about the article theHerald Sun had today concerning
Erin.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
And it is a huge spread that they've got to
promote their podcast andthey're talking about her Erin's
digital footprint, inparticular on Facebook and
according to this article it'sunderstood detectives are
particularly interested.
That's the phrase in MsPatterson's Facebook usage.
The Sunday Herald Sun has beentold Ms Patterson allegedly
(05:00):
created several profiles underdifferent names.
It's believed she never claimedto be anyone other than herself
while chatting to friends inFacebook groups.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Well, we were dealing with her.
Yeah, she did have multipleFacebook accounts.
I don't remember if we everquestioned it.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
A lot of people did in that group.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yeah, they did and they still do.
So we I know you and I we cut alot of those people off, but
because it just got so toxic atthe end.
But it was a very strangedynamic.
It was you know, people fromall walks of life.
They, yeah, there were fakeprofiles.
(05:41):
There was, you know, youngpeople, old people, all sorts of
people in that group, and Ithink it was an extreme case of
you know a true crime group.
That got out of hand prettymuch.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Yes, and Erin was known to delete her accounts and
start new ones sporadically,said the Herald Sun, and they're
also looking at her Googlesearches.
But that's kind of like we knowthat.
You know that happens all thetime.
It's one of the first thingsthey do.
I'd imagine I'm not a policeofficer, but you can get so much
(06:14):
data.
Even if you've deleted them,you can still get it back.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, and actually I remember back in October I think
.
I think she was arrested inOctober November the 3rd.
November, was it?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So that at that point there wasa lot of chats that I was in
from years ago and everyone juststarted deleting all their
information, like all their, alltheir chats between each other
(06:41):
and all that kind of stuff.
I could see everything justbeing deleted, deleted, deleted
all in an instant, kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Yeah, and then someone got on and called
everyone bedwetters.
Yes, yeah, correct so that kindof gives you an idea of the
tone once everyone gets together.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Yes, but I think it was a bit silly, to be honest,
because you know there was a lotof information in those chats
and what are they hiding?
What are they hiding in thosechats that they didn't want the
police to see or people to see?
Speaker 1 (07:10):
And we're not talking about Erin there.
We're talking about these otherpeople.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Yeah correct.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Yeah, why did I delete it?
I saw someone delete it andthen I thought, well, look,
maybe that's a good idea.
If someone is already doing it,perhaps I should do it.
But I mean, there's notanything in there that was of
particular substance, but you'llhear about this in a moment.
It certainly did give you anidea of who we were in the group
(07:35):
and what the dynamics were.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah, absolutely Remember Windchime Gate.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Yes, I was just about to say that there's a
discussion there between Erinand I about buying someone some
wind chimes, and I wasorganising a necklace, if you
remember.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Yes yeah, I do.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
That's how tight the group was, that we used to buy
sympathy presents for people andErin went a long way out of her
way to go and get these woodenwind chimes and someone's name
was engraved on them.
And then someone made a likesmart-ass comment about wind
chimes being loud.
And then someone made a likesmart-ass comment about wind
(08:17):
chimes being loud, and I'll havethis on my website,
erinpattersoncom.
Poor Erin, like, was reallyreally upset and anxious about
that.
So the group was addressedabout that a few days later.
But, yes, I will show you allmy screenshots from that period
in time.
I don't know why you guys gotme to do it, though, because I'm
the one with the ADHD, butanyway.
(08:38):
But Erin is really organised,I'm not.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Yeah, she is organised.
She was organised as far as weknew.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
So, yeah, this is from our perspective of what we
knew.
Okay, and Ms Patterson hasdenied the accusations about the
lunch, but she also has theright to a fair trial and the
presumption of innocence.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
So, daniel, why don't we divulge here what we can
about Erin, keeping in mind theongoing legal matter in Victoria
, where our words must treadlightly so as not to sway any
potential jurors?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yeah, so from what I remember, like I had a lot of
personal chats with Erin and shecame across it like she didn't
have a lot of friends from whatI gathered, so she was a bit of
a loner.
When the group kind of imploded, I think she took it really
personally.
She was very upset about it.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
A lot of people were really upset about it.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Because the group sort of became.
It became more than just aboutresearching for this podcast and
Kelly Lane.
It became more about thefriendships within the group, I
guess, and everyone started.
You know, people starteduploading videos and talking
about their lives and that kindof thing in between doing the
(10:01):
research.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Yeah, exactly.
Well, I remember at the time Iwas really sick.
I had a terribly sore back.
If anyone knows about sciaticait's terrible.
But I remember at that timethere were people there like
Erin would admit she was very,very introverted.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Yeah, she would.
She would admit that yes, so itwas.
Yeah, her whole life was abouther children and the house.
Pretty much that was it.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
And Lego and books.
Yeah, books are an extremelybig part of her family because
her mother was a literaturedoctor at a university here
children's literature yeah,books are an extremely big part
of her family because her motherwas a literature doctor at a
university, here children'sliterature yeah.
Now, one thing I found out isErin liked to travel with her
husband estranged husband nowSimon and did you know?
(10:48):
He's an amateur photographerwho had a travel blog which also
chronicled parts of their lives.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Yeah, I didn't realise that.
I found that I think it waswhen her name started being in
the media and someone found thatblog, but I didn't know it at
the time.
I don't think I ever reallyasked her much about her life.
To be honest.
All I knew was she had the kidsand her husband was away a lot
and she had a lot of houseworkand she had some gripes about
(11:18):
that, but that's pretty much allI knew.
Everything else was sort ofjokey, jokey, fun, fun.
You know a meme here, a memethere, that type of thing.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Okay, yes, because Simon has travelled extensively.
There are photos of him and hisdad in Russia and they did it
the hard way, so like trains inChina.
But yeah, he's been to Africa.
He's been to one country inAfrica four times.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
He's a big fan of, you know, camping under the
stars.
And in fact, they moved toWestern Australia in about 2011.
And in 2013, they came back andthey drove across Australia to
start the new phase of theirlives, and what he said was,
(12:06):
quote driving 1,350 kilometresalong a corrugated sandy track
through the Australian desert isnot the usual way for a family
to move home across Australia,especially when it is a
four-year-old child travellingwith his mum and dad, even more
so when the route goes past oldnuclear bomb test sites which
(12:30):
continue to be active today.
That's interesting.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Wow Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
So they drove quote the Anne Beadle Highway, and
it's a bush track that crossesthe Great Victoria Desert in
central Australia, 2013,.
As we moved house fromsouthwest to southeast Australia
, our household possessionsfollowed, transported in
containers by rail.
So they had a second-handbookstore bookstore in WA, in
(12:59):
Pemberton, and the business wascalled Curry Books.
Yeah, I did read that as welland, as I said before, books are
a huge thing in Erin's family.
Her mum, who died in 2019, as Isaid, was an academic, but Erin
shared with us photos of hercleaning out a station wagon
full of books after her mum died.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Yeah, it was full of books.
Yeah, so at the time she wasmoving house, I guess, and yeah,
the car was just full of books.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Yeah, it was a station wagon, wasn't it?
Speaker 2 (13:28):
the back of a station wagon, it was yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
She spent a lot of time, do you remember, in the
group.
She was going to Eden to getthe house ready for sale.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
I don't remember that , no.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Oh, I do.
It strikes me because I waslike, wow, you're spending a lot
of time there, it must be a bigjob.
I didn't have any idea what thehouse was like or anything.
We weren't sent a link for thesale, at least in my group,
because there were subgroups aswell.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
And I didn't know it was yeah, yeah, there was
subgroups and and chats and allthat kind of stuff.
So you know, I had multiplechats which a lot of them have
been deleted now, which just hasmy name there and and the other
person's been removed, but Istill do still have a few chats
with Erin yeah, so the two hadundergone seven bouts of IVF
(14:16):
before they had their son, a boy, and then later a girl, and
they were very much wanted.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
And, erin, did she say to you something about a
geriatric pregnancy?
Speaker 2 (14:27):
She did.
Yeah, she said a geriatricpregnancy, which, from memory,
isn't a geriatric pregnancy.
Anyone that's over 38, is it?
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Or 35, maybe.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Yeah, something like that.
Yeah, but she did.
She said she had a geriatricpregnancy.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
yes, so she's had two kids and it must be very
difficult for these children.
Our hearts go out to them.
Well, two things can be true atthe same time.
You know I have a right to tellmy story, just as you do.
And yeah, the kids, you know Ijust they're with Simon now and
I hope that they're okay.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Yeah, I do too.
Really hope they're okay.
It's funny.
Actually, I remember from I wasa bit shocked when they named
Erin.
We'd worked out it was Erinbefore she was named, but I was
shocked at what she looked like,to be honest, because
everything on her profile washer children and the only photos
(15:23):
we had or had seen of her wereof when she'd pretty much just
given birth to the children, soshe was a lot younger.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
I'll put a link in the show notes to those photos,
because they're on my website,erinpattersoncomau.
Yes, that's true.
It was sort of like that's aname from the past, you know,
when we heard about it.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
And I've got the emails from when we first heard
about it and we were just likehold on, no, no.
And each day as it went on itbecame more confounding for us.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Yeah, I think we worked it out because of her age
and because of the ages of thechildren.
And then finally the Pattersonname was released, I think, and
we worked out.
We were more like, yeah, it'sdefinitely her.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Yes, because we're not implying in any way that she
deliberately poisoned herrelatives with the beef,
wellington and mushrooms and, asI said before, she has the
presumption of innocence.
But okay, so during the weekWebsliff's forum I was referred
to a post where they said I wasa journalist who says she knows
(16:33):
Erin.
So it's kind of our, we have toprove it.
I'm not expecting anyone tojust accept it.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Yeah, yeah, I mean we've got screenshots, we've got
messages, we've got.
You know, You'll find them onthe website.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Yes, there's a whole page devoted to it up the top
there, so you can find it.
Yes, there's a whole pagedevoted to it up the top there,
so you can find it.
Boy, did that go on, though.
As I said, she went out of herway to a garden centre to pick
them out, and she also got themengraved on the back, bloody
ugly.
You thought they were ugly, didyou?
Bouquet of flowers.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Remember they sat on the fence like they were some
kind of security guard they werethere for days they were on the
news every day.
Because Erin didn't want to gooutside, and I do not blame her
and they're a beautiful bloom offlowers, but eventually she
would have got them.
But I remember at the timethinking that's an interesting
choice, but it wasn't windchimes that they sent.
(17:28):
You wouldn't do that, would you?
Speaker 2 (17:30):
No, no, I guess not no, but but yeah, it was.
It was strange, we knew exactlywho they were from yeah, I've
had it confirmed as well, I knewso you have yeah, so these
people and they're not ErinPatterson, but they were
conveying a clear directive stepback on the podcast.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
So that's a red rag to a bull, and this is on my
website as well.
Someone came to me and said hi,just wondering why you would
take our private group and putErin in a podcast.
Everyone is rallying around her.
And I said, well, I'm not goingto tell you anything if you're
coming to me accusing me ofthings and because I often test
(18:09):
ideas and I was talking to ajournalist on Twitter about
she'd brought up someone needsto do a podcast on this.
And I said, well, that'sinteresting, because I'm
thinking of doing one and thatkind of set the cat amongst the
pigeons.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Yeah, it's funny that group leaks like a sieve.
So we've found out a lot ofinformation that we can't share
right now because of justiceyeah, the court case.
So maybe, maybe we'll reconvenelisa after the, after the,
whether she goes to trial or notyes, I agree with her.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
So I think some people took it upon themselves
to sort of be guardians of erinand I mean, that's fine, they
can do that.
But, as I said in my previousepisode, I don't tell you what
to do and come into your office,so don't tell me, no, no.
And then I've got some messageshere.
There's a headline that saysMushroom Chef's Facebook
(19:02):
messages leak, with someonesaying was it you this time?
No, I can see why you'd thinkit was me or maybe you, but it
wasn't us.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
No, it wasn't us.
No, so that's very interesting,isn't it?
So someone's leaking, but wedon't know who.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Oh, leaking like an absolute sieve.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Yep, I mean you and I have both had journalists
contact us.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Someone's given our details.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Yeah, yeah, they came directly to me, although I got
a message through the website,so I think that this journalist
had found me through the podcast.
So, yeah, okay.
So, as I said, when we firstmet her, she was preparing a
house for sale and her mother,heather Scutter, died in 2019
from cancer.
(19:48):
She has a sister, and I willnot say what her name is because
I think that she's a privateperson, you know, yes, and their
dad passed away before themother, erin's about 49 at the
moment, and she was editing alocal newsletter.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Yeah, she was.
Are they Anglican?
It was an Anglican newsletter,I think.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
I'm not sure she did inherit it from the in-laws.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Yeah, from Don and Gail.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah, they'd been doing it for years.
But what I did find wasfascinating Erin and I.
Erin said I was a good egg.
I saw that.
I don't think anyone would saythat now no, probably not Now
according to vocabularycom, andit's not something we say here
(20:38):
in New South Wales.
But I've heard Mick Malloy, thecomedian who's from Victoria,
say you're a good egg, right.
So that was the first time Iheard it.
And then Erin and a good egg isa friendly, old-fashioned way
to talk about a good guy or akind person.
When you call the next-doorneighbour a good egg, it's clear
you're fond of her.
The expression originally camefrom its opposite, bad egg, from
the British public school slangfrom the 1800s for someone
(21:01):
who's not very nice.
Fifty years later, good eggemerged as a casual way to talk
about a good chap or a decentfellow.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
I don't think I've ever called anyone a good egg.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
No, I think maybe it's something they do in
Victoria.
I'm not sure.
But this sentiment of me beinga good egg didn't last long,
because I made a stupid snarkycomment about something in the
group and that's the otherreason why they were annoyed
about me with making thatcomment about the flowers,
because I was snarky on Twitterabout it.
So, oh well, that's what I do.
(21:38):
Yeah, it's what you do.
Absolutely that's what I do.
But Erin's interesting becauseshe had the job at Air Services
Australia.
She was an air trafficcontroller for I don't know a
couple of years, but she alsoworked for the Department of
Defence and the bankruptcy partof the Australian government and
they were finance roles.
So she did train as anaccountant.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Yes, I do remember her telling us that.
Is it true?
I?
Speaker 1 (22:01):
haven't checked, have you?
Speaker 2 (22:02):
No, I haven't checked either, but that's what she
told us.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Thank you, Daniel.
I really appreciate it and youmight come back again soon.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Oh, I think so, lisa.
After the court case, probablybecause we have a lot more to
share that we can't share rightnow.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Yes, but thank you so much, and everyone else, thank
you for listening to us today.
You can find me on Twitter atLisa Podcasts.
I'm also putting my socialmedia accounts as Instagram and
Facebook there and we'll be backregularly with all your updates
on this particular case, whichis very disturbing.
(22:38):
I also want to thank everyonewho's listened to the podcast.
We are absolutely delightedWe've had so many downloads, so
thank you and I shall catch younext time.
Thanks, bye.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
Thank you so much for listening today.
Follow the Erin Pattersonpodcast on Apple, Spotify and
all other platforms Plus.
Go to the link in the shownotes to sign up to our email
list.
That way, you will always knowwhen there's a new episode.
Hello and welcome to the Erin Patterson podcast, a
show about a tragic family lunchof beef, wellington and
mushrooms.
I'm Lisa Tate and I'm ajournalist who has been
recording true crime podcastssince 2019.
And on the line today I have mytrue crime BFF Daniel, and we
(00:25):
were both in the same Facebookgroup as Erin Patterson.
Hi Daniel, hi Lisa, I'm veryupset you don't have your Gucci
tracksuit on.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Well, you know, I put my Madonna t-shirt on for you
anyway.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Yes, you saw Madonna.
What two weeks ago?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Yeah, that's exciting ?
Not even maybe.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Yeah, it was fun, so we had a connection with Erin
between 2018 and 2020.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yes, so the documentary that we were
following Exposed the Case ofKelly Lane came out in 2018.
And I think we both joined thesame Facebook group.
It was an offshoot of the ABCdocumentary, so Erin was in that
group as well.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yes, and we kind of kept in contact for quite a long
period of time.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah, it was years, yeah, so I remember there was a
podcast being made because theABC documentary just seemed to
glaze over quite a few detailsand so once we deep dived into
the Kelly Lane case, we realizedit wasn't the whole truth.
So we started chatting in thatbig group and then I became an
(01:41):
admin and our mutual friendbecame an admin, and then we
both got booted out, not surewhy, probably because we weren't
on the Kelly is innocent side,but we started.
Then.
We started our own group, whichwas much smaller, and there was
, yeah, a whole bunch of us thatbecame friends, basically, and
(02:01):
we were doing research for apodcast about Kelly Lane.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Yes, and originally it was called Problem Child.
Yes, that's correct.
Yeah, but then it changed itsname.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah it's not available anymore, but we were
doing research.
There was too much that went onin the group.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yes, and there was also a high amount of drama in
the group.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Oh God, yes, yeah, there sure was, we had.
How many do you reckon therewere in the group towards the
end?
Like 50 of us, maybe?
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yeah, that's what I thought yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yeah, so there was about 50 of us.
We kept there were a lot offake profiles in that group too,
people with multiple accountsand so forth, and I remember
there was such high drama andthen it all kind of imploded.
I think it must've been aroundthe time of COVID, maybe 2020.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
It was.
It was January 2020.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yeah, so it imploded, the group imploded.
I was admin of the group atthat time and I actually ended
up handing the podcast oh sorry,the group over to Erin, which
is interesting because Erin thenwas sort of in the crosshairs
of people who wanted the groupdeleted and those who wanted it
(03:14):
to stay.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
And I've got some and we'll get into those in a
moment later on where sheactually says to me I'm just
stuck in the middle, I don'tknow what to do, I've got
everyone going off at me, so Itold you high drama.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Yeah, it was high drama.
She kept inviting me back tothe group.
I went back a couple of times.
One of the last messages I gotfrom Erin was hi, daniel, what
the hell you left again.
And that was sort of where itwas left.
I didn't realise we were stillFacebook friends because she
deactivated that account.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
I didn't either.
I was still Facebook friendswith her too, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yeah, so she reactivated it around the time
that Simon got sick.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
And I remember because I was Simon's her
husband.
Yep, yes.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
So I remember, because I thought we weren't
friends anymore and we hadn'ttalked in a while, and so I
think this was in 2021.
And I remember because I was inMelbourne at the time and I saw
it pop up and it was justdescribing his hospital stay and
you know how.
They didn't know what was goingon and that kind of thing and I
(04:16):
thought why am I still friendswith her?
So I think I must have at thattime, either deleted or blocked
her.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Okay, right, so, yeah , well, there's a lot we can
talk about today, about that.
That's just the introduction,and I'm quickly going to just
talk about the article theHerald Sun had today concerning
Erin.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
And it is a huge spread that they've got to
promote their podcast andthey're talking about her Erin's
digital footprint, inparticular on Facebook and
according to this article it'sunderstood detectives are
particularly interested.
That's the phrase in MsPatterson's Facebook usage.
The Sunday Herald Sun has beentold Ms Patterson allegedly
(05:00):
created several profiles underdifferent names.
It's believed she never claimedto be anyone other than herself
while chatting to friends inFacebook groups.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Well, we were dealing with her.
Yeah, she did have multipleFacebook accounts.
I don't remember if we everquestioned it.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
A lot of people did in that group.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yeah, they did and they still do.
So we I know you and I we cut alot of those people off, but
because it just got so toxic atthe end.
But it was a very strangedynamic.
It was you know, people fromall walks of life.
They, yeah, there were fakeprofiles.
(05:41):
There was, you know, youngpeople, old people, all sorts of
people in that group, and Ithink it was an extreme case of
you know a true crime group.
That got out of hand prettymuch.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Yes, and Erin was known to delete her accounts and
start new ones sporadically,said the Herald Sun, and they're
also looking at her Googlesearches.
But that's kind of like we knowthat.
You know that happens all thetime.
It's one of the first thingsthey do.
I'd imagine I'm not a policeofficer, but you can get so much
(06:14):
data.
Even if you've deleted them,you can still get it back.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, and actually I remember back in October I think
.
I think she was arrested inOctober November the 3rd.
November, was it?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So that at that point there wasa lot of chats that I was in
from years ago and everyone juststarted deleting all their
information, like all their, alltheir chats between each other
(06:41):
and all that kind of stuff.
I could see everything justbeing deleted, deleted, deleted
all in an instant, kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Yeah, and then someone got on and called
everyone bedwetters.
Yes, yeah, correct so that kindof gives you an idea of the
tone once everyone gets together.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Yes, but I think it was a bit silly, to be honest,
because you know there was a lotof information in those chats
and what are they hiding?
What are they hiding in thosechats that they didn't want the
police to see or people to see?
Speaker 1 (07:10):
And we're not talking about Erin there.
We're talking about these otherpeople.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Yeah correct.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Yeah, why did I delete it?
I saw someone delete it andthen I thought, well, look,
maybe that's a good idea.
If someone is already doing it,perhaps I should do it.
But I mean, there's notanything in there that was of
particular substance, but you'llhear about this in a moment.
It certainly did give you anidea of who we were in the group
(07:35):
and what the dynamics were.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah, absolutely Remember Windchime Gate.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Yes, I was just about to say that there's a
discussion there between Erinand I about buying someone some
wind chimes, and I wasorganising a necklace, if you
remember.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Yes yeah, I do.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
That's how tight the group was, that we used to buy
sympathy presents for people andErin went a long way out of her
way to go and get these woodenwind chimes and someone's name
was engraved on them.
And then someone made a likesmart-ass comment about wind
chimes being loud.
And then someone made a likesmart-ass comment about wind
(08:17):
chimes being loud, and I'll havethis on my website,
erinpattersoncom.
Poor Erin, like, was reallyreally upset and anxious about
that.
So the group was addressedabout that a few days later.
But, yes, I will show you allmy screenshots from that period
in time.
I don't know why you guys gotme to do it, though, because I'm
the one with the ADHD, butanyway.
(08:38):
But Erin is really organised,I'm not.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Yeah, she is organised.
She was organised as far as weknew.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
So, yeah, this is from our perspective of what we
knew.
Okay, and Ms Patterson hasdenied the accusations about the
lunch, but she also has theright to a fair trial and the
presumption of innocence.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
So, daniel, why don't we divulge here what we can
about Erin, keeping in mind theongoing legal matter in Victoria
, where our words must treadlightly so as not to sway any
potential jurors?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yeah, so from what I remember, like I had a lot of
personal chats with Erin and shecame across it like she didn't
have a lot of friends from whatI gathered, so she was a bit of
a loner.
When the group kind of imploded, I think she took it really
personally.
She was very upset about it.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
A lot of people were really upset about it.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Because the group sort of became.
It became more than just aboutresearching for this podcast and
Kelly Lane.
It became more about thefriendships within the group, I
guess, and everyone started.
You know, people starteduploading videos and talking
about their lives and that kindof thing in between doing the
(10:01):
research.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Yeah, exactly.
Well, I remember at the time Iwas really sick.
I had a terribly sore back.
If anyone knows about sciaticait's terrible.
But I remember at that timethere were people there like
Erin would admit she was very,very introverted.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Yeah, she would.
She would admit that yes, so itwas.
Yeah, her whole life was abouther children and the house.
Pretty much that was it.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
And Lego and books.
Yeah, books are an extremelybig part of her family because
her mother was a literaturedoctor at a university here
children's literature yeah,books are an extremely big part
of her family because her motherwas a literature doctor at a
university, here children'sliterature yeah.
Now, one thing I found out isErin liked to travel with her
husband estranged husband nowSimon and did you know?
(10:48):
He's an amateur photographerwho had a travel blog which also
chronicled parts of their lives.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Yeah, I didn't realise that.
I found that I think it waswhen her name started being in
the media and someone found thatblog, but I didn't know it at
the time.
I don't think I ever reallyasked her much about her life.
To be honest.
All I knew was she had the kidsand her husband was away a lot
and she had a lot of houseworkand she had some gripes about
(11:18):
that, but that's pretty much allI knew.
Everything else was sort ofjokey, jokey, fun, fun.
You know a meme here, a memethere, that type of thing.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Okay, yes, because Simon has travelled extensively.
There are photos of him and hisdad in Russia and they did it
the hard way, so like trains inChina.
But yeah, he's been to Africa.
He's been to one country inAfrica four times.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
He's a big fan of, you know, camping under the
stars.
And in fact, they moved toWestern Australia in about 2011.
And in 2013, they came back andthey drove across Australia to
start the new phase of theirlives, and what he said was,
(12:06):
quote driving 1,350 kilometresalong a corrugated sandy track
through the Australian desert isnot the usual way for a family
to move home across Australia,especially when it is a
four-year-old child travellingwith his mum and dad, even more
so when the route goes past oldnuclear bomb test sites which
(12:30):
continue to be active today.
That's interesting.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Wow Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
So they drove quote the Anne Beadle Highway, and
it's a bush track that crossesthe Great Victoria Desert in
central Australia, 2013,.
As we moved house fromsouthwest to southeast Australia
, our household possessionsfollowed, transported in
containers by rail.
So they had a second-handbookstore bookstore in WA, in
(12:59):
Pemberton, and the business wascalled Curry Books.
Yeah, I did read that as welland, as I said before, books are
a huge thing in Erin's family.
Her mum, who died in 2019, as Isaid, was an academic, but Erin
shared with us photos of hercleaning out a station wagon
full of books after her mum died.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Yeah, it was full of books.
Yeah, so at the time she wasmoving house, I guess, and yeah,
the car was just full of books.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Yeah, it was a station wagon, wasn't it?
Speaker 2 (13:28):
the back of a station wagon, it was yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
She spent a lot of time, do you remember, in the
group.
She was going to Eden to getthe house ready for sale.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
I don't remember that , no.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Oh, I do.
It strikes me because I waslike, wow, you're spending a lot
of time there, it must be a bigjob.
I didn't have any idea what thehouse was like or anything.
We weren't sent a link for thesale, at least in my group,
because there were subgroups aswell.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
And I didn't know it was yeah, yeah, there was
subgroups and and chats and allthat kind of stuff.
So you know, I had multiplechats which a lot of them have
been deleted now, which just hasmy name there and and the other
person's been removed, but Istill do still have a few chats
with Erin yeah, so the two hadundergone seven bouts of IVF
(14:16):
before they had their son, a boy, and then later a girl, and
they were very much wanted.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
And, erin, did she say to you something about a
geriatric pregnancy?
Speaker 2 (14:27):
She did.
Yeah, she said a geriatricpregnancy, which, from memory,
isn't a geriatric pregnancy.
Anyone that's over 38, is it?
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Or 35, maybe.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Yeah, something like that.
Yeah, but she did.
She said she had a geriatricpregnancy.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
yes, so she's had two kids and it must be very
difficult for these children.
Our hearts go out to them.
Well, two things can be true atthe same time.
You know I have a right to tellmy story, just as you do.
And yeah, the kids, you know Ijust they're with Simon now and
I hope that they're okay.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Yeah, I do too.
Really hope they're okay.
It's funny.
Actually, I remember from I wasa bit shocked when they named
Erin.
We'd worked out it was Erinbefore she was named, but I was
shocked at what she looked like,to be honest, because
everything on her profile washer children and the only photos
(15:23):
we had or had seen of her wereof when she'd pretty much just
given birth to the children, soshe was a lot younger.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
I'll put a link in the show notes to those photos,
because they're on my website,erinpattersoncomau.
Yes, that's true.
It was sort of like that's aname from the past, you know,
when we heard about it.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
And I've got the emails from when we first heard
about it and we were just likehold on, no, no.
And each day as it went on itbecame more confounding for us.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Yeah, I think we worked it out because of her age
and because of the ages of thechildren.
And then finally the Pattersonname was released, I think, and
we worked out.
We were more like, yeah, it'sdefinitely her.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Yes, because we're not implying in any way that she
deliberately poisoned herrelatives with the beef,
wellington and mushrooms and, asI said before, she has the
presumption of innocence.
But okay, so during the weekWebsliff's forum I was referred
to a post where they said I wasa journalist who says she knows
(16:33):
Erin.
So it's kind of our, we have toprove it.
I'm not expecting anyone tojust accept it.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Yeah, yeah, I mean we've got screenshots, we've got
messages, we've got.
You know, You'll find them onthe website.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Yes, there's a whole page devoted to it up the top
there, so you can find it.
Yes, there's a whole pagedevoted to it up the top there,
so you can find it.
Boy, did that go on, though.
As I said, she went out of herway to a garden centre to pick
them out, and she also got themengraved on the back, bloody
ugly.
You thought they were ugly, didyou?
Bouquet of flowers.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Remember they sat on the fence like they were some
kind of security guard they werethere for days they were on the
news every day.
Because Erin didn't want to gooutside, and I do not blame her
and they're a beautiful bloom offlowers, but eventually she
would have got them.
But I remember at the timethinking that's an interesting
choice, but it wasn't windchimes that they sent.
(17:28):
You wouldn't do that, would you?
Speaker 2 (17:30):
No, no, I guess not no, but but yeah, it was.
It was strange, we knew exactlywho they were from yeah, I've
had it confirmed as well, I knewso you have yeah, so these
people and they're not ErinPatterson, but they were
conveying a clear directive stepback on the podcast.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
So that's a red rag to a bull, and this is on my
website as well.
Someone came to me and said hi,just wondering why you would
take our private group and putErin in a podcast.
Everyone is rallying around her.
And I said, well, I'm not goingto tell you anything if you're
coming to me accusing me ofthings and because I often test
(18:09):
ideas and I was talking to ajournalist on Twitter about
she'd brought up someone needsto do a podcast on this.
And I said, well, that'sinteresting, because I'm
thinking of doing one and thatkind of set the cat amongst the
pigeons.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Yeah, it's funny that group leaks like a sieve.
So we've found out a lot ofinformation that we can't share
right now because of justiceyeah, the court case.
So maybe, maybe we'll reconvenelisa after the, after the,
whether she goes to trial or notyes, I agree with her.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
So I think some people took it upon themselves
to sort of be guardians of erinand I mean, that's fine, they
can do that.
But, as I said in my previousepisode, I don't tell you what
to do and come into your office,so don't tell me, no, no.
And then I've got some messageshere.
There's a headline that saysMushroom Chef's Facebook
(19:02):
messages leak, with someonesaying was it you this time?
No, I can see why you'd thinkit was me or maybe you, but it
wasn't us.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
No, it wasn't us.
No, so that's very interesting,isn't it?
So someone's leaking, but wedon't know who.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Oh, leaking like an absolute sieve.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Yep, I mean you and I have both had journalists
contact us.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Someone's given our details.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Yeah, yeah, they came directly to me, although I got
a message through the website,so I think that this journalist
had found me through the podcast.
So, yeah, okay.
So, as I said, when we firstmet her, she was preparing a
house for sale and her mother,heather Scutter, died in 2019
from cancer.
(19:48):
She has a sister, and I willnot say what her name is because
I think that she's a privateperson, you know, yes, and their
dad passed away before themother, erin's about 49 at the
moment, and she was editing alocal newsletter.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Yeah, she was.
Are they Anglican?
It was an Anglican newsletter,I think.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
I'm not sure she did inherit it from the in-laws.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Yeah, from Don and Gail.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah, they'd been doing it for years.
But what I did find wasfascinating Erin and I.
Erin said I was a good egg.
I saw that.
I don't think anyone would saythat now no, probably not Now
according to vocabularycom, andit's not something we say here
(20:38):
in New South Wales.
But I've heard Mick Malloy, thecomedian who's from Victoria,
say you're a good egg, right.
So that was the first time Iheard it.
And then Erin and a good egg isa friendly, old-fashioned way
to talk about a good guy or akind person.
When you call the next-doorneighbour a good egg, it's clear
you're fond of her.
The expression originally camefrom its opposite, bad egg, from
the British public school slangfrom the 1800s for someone
(21:01):
who's not very nice.
Fifty years later, good eggemerged as a casual way to talk
about a good chap or a decentfellow.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
I don't think I've ever called anyone a good egg.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
No, I think maybe it's something they do in
Victoria.
I'm not sure.
But this sentiment of me beinga good egg didn't last long,
because I made a stupid snarkycomment about something in the
group and that's the otherreason why they were annoyed
about me with making thatcomment about the flowers,
because I was snarky on Twitterabout it.
So, oh well, that's what I do.
(21:38):
Yeah, it's what you do.
Absolutely that's what I do.
But Erin's interesting becauseshe had the job at Air Services
Australia.
She was an air trafficcontroller for I don't know a
couple of years, but she alsoworked for the Department of
Defence and the bankruptcy partof the Australian government and
they were finance roles.
So she did train as anaccountant.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Yes, I do remember her telling us that.
Is it true?
I?
Speaker 1 (22:01):
haven't checked, have you?
Speaker 2 (22:02):
No, I haven't checked either, but that's what she
told us.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Thank you, Daniel.
I really appreciate it and youmight come back again soon.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Oh, I think so, lisa.
After the court case, probablybecause we have a lot more to
share that we can't share rightnow.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Yes, but thank you so much, and everyone else, thank
you for listening to us today.
You can find me on Twitter atLisa Podcasts.
I'm also putting my socialmedia accounts as Instagram and
Facebook there and we'll be backregularly with all your updates
on this particular case, whichis very disturbing.
(22:38):
I also want to thank everyonewho's listened to the podcast.
We are absolutely delightedWe've had so many downloads, so
thank you and I shall catch younext time.
Thanks, bye.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
Thank you so much for listening today.
Follow the Erin Pattersonpodcast on Apple, Spotify and
all other platforms Plus.
Go to the link in the shownotes to sign up to our email
list.
That way, you will always knowwhen there's a new episode.
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