From Spiritual Awakening to Mushroom Murder Suspect: Erin Patterson Takes the Stand

Erin Patterson, the woman at the centre of Australia's mushroom poisoning case, takes the stand as a defence witness in her murder trial. She provides detailed testimony about her personal life, relationships, and the deterioration of family ties with her in-laws who later became alleged victims in the case.

• Living a relatively stable life in July 2023 with her children in her new "final home" in Leangatha
• Experiencing increasing emotional distance from the wider Patterson family, particularly her in-laws Don and Gail
• Meeting Simon at work in 2004 and transforming from "fundamentalist atheist" to having a spiritual awakening in church
• Marrying in 2007 and embarking on a road trip around Australia where she gave birth to their first child
• Brief separation from Simon in 2009 after growing tired of travelling, though they continued co-parenting

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, and today we are continuing our coverage of
the Erin Patterson trial inMorwell, australia.
I'm Lisa and thank you so muchfor your time today.
The news we've received is themushroom cook was giving
evidence in her murder trialtoday, after she was called as a
defence witness.

(00:21):
The woman at the centre of theLeangatha mushroom poisoning
case gave a detailed account ofher personal life, relationships
and family history In atestimony that spanned years of
major life events.
Ms Patterson, now age 50,recounted her life in July 2023

(00:43):
as a period of relativestability.
Her children had recentlystarted at a new school earlier
in July and they were actingbetter than she expected.
They were living with her fulltime, seeing their father, simon
Patterson, on weekends andevenings, although recently one
of her children was only seeingtheir father at church or youth

(01:06):
group.
Ms Patterson told the jury shehad deferred a 2023 university
offer for a Bachelor of Nursingand Midwifery but had intended
to begin the course in early2024.
She told the court she hadmoved into a new house on Gibson
Street, leangatha, in June 2022, which she described as a quote

(01:31):
final home, a place where shewould.
She hoped her children wouldgrow up and she would grow old.
She spoke warmly of the houseshe helped design, saying she
enjoyed living there and hadlandscaped the block.
Financially she said she wascomfortable by 2023,.
Cracks had begun to appear inher personal life.

(01:54):
Ms Patterson's testified tofeeling an increasing emotional
distance from the widerPatterson family, in particular
Simon's parents, don and GailPatterson.
She claimed Simon had beenensuring she was excluded from
the family events allegedly.
Despite this, theirrelationship remained quote

(02:16):
functional, but it hadnoticeably deteriorated.
Physically, she said she wasstruggling.
She had ongoing self-esteemissues that left her exhausted
and she was no longer able toexercise like she once had.
She eventually wanted to go andhave weight loss surgery.

(02:37):
In tracing the origins of herrelationship with Simon, erin
described how they first met atwork.
She was an admin assistant fromthe RSPCA, located at Monash
Council in Victoria.
Simon was a traffic engineer inlate 2004.
They became friends and starteda romantic relationship in

(02:59):
mid-2005.
She met his parents in thatsame year and travelled with him
to Corrumburra and othercamping trips with groups of
friends.
At the time Ms Pattersonidentified as a quote
fundamentalist atheist andrecalled trying to persuade
Simon away from religion.

(03:19):
However, she experienced whatshe described as a spiritual
awakening during a churchservice in Corrumburra which
left her overwhelmed.
Ms Patterson recalled thatinside the church there was a
banner on the wall behind whereIan Patterson, the pastor, and
one of the attendees at thelunch, was preaching.

(03:42):
It said faith, hope and love.
Ms Ms Patterson was offeredcommunion and was welcomed to
the church.
I had what can basically bedescribed as a spiritual
experience.
She said it had been anintellectual experience up until
then.
The couple later joined a Biblestudy group at their church

(04:03):
which lasted about 18 months totwo years.
They became engaged in February2007 and married in June of the
same year.
During that time, ms Pattersonwas living in a rural hamlet
near Corrumburra, while Simonremained working in Melbourne.
She recalled the warmhospitality from Don and Gail

(04:25):
during visits Following theirwedding.
The couple briefly lived in aMelbourne unit owned by Don and
Gail before giving away almosteverything they owned and
embarked on an ambitious roadtrip around Australia, starting
in Sydney.
Miss Patterson gave birth totheir first child in Perth,

(04:46):
western Australia, in January2009.
She described it as a traumaticdelivery involving forceps, a
lost heartbeat and an eventualC-section.
Their son spent time inneonatal intensive care and,
despite doctors' advice that shewasn't healed enough to leave,

(05:08):
simon and Erin wanted her to gohome.
She expressed gratitude to GailPatterson, who came later, for
her support.
During that time, hermother-in-law helped her settle
her son after a feed and when hecried, and she offered good
advice on how to relax and quoteenjoy her baby.
After this, the familycontinued travelling along

(05:31):
Australia's coast, meetingfriends and family in Broome and
Tennant Creek.
By November 2009, ms Pattersonsaid she'd had enough of
travelling and flew home toPerth from Townsville, which is
in Queensland, while Simon andtheir son drove back over the

(05:51):
course of a week.
During that time apart, she hadrented a cottage for herself
and her son during the briefseparation, which lasted about
two to three months, and Simonwas nearby at a caravan park.
Despite the tensions, she said,it remained important for her
and Simon to cooperate asparents, even if communication

(06:13):
between them often broke downduring conflict.
The trial continues and I thinktomorrow will be very, very
interesting and I will beupdating you as soon as I can
via my social media.
So today I was on Twitter andFacebook doing updates, but I'll
make sure you get an episodearound this time tomorrow.
So thank you so much.

(06:34):
Make sure you head tomushroommurdertrialcom.
Make sure you subscribe to myfabulous newsletter and if you
haven't yet, please subscribeand review this podcast on your
preferred platform so you nevermiss an episode.
So thank you for your time.
My name is Lisa and I hope youhave a fabulous evening.

(06:55):
Thanks, bye.