The Dehydrator, the Dummy Phone, and the Judge’s Warning: Inside Week 9 of the Erin Patterson Trial

📝 Show Notes — The Mushroom Murder Trial Podcast
Episode: Week Nine – Jury to Be Locked In, Phones Missing, and the Dehydrator Dumped
Host: Lisa 

This week we reach a critical juncture in the Erin Patterson trial, now into its ninth week inside the Supreme Court in Morwell, Victoria.

🔍 In this episode:

• Justice Christopher Beale continues his final instructions to the jury.
• The jury will be sequestered during its deliberations, an unusual move in Australia — signalling just how high-profile this case is.
• A key prosecution claim about leftovers fed to Erin’s children is thrown out by the judge, who warns the jury not to speculate without expert evidence.
• The court revisits the dehydrator — allegedly used in a blind mushroom taste test, later dumped by Erin before a child protection visit. Was it panic? Or allegedly part of a cover-up?
• Erin’s digital trail is under scrutiny, with allegations she used multiple phones, factory reset one four times, and never handed over her “main” device. But the defence says there’s no proof she expected a search.
• The judge warns the jury about the complexity of the prosecution’s case, urging them not to overlook the simple explanations.

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Episode Transcript

Lisa (00:00):
This is the Mushroom Murder Trial Podcast and my name
is Lisa.
Welcome to the podcast.
We're now in week nine of oneof the most closely watched
criminal trials in recent memorythe case of Erin Trudy
Patterson.
Yesterday, inside the SupremeCourt sitting in Morwell, a
regional town in Victoria'sLatrobe Valley, justice

(00:21):
Christopher Beale continueddelivering his instructions to
the jury.
But firstly I need to just do aquick apology for not
delivering on an episodeyesterday.
I was stuck in a four-hourmeeting and by the time it was
over the court was no longersitting.
But I have the transcript soI'll make sure I read that in
part to you at some point thisweek.

(00:42):
Now for the background.
Erin Patterson she's age 50 andshe's standing 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

(01:02):
husband, ian Wilkinson, a68-year-old Baptist pastor.
On Thursday, justice Beale toldthe jurors his directions would
continue through today andconclude on Monday.
So, as you know, while you'vebeen engaged with your
deliberations, at the end ofeach day you will be sequestered

(01:22):
.
He said deliberations At theend of each day, you will be
sequestered.
He said Now in Australia,sequestering a jury means
keeping them together in a hotelor a similar venue with
restricted contact with theoutside world.
It's not that common and mostlyhappens in high-profile trials
just like this one.
As Justice Bill worked his waythrough a list of alleged

(01:45):
incriminating conduct, heinstructed jurors to disregard
one key argument raised by theprosecution During the trial.
The court heard that MsPatterson had told police she
had fed leftover meat from theBeef Wellington to her children
the day after the lunch afterscraping off the mushrooms and

(02:05):
the pastry.
At that point she already knewsome of her guests were unwell.
The prosecution asked the juryto consider quote why would she
feed the kids leftovers if shethought this was the case?
The children did not become illand the prosecution suggested
they would have if they hadeaten contaminated food.

(02:27):
But Justice Beale told the juryto set that aside.
You have no expert evidence asto if that would be the case, he
said.
You would be speculating if youwere going to go down that path
as well.
Justice Beale then turned toanother alleged piece of conduct
the disposal of the dehydrator.

(02:49):
The court heard that MsPatterson's ex-husband, simon
Patterson, told police thatwhile at Monash Hospital on the
1st of August 2023, erin claimedto have done a blind taste test
with their daughter usingdehydrated mushrooms.
Now I need to just mention itwasn't done at Monash Hospital.

(03:10):
Obviously the test had beendone previously, before the
lunch.
Simon said this was the firsttime he'd even heard she'd owned
a dehydrator.
Ms Patterson claimed Simonaccused her of using the
dehydrator to poison his parents.
Simon denied this.
Under cross-examination thecourt also heard from the chief

(03:32):
toxicologist at the VictorianInstitute of Forensic Medicine
who said death cap mushroomtoxins were detected in samples
from that dehydrator.
Erin said she dumped theappliance on the 2nd of August
2023 because child protectionwas coming that day and she
feared she'd be blamed that herchildren might be taken from her

(03:55):
.
But Prosecutor Nanette Rogers,sc argued that disposal was part
of a sustained cover-up andthat throwing away the
dehydrator just months afterbuying it was incriminating
conduct.
The dehydrator just monthsafter buying it was
incriminating conduct.
Defence barrister Colin Mandy,sc, counted that Erin had openly
posted about dehydratingmushrooms in a true crime

(04:15):
Facebook group long before thelunch.
He said Ms Patterson disposedof the appliance after the
incident not to cover her tracksbut because she feared people
would think she poisoned herguests on purpose.
The court also heard that whenpolice searched her Lee and
Gather home on the 5th of August2023, they didn't find one of

(04:39):
her mobiles referred to as phoneA.
Ms Patterson also mentioned aNokia, which was never seized.
Mr Mandy argued police didn'tcollect all visible tech devices
during the search.
He pointed to a photo takenduring the raid showing a black
case he suggested could havecontained phone A.
Detective leading seniorconstable Stephen Eppingstall,

(05:04):
the officer in charge of theinvestigation, said that was a
matter for the jury.
The prosecution alleged MsPatterson's phone was the one
ending in 783 and that she usedat least four different phones
during the relevant period.
They said she handed over phoneB, a so-called dummy phone, to

(05:25):
police.
It had been factory reset fourtimes during 2023.
They argued this was adeliberate attempt to conceal
evidence that phone A was theone Miss Patterson used to take
photos of the death catmushrooms.
But the defence responded thatMiss Patterson had no reason to
expect a police search and ifshe had something to hide it

(05:48):
would have been far easier towipe the phone and dispose of it
entirely.
Justice Beale acknowledged thecomplexity of the prosecution,
saying it relied on convolutedarguments, and reminded the jury
that sometimes the bestexplanation is the simplest
explanation.
You've been listening to theMushroom Murder Trial podcast.

(06:10):
Thank you so much for your timetoday.
We really appreciate it.
Now, as we are heading into thefinal days of this trial, we'll
continue to bring you coveragestraight from the court, but
after Monday we'll all have tosit and wait for a verdict, like
the rest of Australia.
Thanks for listening today.
For more information, go to mywebsite, mushroommurdertrialcom.

(06:32):
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(07:21):
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(07:42):
Thank you, bye.