Bonus episode: Observing The Mushroom Cook

The Mushroom Cook team talks about the interest around the testimony of the accused and how dozens have flocked to Morwell to observe the proceedings.

The Mushroom Cook team is Brooke Grebert-Craig, Laura Placella, Anthony Dowsley, Jordy Atkinson and Jonty Burton.

The Mushroom Cook is a Herald Sun production for True Crime Australia.
Go to themushroomcook.com.au for news, features, previous episodes and more.

Subscribers get our bonus Sunday shows with crime reporter Anthony Dowsley. CrimeX subscribers: find this episode in your podcast feed

Subscribers to the Herald Sun, Daily Telegraph, Courier Mail, Adelaide Advertiser or News regional titles can listen through the App.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're here at the Herald Sun office in Melbourne. It's
the King's birthday today and in the King Versus Aaron Patterson,
the jury has a day off for the second time.
We've assembled the entire team for another bonus episode. I'm
Brook greebt Craig.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
I'm Laura Plascela, and I'm Anthony Dowsley and this is
the Mushroom Cook.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Hi guys, welcome back, Hey Brook.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
Hey Brook. It's been another week and a couple more
to go.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
I guess so Aaron Patterson has taken the stand, hasn't she?

Speaker 3 (00:32):
Hang on a minute. You're calling it the stand. Now,
I've got some old legal contexts that are text messaging
me and emailing me. They don't like this word, the stand.
They say it is an americanism. So what we call it,
apparently is the witness box. But what are we going
to go with.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Look, you've got that advice. Let's go with the witness box.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
Okay, the witness box.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
I like the stand, so I think I'll stick to that.

Speaker 3 (00:53):
Guys, let's go.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
So, dows can you talk us through in summary what
we've heard from Aaron.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
We got to see her enter the stand or the
witness box for about forty one minutes on Monday and
continue on during the week. It delved not only into
the really essential facts of this case, but it delved
into her life in general. We heard a little bit
about her growing up. We heard some really personal issues,

(01:24):
such as when she said that she had been weighed
as a child and how that had an impact on
her relationship with food. We heard a lot about food.
We heard how she had struggled with her weight and
how it had impacted on her mental health. And we
heard right up until the lunch, the fatal lunch, that

(01:45):
was something that was really on her mind.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
And as we've touched upon in previous episodes, Aaron was planning,
she said, to have gastric bypass surgery because of these
body image issues.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
And what else was Aaron asked about.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
During her evidence in chief was questioned by her defense
barrister Colin mandy In about mushrooms, about how she prepared
the beef Wellington, what she did the day of the lunch,
what she did the day after the lunch, and about
the searches that were conducted at her house by police.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
So, with Aaron taking the stand, there's obviously been an
increase in public interest in the case.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
That was quite startling to watch. I was in Melbourne
and getting images back from Warwell where you both are
of queues outside the court. More well's not the biggest
court in Victoria, and there's only a certain amount of
seats inside courtroom four. And yeah, it's packed now. There

(02:41):
was so much interest in what Aaron Patterson was going
to have to say, so she gave her forty one
minutes at the start on day two. So the crowds
are turning up now and there's all sorts of people
in their gallery. One I noticed from Melbourne while I
was watching a video screen was this really colorful looking guy.

(03:02):
He's got colorful pants and top one. He's even got
colorful hair. So all sorts of people are turning up
to listen to Aaron Patterson give evidence.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yes, people have been rocking up to the law courts
at seven am, queuing up or to get a spot
in courtroom four.

Speaker 3 (03:19):
Are they missing out?

Speaker 1 (03:20):
Yeah, some people are. Actually I think there are about
twenty seats reserved for the general public, so people are
missing out.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
And just before Dowsy were speaking about the kinds of
people sitting in the courtroom I would say it seems
like there is more women than there are men. And
I've even noticed some teenagers. And I think at one
stage I saw a boy who was probably in primary
school coming along with their parents and watching the proceedings.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
And some people have notebooks and they're taking notes.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
But one thing they've very much been told not to
do is take out their phones. So the tip staff
in the courtroom, mister Hastings, he's in charge of making
sure the proceedings on smoothly and is keeping a watchful
eye to make sure everyone is following the rules.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
So we've had an increase of interest from the general public,
but there's also been an increase of interest from the media.

Speaker 3 (04:11):
Actually, I got a question about that. How's the click
clacking of all the typewriters and laptops going in their
typewriters and old term the laptops. I'll go in there
with my typewriter because I'm so old. But what about
the noise from the media in there. I mean, it
can get intense when certain parts of evidence come up
and the media want to take notes word for word.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
I know all of us journalists are really mindful when
we're in the courtroom, to try to keep the click
clacking at a minimum. I was in court several days
last week and there was a lot of evidence we
were hearing from Erin, and you do want to get
it down so you can take the most accurate notes,
but you're just trying as hard as you can to
make sure you're typing softly.

Speaker 3 (04:51):
Is anyone using the old notebook and pen.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
Yeah, there are. I've seen a few journals doing that.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
And using their shorthand. It's very impressive. I did learn
how to use shorthand, but I never got fast enough,
so it's the laptop for me.

Speaker 1 (05:04):
I think we've also seen an increase of media in
the overflow room. We've spoken about that before, Laura, Can
you describe the room for our listeners.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
The room usually is in an overflow room. It's reserved
for the jury pool, so at the start of a trial,
when there is a large group of people brought to
court to be in a jury, this is the room
they wait in before they're brought into court. But for
the last six weeks it's pretty much been a hub
of journalists. We are all in there with our laptops,

(05:33):
our charges, and where they're watching one big screen that's
usually fixed on the witness of the day and that
is where most of us will observe the trial from.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
So I would say in the first couple of weeks
there were about fifteen journals sitting in in the overflow room,
but I would say last week there was probably around
thirty to forty of us, some international media like the BBC.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
Yes, and the Daily Mail as well from the UK.
And when I walked into the overflow room on that day,
I think it was the Wednesday, I was almost taken
aback because there was usually many empty seats beforehand when
we were hearing from expert witnesses. It was very dense
evidence and on some of those days there weren't too
many of us in the overflow room, but like you said, Brook,

(06:18):
on that day there were dozens.

Speaker 1 (06:20):
And I think because you and I have been living
in more well, we're kind of in a vacuum in
our own little bubble in regards to the trial. But Dows,
can you speak to our listeners more about the international
interest We've done.

Speaker 3 (06:32):
Some radio pieces have been on the BBC. Brook, You've
been doing a piece with the Washington Post, was it, Yes?

Speaker 1 (06:39):
I spoke to a journalist from the Washington Post, so
he did an online story about the trial.

Speaker 3 (06:44):
There was a piece in the paper about a youtubeer
in America getting hundreds of thousands of subscribers. What have
you been noticing, Laura.

Speaker 2 (06:52):
There's also been a lot of content on TikTok, some
videos being produced by journalists but also influencers. There was
a girl who came down to court. I think it
was in the first week. She said she was an
influencer and she came along to record a video for
her followers on what it was like to sit in
on the trial.

Speaker 3 (07:09):
Ugh, influencers, All right, we'll move on.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
Dows doesn't like this time.

Speaker 3 (07:13):
I'm still working on my typewriter, so you know, all
these things are new to me.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
So last week we found out more about the timeline
of the trial after Justice Christopher Bill spoke to the
jury about it. Dows, can you talk our listeners through
what we can expect over the coming weeks.

Speaker 3 (07:29):
So the trial is going to go a little bit
longer than we first anticipated, but we haven't got that
much to go. We will hear the end of Aaron
Patterson's testimony, so she'll finish her cross examination, and then
they'll go back to her lawyer. They'll ask some more
questions to finish it off. Then she'll be excused from

(07:53):
the stand. She'll go back to the dock. Then what
happens is that they have closings, so both sides, the
prosecution and defense, will close. The defense will go last,
So that's the summation of the trial, and they'll be
telling the jury what verdict they think they should deliver
in the end. Then what happens is it Justice Beale
will address the jury with what they call a charge

(08:15):
to the jury, that's explaining the law and how the
evidence of the case will be. There'll be a summary
of that. Then they go out for verdict, and we
don't know when they'll come back.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
So I think it's fair to say that a few
of us will be camping outside the law courts, right.

Speaker 2 (08:32):
Yes, and who knows how many days.

Speaker 3 (08:34):
Will be there for that's right. Verdicts are stressful because
you don't know when they're coming back, and when they do,
it's quick, so you've got to get there and you've
got to be ready.

Speaker 1 (08:44):
But rest assured, we will be here and we'll be
giving you all the latest updates in the case. But
for now, head to the mushroomcook dot com dot au
for more