All Episodes

July 10, 2025 • 19 mins

Chris Webster was the country doctor who first alerted police to triple murderer Erin Patterson in a critical triple-0 call. After taking the stand, Dr Webster has been interviewed countless times — but there’s one interview that has everyone talking.

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.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Doctor Chris Webster's instincts was spot on with.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
The killer mushroom cook. Doctor Chris Webster said.

Speaker 3 (00:07):
Dost Chris Webster was This Webster treated Aaron Patterson after
that fatal mushroom lunch. Chris Webster has just clocked on
for a twenty four hour shift.

Speaker 4 (00:16):
He's become the man of the moment in the trial
of Aaron Patterson. Chris Webster, the doctor who was on
call when the guest of the deadly lunch went to
Lean and Gatha Hospital. He said a lot on the stand,
but he has said a lot more since. I'm Brooke
Greebert Craig and this is the mushroom Cook. Hi, Laura.

(00:38):
Nice to have you back in Melbourne with me.

Speaker 5 (00:41):
Yes, it's great to be back home. It's crazy to
think that for three months we were effectively living in
more Well. And it's actually been brought to my attention
that we've maybe been saying it wrong this whole time.
I've heard that the locals call it more so less
more well, more moral the more you know.

Speaker 4 (00:58):
If only I had known that eleven.

Speaker 5 (01:00):
Weeks ago, it would have been helpful.

Speaker 4 (01:02):
So as a court reporter, how are you feeling after
covering the trial.

Speaker 5 (01:06):
Yeah, we actually haven't seen each other for a few days. Obviously,
we were together on Monday, and then after the verdict
came down and we finished work that night, we both
went our separate ways. But it's been a big few days,
hasn't it.

Speaker 4 (01:18):
Yes, I think it's safe to say that we were
both kind of on an adrenaline rush for a couple
of days. But now that's kind of calming down.

Speaker 5 (01:26):
Yeah, it is. I actually think the adrenaline only wore
off for me yesterday. There's been a lot of work
we've all been doing after the verdict, a lot of
stories we've been writing, and a lot of things that
have come out since the day we found out that
Erin was a murderer. And at the center of one
of those stories was the straight shooting doctor Webster. And
you actually spoke to him nearly a month ago, isn't
that right, Brooke.

Speaker 4 (01:47):
Yes, that's right. So I did a phone interview with
doctor Webster on a Saturday morning on June fourteen, So
this was three weeks before we received a verdict, and
obviously we couldn't publish the story at the time. This
was me really preparing for after we got a verdict,
and you know, at this point in time, we didn't

(02:09):
really know when the trial would actually wrap up. I've
never spoken to doctor Webster before, so I really didn't
know how much he would say. But as I discovered
during the interview, he was really quite candid with the
words that he used. And we published in the Herald
Sun the day after the verdict, so on the Tuesday,

(02:30):
and from there, doctor Webster was really inundated with media
requests from across the country. I know he did TV interviews,
he did print stories, he also did radio interviews, and
to his credit, he did them all. But I do
believe that he was really the most candid with me.

Speaker 5 (02:49):
And you were telling me earlier that you actually touched
base with him today.

Speaker 4 (02:53):
Yes I did, And just to break the fourth war
with our listeners, Doctor Webster gave permission for us to
use the audio grabs from that phone interview that I
did with him three weeks ago, So in this podcast
episode we will throw to those throughout. The interview did
go for more than one hour, so I will flag

(03:15):
we can't include all of it, and as I mentioned before,
this was a phone interview, so the audio may not
be the best, but we've cleaned it up as best
we can.

Speaker 5 (03:25):
But there's also been a development, that's right.

Speaker 4 (03:28):
Unfortunately, Doctor Webster was telling me that members of the
public have actually reported him to OPERA, which is the
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, and apparently they reported him
for the language that he used during the interview that
he did with me. So clearly members of the public

(03:50):
are not happy with that, And to be honest with you,
I think it's quite unfair here. We have a doctor
who has been a witness in such a high profile
murder trial and hasn't really had the opportunity to speak
about his experience, and personally, I think just because he swears,
it doesn't make him any less of a doctor who

(04:12):
is fit to do his profession.

Speaker 5 (04:14):
Yeah, I one hundred percent agree. But as we do
take our listeners through the interview you did with him, Brook,
we will probably have to flag that our bleeper will
be getting a workout. Yes, that's right, So let's start
from the top to take our listeners back to the timeline.
Doctor Webster first enters the frame when Heather and Ian
arrive at Lee and Gatha Hospital the day after the

(04:36):
lunch he then attended to Erin when she rocked up
at the hospital the following day.

Speaker 4 (04:41):
Here's what he said.

Speaker 2 (04:43):
The thing about Aaron a person arriving, is that.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
I was like people in the department at that time
that Aaron arrived that was pretty frantically rushing around and
getting the treatment, the best treatment that we had available
to us organized.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
For Ian and Heather.

Speaker 3 (05:11):
And when you have got a lot of things that
a lot of people need to be doing, the what
you do is a doctor that oftenly becomes a sort
of delegation kind of you're not necessarily you know, I

(05:34):
could put a can your in, but the nurses are
putting the can your in you, So you're kind of
it's like a footy coach. I suppose you're sort of
keeping an eye on what everyone's doing and making sure
it's all flowing in the right direction. So my hands
were not busy doing something. And the doorbell, which is

(05:54):
actually the doorbell more accurately sort of it's like a
nurse call button, you know, when the patient's lying in
the hospital bed and they press that button to call
the notes.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
So that's that's pretty similar to.

Speaker 3 (06:07):
How the kids getting called a doorbell, and the description
of the court trial. But it's really a nurse call bell,
so it'll continue ringing until someone goes and stops it.
And it's hard enough to concentrate with all the alarms
and beefs and bells and whistles in urging care. So

(06:27):
I went to find out who was responsible for pressing
the doorbell, and when the person, the woman that was
sitting there, said the reason that she was there is
i've got gastro. The first thing I said after that

(06:49):
was just to make sure it was like a reeflex,
I suppose, what's your name?

Speaker 2 (06:56):
And she said Aaron.

Speaker 3 (06:58):
Purpison, and so I didn't recognize her. I didn't.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
I didn't know who the woman was.

Speaker 3 (07:05):
And when she said the name Aaron Patterson, having just
had a pretty shocking phone call from Dr Bart about
deathcout mushrooms, to have her sitting there, I was like, oh, okay,

(07:28):
but it gets you into the departments, which I mean
I sort of bypassed some protocols. Only a stable patient
that's sitting in the waiting area comfortably breathing and clearly
conscious and alert and not distressed. Normally, a patient my
dad might wait quite a while before being brought in

(07:51):
to the carbon and they would be assessed by a
trioch nurse first, but the I bypassed all that and
just brought straight.

Speaker 4 (08:00):
He went on to say, at the point that she
said Aaron Patterson, I was like, okay, we've got the
fifth member of the meal here.

Speaker 3 (08:11):
We can we can now concentrate on giving it all
the members of the luncheon the right treatment. But that
that sort was a fairly short lived. When I said
to her, uh, you know, concerned about deskot mushrooms, where

(08:36):
did you get the mushrooms? When she said, as opposed
to well, I'd pick my own mushrooms.

Speaker 2 (08:48):
I've always picked my own mushrooms.

Speaker 3 (08:51):
If she had said that, it would have been a
very different sort of mindset for me, because there would
have been that sort of instant kind of assumption that
it was all a tragic accident. But she, like a

(09:12):
said in court, and then she guess that single word answer.

Speaker 4 (09:16):
And in words that will stick with me for a
long time. He went on to tell me, so.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
Once once she says that answer, yeah, my thoughts were,
holy shit.

Speaker 2 (09:30):
You can do it. He's crazy been to view poison
the wall.

Speaker 4 (09:34):
So as our listeners can hear Doctor Webster was quite
candid and didn't really hold back at all. He went
on to say that that moment was a turning point
for him.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
Everything for me changed at that moment.

Speaker 3 (09:47):
That's from that moment, Oh you're okay, So you're a
sociopathic knut bad and you've done this, and every everything
I do from this point is obviously going to be Well,
everything I had done to that point and everything I
was going to do, I knew from that moment that

(10:08):
she said were worse that everything would be very closely
scrutinized under the microscope in the aftermath, because from that moment,
I knew, well, this is going to be a.

Speaker 2 (10:23):
Trial, this is going to be charges, this is going
to be.

Speaker 5 (10:28):
This is going to be a serpus So, as we
know from the trial, Aaron left hospital after only five
minutes of being there. Dr Webster then made that crucial
call to Triple zero. The jury heard that Dr Webster
made that call so police could perform a welfare check
on Erin, but it's pretty clear that by this stage
he also had his suspicions. Now Brook, our listeners actually

(10:51):
heard one of our colleagues voice that call in one
of our previous podcast episodes, but now we can finally
play you the actual audio of that call after it
was released by the Supreme Court.

Speaker 1 (11:03):
This is doctor Chris Webster calling from Lee and Gatha
Hospital and I have a concern regarding a patient that
presented here earlier but has left the building and is
potentially exposed to a fatal toxin from mushroom poisoning. And
I've tried several times to get hold of her on

(11:26):
her mobile phone. So before I get all that information,
in what address do you need the police to attend,
doctor Chris? So, well, should I give the hospital address
or the address.

Speaker 2 (11:35):
Of the patient if you know where they are their address?

Speaker 1 (11:38):
I have the address of the patient.

Speaker 5 (11:40):
Their conversation continued.

Speaker 2 (11:42):
What's her name?

Speaker 1 (11:43):
So the last name is Patterson Pattsom. First name Aaron
EERI muse you have a dot of birth thirtys of
September nineteen seventy four.

Speaker 2 (11:58):
When did she present at hospital.

Speaker 1 (12:02):
At eight five today?

Speaker 2 (12:05):
Yeah, mushroom poisoning, you said, yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:13):
So there were five people that ate a meal on
Saturday and two of them are in intensive care at
dand in On Hospital. Two have just been transferred from
lang at the hospital to dand in on hospital and
Aaron presented this morning with symptoms of poisoning.

Speaker 5 (12:31):
So this recording was one of dozens of exhibits released
to the media on the day of the verdict. It
was actually almost overwhelming. You and I were outside court
working on our laptops, and then all of a sudden,
I got this email and there was a link to
again dozens of exhibits. So our listeners would have remembered
us describing the exhibits on the podcast, for example, the

(12:54):
CCTV footage of Erin at the BP in Coldermeat and
the photos of the leftovers of the beef Wellington. So
it's been really nice to finally be able to publish
these exhibits for people to look and to listen themselves.

Speaker 4 (13:08):
Yes, I think people being able to actually get the
visual for themselves is really important in the storytelling of
the case. So, as we know, Aaron came back to
the hospital after more than one hour and doctor Webster
saw her again. Here's what he said about that interaction.

Speaker 3 (13:26):
So, knowing having perused her file in preparation through the
triple zero call, knowing that she had children, I asked
about the children and whether they had eaten any left over,
so that that information was provided as a result of
direct questioning. It wasn't volunteered or offered up by Aaron.

(13:50):
And then of course how the kids have eaten poisonous
as well? So and that's why I put the it's
into children that the children were medically desisted as well.

Speaker 4 (14:05):
He then went on to say he.

Speaker 3 (14:07):
Was talking to her about deathtat mushrooms and she wasn't
freaking out about the safety of her children.

Speaker 2 (14:15):
You know my thought looking at her eyes, you know
you're I don't know what planet you're on. It's not Earth.
So in other words, I thought she was disturbed.

Speaker 4 (14:25):
And as you can hear, once again he is quite candid.

Speaker 3 (14:29):
But basically I thought, oh shit, you did it and
you're crazy, and.

Speaker 2 (14:37):
Oh you know this is going to get used.

Speaker 5 (14:40):
And if I remember correctly, Brooke, Dr Webster actually said
that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to
be a witness in a high profile murder trial. But
he said it didn't come without regrets. Is that right?

Speaker 3 (14:51):
Yes?

Speaker 4 (14:52):
So doctor Webster treated in and Heather and he told
me that he wished that he probed heaven more when
she was in hospital, here's what he said.

Speaker 3 (15:02):
Heather said to me at one stage, I said, I'm
not much of a birthday celebration, so I'm sort of
fishing like a barrister. I suppose not much of a
birthday celebration. And Heather just sort of her eyes went downcast,

(15:23):
and she sort of shook her head a little bit
and said, oh, it wasn't It wasn't a birthday celebration.

Speaker 2 (15:29):
And she didn't elaborate.

Speaker 3 (15:30):
And I will never forgive myself for not asking further
questions because I realized that I had.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
Hit upon something.

Speaker 4 (15:39):
During our interview, doctor Webster said some incredibly kind words
about the lunch guests, but in particular about Heather.

Speaker 3 (15:46):
I think what's been lost a bit in the trial
is just how humble and decent these people are that
were the victors, and a lot of people in urgent
here quite aggressive, hostile, even when you're trying to help them.

Speaker 2 (16:06):
As the doctor so said, Heather to be.

Speaker 3 (16:10):
Pushed into the back of an ambulance and just before
the door closed for her to say to me, thank you,
thank you, Doctor Webson for all your care.

Speaker 2 (16:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (16:20):
That the look on her face, the sincerity of her
gratitude and the door sort of closing on her a
bit like the final scene and the Godfather.

Speaker 2 (16:31):
Yeah, that'll haunt me, that will halt me forever.

Speaker 5 (16:35):
Another part of the interview I remember finding interesting was
that Dr Webster said Aaron greased him off when he
gave evidence.

Speaker 4 (16:43):
Yes, you know what, this didn't actually surprise me. I
think when you and I were both in the court
observing Aaron, we could see that she most of the
time had a really stern look on her face. Here's
what Doctor Webster said about that.

Speaker 3 (16:58):
I was so nervous about giving my evidence, and I
looked over and then and these sort of searing hot
daggers shot out of her eyes and went straight into
my brain. But she didn't just briefly off. She greased
off my wife. She a greased off the Mitchell who
drove children and me to court that day. So and
we all were all sort of debriefed in the car ride.

Speaker 2 (17:20):
On the way home.

Speaker 3 (17:21):
Did you look at any stage she came in the
stinky stink I could, So there was all a lot
of anger and hostility in her look when she was
incarcerated and.

Speaker 2 (17:34):
Sitting in the.

Speaker 3 (17:36):
Accused dock. A triple word of trol so a different flavor,
but the same level of severe sort of disturbance and
normal sort of human behavior and personality.

Speaker 5 (17:54):
As our listeners will know. Ultimately, the prosecution did not
provide a motive to the jury. Since the verdicts, everyone
has been drawing their own conclusions.

Speaker 4 (18:04):
Yes, you and I have had many discussions, just like
I have had with Dows, as we mentioned on yesterday's episode.
But Doctor Webster also drew his own conclusions as to
why he thinks that Aaron murdered her lunch guests.

Speaker 3 (18:19):
I think that the reason is he did something so
extreme is because she wouldn't see any other way to
have life the way she wanted it.

Speaker 2 (18:34):
Without these people are being out of the picture.

Speaker 4 (18:38):
He continued.

Speaker 2 (18:40):
I think once she got onto.

Speaker 3 (18:44):
The train track that led to the destination, that there
was no ability for her to get offered, and a
sort of someone coming up and just slipping across the
face and saying you break out of it, or maybe
having some electorc renvulsive through shey or something. That she's
obviously an intelligent, capable individual. That and I would say

(19:08):
that the planning and that strategizing and foraging and chopping
things up and all of that probably gave her a
sense of calm. It probably acted a bit like a
anti depressant for like a bit low value or something
that you know, it's time she did something that brought
her closer to this life that was free of these people.

Speaker 2 (19:32):
That were so bad to her.

Speaker 4 (19:35):
And with doctor Webster in the public eye this week,
we just want to wish him well. And doctor Webster,
if you're listening, thank you so much for talking to
me all those weeks.

Speaker 5 (19:44):
Ago, well said Brook. And with that we're off for today,
but we'll be back tomorrow for another episode.

Speaker 4 (19:51):
Stay tuned.
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

24/7 News: The Latest
Crime Junkie

Crime Junkie

Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.