June 11, 2025 • 15 mins
Erin Patterson faced another grilling in the witness box today as her claims about the mushrooms at the centre of this case were put under the microscope.
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.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I suggest you weren't very very helpful to the department
at all.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I was trying to be that was untrue, incorrect.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
In fact, you sent them on a wild goose chase
trying to locate this Asian grocer correct or incorrect, incorrect.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Accused mushroom cook killer Aaron Pattison face Crown Prosecutor Nannette
Rodgers in the witness box again today. Virtually every claim
that Aaron made about the mushrooms at the center of
this case was put under the microscope, from her evidence
that she was a forager, to a story about dried
mushrooms from an Asian grocer, to the phone records that
(00:38):
suggested she traveled to locations where death caps had been sighted.
The exchanges between the two came in thick and fast,
and will break them all down today. I'm Brooke Greebert Craig,
and this is the mushroom cook. We've reached day thirty
of Aaron Patterson's murder trial, and as always I'm joy
(01:00):
by my colleague court reporter Laura Ploseller.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Today almost feels like a milestone day thirty and it
was also Erin's seventh day in the witness box, so
She's had three days so far of evidence in chief
and this was her fourth day of cross examination.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
As I mentioned in the intro, there was a lot
of questions around mushrooms today, so let's get into it
and start with the topic of foraging. The prosecution accused
Erin of not having an interest in it.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Erin denied that she lied about having an interest in foraging.
To explain how wild mushrooms ended up in her beef
Wellington meal last week, Erin told the jury that she
started foraging for mushrooms around twenty twenty during the COVID lockdowns,
and spoke about becoming more confident when foraging after doing
some research and getting to a point where she felt
(01:51):
like she could eat some of the mushrooms she had picked.
But today doctor Rogers suggested that Erin did not have
this interest in foraging, and brought her to the book
located by police during the search at her house on
August five and later cataloged. She said police found more
than four hundred books, and Aaron agreed today that probably
none of those books were on foraging. She did add, though,
(02:14):
that at the time of the search she had hundreds
more books in her garage that she was yet to
unpack after moving.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Doctor Rodgers then took Erin to the evidence of her children,
who told investigators that they did not recall picking mushrooms
with their mum.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Erin was taken today to the pre recorded evidence of
her children where they were asked these specific questions around foraging.
Doctor Rogers then suggested to Erin that her children never
knew her to pick wild mushrooms, but Erin disagreed. After that,
doctor Rogers went on to say, this is a story
you have made up for this jury. Agree or disagree.
(02:52):
Erin disagreed with that statement.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Moving on now, Doctor Rodgers suggested to Erin that she
traveled to Locke on April twenty eight, eight, twenty twenty three,
and lock An Outram on May twenty two, and this
was to find deathcap mushrooms after they were cited on
citizen website I naturalist.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
Doctor Rogers was relying on the evidence of digital forensics
expert Dr Matthew Cerell to make these suggestions. Earlier in
the trial, doctor Cerell told the court that he examined
Erin's phone records and concluded that she made possible visits
to these areas on those dates.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Let's start with the possible visit to lock. On April
twenty eight.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Doctor Rogers suggested to Erin that she traveled to Locke
from Lee and Gatha on this day after she saw
an ironaturalist post by Christine McKenzie on April eighteen, ten
days earlier that said there were deathcap mushrooms growing in
a reserve in Locke. This was not the only suggestion
Doctor Rogers made to Erin. Here's their exchange today. It's
(03:58):
their words, but not their voices.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I suggest you drove to Locke from your house at
Leongatha to specifically find death cap mushrooms on the twenty
eighth of April. Disagree, and I suggest that you found
some Agree or disagree? Disagree, And I suggest that within
two hours of finding those death cap mushrooms you drove
to the Hartley Wells Better Home Living in Leongatha and
(04:21):
bought yourself a dehydrator at twelve seventeen PM.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
I did buy that that day, yes.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
And the purpose of buying the dehydrator was to dehydrate
death cap mushrooms. Agree or disagree?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Disagree.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
Doctor Rogers then suggested that on April thirty, two days
after traveling to Locke that Erin practiced by dehydrating button
mushrooms from Woolworth's. The jury was shown a photo extracted
from Erin's tablet that showed button mushrooms on a dehydrated tray,
before another photo was shown of yellow tinged mushrooms on
(04:56):
a similar tray. Doctor Rogers claimed that rain was practicing
so she would not waste the death caps she had
just found, since she wanted to preserve them. She went
on to suggest that the yellow tinged mushrooms were the
death caps themselves, but Erin denied that she was practicing,
saying she dehydrated the button mushrooms to simply eat them.
(05:19):
Erin was then asked about another possible visit her phone
made to lock on May twenty two. Doctor Rogers put
to Erin that she went back to this reserve because
she thought there might have been more deathcap mushrooms growing
at the location that Miss Mackenzie had previously geotagged.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Erin was then taken to doctor Sorel's evidence about another
possible visit her phone made on May twenty two, but
this time to Outram. This was one day after an
i naturalist post by doctor Tom May, where he reported
seeing death cap mushrooms growing in the area.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
I suggest that you traveled from lean Gather to Outrim
on twenty sive second of May twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
No, I didn't.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
I suggest you went to Nielsen Street in Outram correct
or incorrect incorrect. I suggest that you had read Dr
Tom May's post dated twenty first of May twenty three
of his sighting of deathcap mushrooms in Nielsen Street, Outram
on the Eye Naturalist website. Agree or disagree?
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Disagree.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
I suggest that you went to Nielsen Street in Outrim
looking for the death cap mushrooms as posted by Dr
Tom May. Agree or disagree, disagree, and that's why your
phone was I suggest stationary between approximately eleven twenty four
am and eleven forty one am.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Disagree.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Do you agree that you had no legitimate reason to
travel to Outram on twenty second of May twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
No, I don't agree with that.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
On another topic, let's talk about the Asian grosser. The
jury has previously heard that Aaron told officials that she
had used mushrooms from Wolworths and dried mushrooms from an
Asian groser in the beef Wellington dish, but doctor Rodgers
suggested to Erin that she never bought mushrooms from an
Asian grocer in April twenty twenty three and did not
(07:10):
use them in the mill. Aaron denied both of these claims.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
She spoke today about not having a distinct memory of
the purchase, but remembered buying them in April around the
school holidays. She then went on to say that she
dehydrated these dried mushrooms at some stage because they appeared
rubbery and she wanted to make them crispier.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Doctor Rogers then suggested to Aarin that she was deliberately
vague when she was asked by officials about the suburb
of the Asian grocer. She said Aaron was familiar with
Mount Waverley and the adjoining areas such as glem Waverley,
Oakley and Clayton. This was because Aaron owned a property
in Mount Waverley and previously worked for the Monash City Council.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
I suggest you're very familiar with Mount Waverley correct or incorrect,
incorrec I suggest that you're also familiar with the adjoining areas,
which include Glen Waverley, Oakley, and Clayton correct or incorrect.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
I'm familiar with them, yes.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
And yet you're unable to tell any person with any
degree of certainty where it was that you purchased these
dried mushrooms.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
That's correct.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
In fact, I suggest that you were deliberately vague about
the suburb when you were asked about it. Correct or incorrect, incorrect.
Your story kept changing, I suggest I don't think it did.
Your description of the packaging kept changing. I suggest I
don't think it did. And that's because the Asian grosser
story was a deliberate lie. Correct incorrect.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
Doctor Rogers then took Erin to a record of interview
where she told detectives that she had been very helpful
during the Department of Health's investigation. But doctor Rogers suggested
to Erin today that she had not been very helpful.
Our listener's heard part of this exchange at the top
of the episode, but here's more of what was said.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
In fact, you you sent them on a wild goose
chase trying to locate this Asian grosser correct or incorrect, incorrect.
Initially you were not very responsive to the Department of Health.
I think that's been your evidence.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
No, it's not my evidence. The first time she rang me,
I answered and spoke to her for fifteen minutes.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
The first on first of August twenty twenty three at
eight thirty three am.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
But then you didn't respond to some of the other
texts correct.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Correct. And I think we have established why that was already.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
And I suggest that the reason that you didn't answer
some of those texts from her was because you didn't
want to be pressed for details about the Asian grosers. Incorrect,
because that story was not true.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Incorrect.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
It was a lie that you used dried mushrooms from
an Asian grosser correct or incorrect.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Incorrect.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
You lied about the source of the death cat mushrooms
because you knew you were guilty of having deliberately poisoned
your four lunch guests.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Incorrect.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Okay, let's move on. Aaron was asked about the beef
Wellington recipe she followed in a best selling recipe Tin
Eats cookbook. The recipe called for seven hundred grams of
sliced mushrooms.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Erin was then taken to a Woolworth's transaction history that
indicated that she bought a kilo of sliced mushrooms on
July twenty three, and another seven hundred and fifty grams
on July twenty seven, two days before the lunch. Erin
disagreed that by July twenty nine she had all of
these mushrooms still in her kitchen. She said only seven
(10:27):
hundred and fifty grams remained. Doctor Rogers asked her where
the other kilo of mushrooms went, and Erin replied, I
ate them. She then suggested to Erin that she had
no need to use any additional mushrooms outside those she
had bought from Woolworths, considering she had more than the
recipe required. But Erin last week told the court that
(10:48):
she added the mushrooms into the paste that would be
used to cover the meat because she said it tasted
a little bland. She told the court that she grabbed
the dried mushrooms from the Asian grosser from her pan
that she had put in a container. She explained that
she chopped them up and then sprinkled them over the
mushroom paste. At the time, she said she only believed
(11:10):
the dried mushrooms were in that container, But she told
the jury last week that in the days after the lunch,
she started to think there was a possibility there were
foraged mushrooms in that container as well. Erin had previously
described the dried mushrooms as pungent, but she disputed today
that they were too overpowering for the beef wellington. She said,
(11:32):
I thought it was the perfect dish for them.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Doctor Rogers also took Erin to her testimony that her
children ate leftovers of the beef wellington for dinner on
July thirty, and this is the day after the lunch
Aaron told the jury last week she prepared a six
beef wellington, which she said she gave to her children
after scraping off the mushrooms and pastry and leaving the steak.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
Doctor Rogers then suggested to Erin that she lied about
her children eating the steak of the six beef wellington.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
I suggest that you told well over a dozen people,
including your son and daughter, health professionals, child protection workers, police,
and a friend, that you had fed your children the
same meal that you had served at lunch on twenty
ninth of July twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Oh, I was pretty clear it was the meal minus
the mushrooms and pastry, so not the same. But yes, But.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Isn't it the fact that on Sunday, the thirtieth of
July you found out at least Don and Gail were unwell.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Yes, I did find out about that.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
So why did you proceed to feed the same meal
to your children when you knew or suspected that the
meal that you'd served had made them ill?
Speaker 2 (12:39):
I didn't. I don't know or suspect that.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Your son gave evidence in his recorded interview that you
told him that Gail and Don were not well. Do
you remember that evidence?
Speaker 2 (12:48):
I do.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
You told that to your son.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
I'm sure I did on Sunday night. I don't know
when on the Sunday or I don't know when I
told him that, but I did tell him.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
Doctor Rogers had more questions for or they accused about
the leftovers.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
You repeatedly told police you had scraped the mushrooms off
in an attempt to explain why the children were not sick.
Agree or disagree.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
I don't think I've repeatedly told them, but I did
tell them.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
You told a number of people you had scraped the
mushrooms off, correct, correct, And I suggest that was an
attempt to explain why your children were not sick. No,
you told the lie about feeding leftovers from the beef
Wellington to your children. I suggest because it gave you
some distance from a deliberate poisoning.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
I don't see how it could, but I disagree anyway.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Finally, the topic moved away from mushrooms and to the
issue of Erin's gastric bypass surgery. What did the jury
hear about that today?
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Laura Erin previously testified that she had a pre surgery
appointment at the Enridge Clinic in Melbourne on September thirteen,
twenty twenty three, but yesterday the jury heard that the
clinic specializes in cosmetic dermatology and doesn't offer gastric bypass surge.
Doctor Rogers peppered Errand with questions after she was provided
(14:04):
with a record from the clinic.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Firstly, do you accept that the Enriched Clinic does not offer,
and has never offered, gastric bypass surgery?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Secondly, do you accept that the Enriched Clinic does not offer,
and has never offered pre surgery assessments relating to gastric
bypass surgery?
Speaker 2 (14:22):
I do.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
And Thirdly, do you accept that the Enriched Clinic only
conducts examinations and procedures relating to the skin and its
appendages such as hair and nails.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I do to finish off, It's safe to say the
jury got their steps in today, didn't they, Laura.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
Yeah, they really did. This afternoon when doctor Rogers was
continuing her cross examination, there were certain questions that got
asked that led to objections by defense barrister mister Mandy.
The jury have become accustomed to this idea of once
an objection is raised, there might need to be a
discussion in their absence between the parties and Justice Christopher Beale,
(15:02):
and that happened quite a few times today. So they
were in and out of the courtroom a few times,
and I think on one occasion they'd only been in
their seats for about a minute or two before they
were asked to leave again, which did prompt some laughs
from the courtroom.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Yes it did. And Aaron will be back in the
witness box tomorrow, so stay tuned for our episode then,
but for now, go to the mushroomcook dot com dot
au to stay updated on the case.
I suggest you weren't very very helpful to the department
at all.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I was trying to be that was untrue, incorrect.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
In fact, you sent them on a wild goose chase
trying to locate this Asian grocer correct or incorrect, incorrect.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Accused mushroom cook killer Aaron Pattison face Crown Prosecutor Nannette
Rodgers in the witness box again today. Virtually every claim
that Aaron made about the mushrooms at the center of
this case was put under the microscope, from her evidence
that she was a forager, to a story about dried
mushrooms from an Asian grocer, to the phone records that
(00:38):
suggested she traveled to locations where death caps had been sighted.
The exchanges between the two came in thick and fast,
and will break them all down today. I'm Brooke Greebert Craig,
and this is the mushroom cook. We've reached day thirty
of Aaron Patterson's murder trial, and as always I'm joy
(01:00):
by my colleague court reporter Laura Ploseller.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Today almost feels like a milestone day thirty and it
was also Erin's seventh day in the witness box, so
She's had three days so far of evidence in chief
and this was her fourth day of cross examination.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
As I mentioned in the intro, there was a lot
of questions around mushrooms today, so let's get into it
and start with the topic of foraging. The prosecution accused
Erin of not having an interest in it.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Erin denied that she lied about having an interest in foraging.
To explain how wild mushrooms ended up in her beef
Wellington meal last week, Erin told the jury that she
started foraging for mushrooms around twenty twenty during the COVID lockdowns,
and spoke about becoming more confident when foraging after doing
some research and getting to a point where she felt
(01:51):
like she could eat some of the mushrooms she had picked.
But today doctor Rogers suggested that Erin did not have
this interest in foraging, and brought her to the book
located by police during the search at her house on
August five and later cataloged. She said police found more
than four hundred books, and Aaron agreed today that probably
none of those books were on foraging. She did add, though,
(02:14):
that at the time of the search she had hundreds
more books in her garage that she was yet to
unpack after moving.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Doctor Rodgers then took Erin to the evidence of her children,
who told investigators that they did not recall picking mushrooms
with their mum.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Erin was taken today to the pre recorded evidence of
her children where they were asked these specific questions around foraging.
Doctor Rogers then suggested to Erin that her children never
knew her to pick wild mushrooms, but Erin disagreed. After that,
doctor Rogers went on to say, this is a story
you have made up for this jury. Agree or disagree.
(02:52):
Erin disagreed with that statement.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Moving on now, Doctor Rodgers suggested to Erin that she
traveled to Locke on April twenty eight, eight, twenty twenty three,
and lock An Outram on May twenty two, and this
was to find deathcap mushrooms after they were cited on
citizen website I naturalist.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
Doctor Rogers was relying on the evidence of digital forensics
expert Dr Matthew Cerell to make these suggestions. Earlier in
the trial, doctor Cerell told the court that he examined
Erin's phone records and concluded that she made possible visits
to these areas on those dates.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Let's start with the possible visit to lock. On April
twenty eight.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Doctor Rogers suggested to Erin that she traveled to Locke
from Lee and Gatha on this day after she saw
an ironaturalist post by Christine McKenzie on April eighteen, ten
days earlier that said there were deathcap mushrooms growing in
a reserve in Locke. This was not the only suggestion
Doctor Rogers made to Erin. Here's their exchange today. It's
(03:58):
their words, but not their voices.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I suggest you drove to Locke from your house at
Leongatha to specifically find death cap mushrooms on the twenty
eighth of April. Disagree, and I suggest that you found
some Agree or disagree? Disagree, And I suggest that within
two hours of finding those death cap mushrooms you drove
to the Hartley Wells Better Home Living in Leongatha and
(04:21):
bought yourself a dehydrator at twelve seventeen PM.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
I did buy that that day, yes.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
And the purpose of buying the dehydrator was to dehydrate
death cap mushrooms. Agree or disagree?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Disagree.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
Doctor Rogers then suggested that on April thirty, two days
after traveling to Locke that Erin practiced by dehydrating button
mushrooms from Woolworth's. The jury was shown a photo extracted
from Erin's tablet that showed button mushrooms on a dehydrated tray,
before another photo was shown of yellow tinged mushrooms on
(04:56):
a similar tray. Doctor Rogers claimed that rain was practicing
so she would not waste the death caps she had
just found, since she wanted to preserve them. She went
on to suggest that the yellow tinged mushrooms were the
death caps themselves, but Erin denied that she was practicing,
saying she dehydrated the button mushrooms to simply eat them.
(05:19):
Erin was then asked about another possible visit her phone
made to lock on May twenty two. Doctor Rogers put
to Erin that she went back to this reserve because
she thought there might have been more deathcap mushrooms growing
at the location that Miss Mackenzie had previously geotagged.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Erin was then taken to doctor Sorel's evidence about another
possible visit her phone made on May twenty two, but
this time to Outram. This was one day after an
i naturalist post by doctor Tom May, where he reported
seeing death cap mushrooms growing in the area.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
I suggest that you traveled from lean Gather to Outrim
on twenty sive second of May twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
No, I didn't.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
I suggest you went to Nielsen Street in Outram correct
or incorrect incorrect. I suggest that you had read Dr
Tom May's post dated twenty first of May twenty three
of his sighting of deathcap mushrooms in Nielsen Street, Outram
on the Eye Naturalist website. Agree or disagree?
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Disagree.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
I suggest that you went to Nielsen Street in Outrim
looking for the death cap mushrooms as posted by Dr
Tom May. Agree or disagree, disagree, and that's why your
phone was I suggest stationary between approximately eleven twenty four
am and eleven forty one am.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Disagree.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Do you agree that you had no legitimate reason to
travel to Outram on twenty second of May twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
No, I don't agree with that.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
On another topic, let's talk about the Asian grosser. The
jury has previously heard that Aaron told officials that she
had used mushrooms from Wolworths and dried mushrooms from an
Asian groser in the beef Wellington dish, but doctor Rodgers
suggested to Erin that she never bought mushrooms from an
Asian grocer in April twenty twenty three and did not
(07:10):
use them in the mill. Aaron denied both of these claims.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
She spoke today about not having a distinct memory of
the purchase, but remembered buying them in April around the
school holidays. She then went on to say that she
dehydrated these dried mushrooms at some stage because they appeared
rubbery and she wanted to make them crispier.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Doctor Rogers then suggested to Aarin that she was deliberately
vague when she was asked by officials about the suburb
of the Asian grocer. She said Aaron was familiar with
Mount Waverley and the adjoining areas such as glem Waverley,
Oakley and Clayton. This was because Aaron owned a property
in Mount Waverley and previously worked for the Monash City Council.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
I suggest you're very familiar with Mount Waverley correct or incorrect,
incorrec I suggest that you're also familiar with the adjoining areas,
which include Glen Waverley, Oakley, and Clayton correct or incorrect.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
I'm familiar with them, yes.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
And yet you're unable to tell any person with any
degree of certainty where it was that you purchased these
dried mushrooms.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
That's correct.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
In fact, I suggest that you were deliberately vague about
the suburb when you were asked about it. Correct or incorrect, incorrect.
Your story kept changing, I suggest I don't think it did.
Your description of the packaging kept changing. I suggest I
don't think it did. And that's because the Asian grosser
story was a deliberate lie. Correct incorrect.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
Doctor Rogers then took Erin to a record of interview
where she told detectives that she had been very helpful
during the Department of Health's investigation. But doctor Rogers suggested
to Erin today that she had not been very helpful.
Our listener's heard part of this exchange at the top
of the episode, but here's more of what was said.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
In fact, you you sent them on a wild goose
chase trying to locate this Asian grosser correct or incorrect, incorrect.
Initially you were not very responsive to the Department of Health.
I think that's been your evidence.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
No, it's not my evidence. The first time she rang me,
I answered and spoke to her for fifteen minutes.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
The first on first of August twenty twenty three at
eight thirty three am.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
But then you didn't respond to some of the other
texts correct.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Correct. And I think we have established why that was already.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
And I suggest that the reason that you didn't answer
some of those texts from her was because you didn't
want to be pressed for details about the Asian grosers. Incorrect,
because that story was not true.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Incorrect.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
It was a lie that you used dried mushrooms from
an Asian grosser correct or incorrect.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Incorrect.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
You lied about the source of the death cat mushrooms
because you knew you were guilty of having deliberately poisoned
your four lunch guests.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Incorrect.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Okay, let's move on. Aaron was asked about the beef
Wellington recipe she followed in a best selling recipe Tin
Eats cookbook. The recipe called for seven hundred grams of
sliced mushrooms.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Erin was then taken to a Woolworth's transaction history that
indicated that she bought a kilo of sliced mushrooms on
July twenty three, and another seven hundred and fifty grams
on July twenty seven, two days before the lunch. Erin
disagreed that by July twenty nine she had all of
these mushrooms still in her kitchen. She said only seven
(10:27):
hundred and fifty grams remained. Doctor Rogers asked her where
the other kilo of mushrooms went, and Erin replied, I
ate them. She then suggested to Erin that she had
no need to use any additional mushrooms outside those she
had bought from Woolworths, considering she had more than the
recipe required. But Erin last week told the court that
(10:48):
she added the mushrooms into the paste that would be
used to cover the meat because she said it tasted
a little bland. She told the court that she grabbed
the dried mushrooms from the Asian grosser from her pan
that she had put in a container. She explained that
she chopped them up and then sprinkled them over the
mushroom paste. At the time, she said she only believed
(11:10):
the dried mushrooms were in that container, But she told
the jury last week that in the days after the lunch,
she started to think there was a possibility there were
foraged mushrooms in that container as well. Erin had previously
described the dried mushrooms as pungent, but she disputed today
that they were too overpowering for the beef wellington. She said,
(11:32):
I thought it was the perfect dish for them.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Doctor Rogers also took Erin to her testimony that her
children ate leftovers of the beef wellington for dinner on
July thirty, and this is the day after the lunch
Aaron told the jury last week she prepared a six
beef wellington, which she said she gave to her children
after scraping off the mushrooms and pastry and leaving the steak.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
Doctor Rogers then suggested to Erin that she lied about
her children eating the steak of the six beef wellington.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
I suggest that you told well over a dozen people,
including your son and daughter, health professionals, child protection workers, police,
and a friend, that you had fed your children the
same meal that you had served at lunch on twenty
ninth of July twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Oh, I was pretty clear it was the meal minus
the mushrooms and pastry, so not the same. But yes, But.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Isn't it the fact that on Sunday, the thirtieth of
July you found out at least Don and Gail were unwell.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Yes, I did find out about that.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
So why did you proceed to feed the same meal
to your children when you knew or suspected that the
meal that you'd served had made them ill?
Speaker 2 (12:39):
I didn't. I don't know or suspect that.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Your son gave evidence in his recorded interview that you
told him that Gail and Don were not well. Do
you remember that evidence?
Speaker 2 (12:48):
I do.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
You told that to your son.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
I'm sure I did on Sunday night. I don't know
when on the Sunday or I don't know when I
told him that, but I did tell him.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
Doctor Rogers had more questions for or they accused about
the leftovers.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
You repeatedly told police you had scraped the mushrooms off
in an attempt to explain why the children were not sick.
Agree or disagree.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
I don't think I've repeatedly told them, but I did
tell them.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
You told a number of people you had scraped the
mushrooms off, correct, correct, And I suggest that was an
attempt to explain why your children were not sick. No,
you told the lie about feeding leftovers from the beef
Wellington to your children. I suggest because it gave you
some distance from a deliberate poisoning.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
I don't see how it could, but I disagree anyway.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Finally, the topic moved away from mushrooms and to the
issue of Erin's gastric bypass surgery. What did the jury
hear about that today?
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Laura Erin previously testified that she had a pre surgery
appointment at the Enridge Clinic in Melbourne on September thirteen,
twenty twenty three, but yesterday the jury heard that the
clinic specializes in cosmetic dermatology and doesn't offer gastric bypass surge.
Doctor Rogers peppered Errand with questions after she was provided
(14:04):
with a record from the clinic.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Firstly, do you accept that the Enriched Clinic does not offer,
and has never offered, gastric bypass surgery?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Secondly, do you accept that the Enriched Clinic does not offer,
and has never offered pre surgery assessments relating to gastric
bypass surgery?
Speaker 2 (14:22):
I do.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
And Thirdly, do you accept that the Enriched Clinic only
conducts examinations and procedures relating to the skin and its
appendages such as hair and nails.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I do to finish off, It's safe to say the
jury got their steps in today, didn't they, Laura.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
Yeah, they really did. This afternoon when doctor Rogers was
continuing her cross examination, there were certain questions that got
asked that led to objections by defense barrister mister Mandy.
The jury have become accustomed to this idea of once
an objection is raised, there might need to be a
discussion in their absence between the parties and Justice Christopher Beale,
(15:02):
and that happened quite a few times today. So they
were in and out of the courtroom a few times,
and I think on one occasion they'd only been in
their seats for about a minute or two before they
were asked to leave again, which did prompt some laughs
from the courtroom.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Yes it did. And Aaron will be back in the
witness box tomorrow, so stay tuned for our episode then,
but for now, go to the mushroomcook dot com dot
au to stay updated on the case.
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