May 26, 2025 • 17 mins
A health adviser, a pathologist and two forensic officers from Victoria Police all took to the witness box today – but a man in a yellow t-shirt also wanted to have his say.
The Mushroom Cook team is Brooke Grebert-Craig, Laura Placella, Anthony Dowsley, Jordy Atkinson and Jonty Burton
Our intern is Jasmine Geddes.
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):
Hi, Erin Sally from the Department of Health. I spoke
with you this morning. I've left a message for you
to call me, but thought it might be helpful if
I let you know the sort of information I want
to discuss. I need to know what drinks were served
at the lunch. I also need to know what type
of shalots you purchased. And if you could please give
me a basic description of the packaging of the mushrooms
from the Asian grocer, that would be good. Approximate weight
(00:23):
and size of the packaging, was it partially see through
or not? And if you think of the names of
the roads you were parking on or near when you
went to the different grocery stores, then I can get
the officers out looking around those areas. Even a landmark
you might have remembered at the time would be helpful.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Hi, Sally, sure, I will try to get that information
all to you as soon as possible. I'm just dealing
with trying to manage and look after the kids in
hospital here and a bit snowed under trying to manage that.
I'll get this info to you as soon as I can,
but I've just been in a couple of meetings with
people at the hospital when you've been trying to call.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
In the early days after the mushroom line, which Sally
Ann Atkinson messaged Aaron Patterson searching for information, she was
desperate to make sure poisonous ingredients hadn't found their way
into grocery stores across Victoria, desperate to make sure there
was no risk to the community. She described her search
(01:18):
and what Erin told her today in court. I'm Brooke
Greebert Craig, and this is the Mushroom Cook. It's week five,
day nineteen of Aaron Patterson's murder trial, and once again
I'm here in our makeshift podcast studio with my colleague
court reporter Laura Plasela. Hi, Laura, Hey, Brook.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
I cannot believe we are in week five.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
I know it's crazy. Time flies when you're having fun, and.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
I will say it seems like our podcast studio is
back to normal. Thank god.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
We had quite a number of witnesses in court today
for to be exact, we also had a man briefly
interrupt the proceedings, but we'll talk more on that later.
Let's start with our first witness, Sally Ann Atkinson. She
is a senior public health advisor at the Department of Health.
She took the stand today and spoke about several phone
(02:10):
calls and text message exchanges she had with Erin from
August one, twenty twenty three, So this is three days
after the lunch on July twenty nine.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Yes, that's right. Miss Atkinson told the jury today that
she received a disease notification relating to suspected deathcat mushroom poisoning,
and she spoke with a toxicologist from Austin Health who
filled her in on some of the details around the lunch.
Miss Atkinson told the court that she then spoke to
(02:42):
Erin to gather some more details. She spoke first about
the symptoms Aaron was experiencing, considering on August one, Erin
was herself at Monash Medical Center. She said that Erin
told her she had been experiencing explosive diarrhea the night
of the lunch that July twenty nine, and then every
(03:03):
forty five minutes she was experiencing the same on July thirty.
She said she started to feel better that night, but
the next morning, on July thirty one, when she had
a bowl of cereal, she began to feel worse, and
that was the morning she went to lean Gatha Hospital.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Miss Atkinson also said that Aaron told her about how
she served the beef wellington.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Yes, Miss Atkinson said she did ask Aaron some questions
about the lunch. Erin confirmed she made a beef wellington
that was served with mashed potatoes and beans, and she
told her all the beef Wellingtons were plated individually and
everyone around that table had the same food. Did jury
have heard previously that Erin used a best selling recipe
(03:46):
Tin Eats cookbook to make the beef wellington? And she
told Miss Atkinson that she had never made the meal
before and she wanted to do something fancy for her guests.
Miss Atkinson was really trying to gather as much information
as she could, so she also asked Erin about the
mushrooms she used in the beef wellington meal. Aaron told
her some of the mushrooms she used were purchased from
(04:08):
a Woolworths and leand Gatha, and said she also used
dried mushrooms that she purchased from an Asian grosser months earlier.
In April, she explained to Miss Atkinson that she no
longer had the packaging for the dried mushrooms, but she
remembers it being a small sea through bag with a
white label, noting that it didn't look very professional, and
she told miss Atkinson that she bought the dried mushrooms
(04:31):
in the first place because she wanted to use them
for a pasta dish. She noted that they smelled funny
when she opened the packaging, but miss Atkinson told the
court that Erin indicated to her that she could have
still used some of them in the meal.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Miss Atkinson then told the jury she attended a group
meeting with the Deputy Chief Health Officers, members of the
Food Safety Unit, and the department's media team. During this meeting,
they established that they needed to start and investigate.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
It's been a while since I've heard the words chief
Health officer. Definitely felt like a throwback to COVID, but
miss Atkinson was explaining that there was quite a lot
of urgency around getting answers and trying to figure out,
like you said at the top of the episode, Brook,
whether there were any products being sold across Victoria that
would put members of the public at risk. She came
(05:21):
out of that meeting and tried to call Erin, but
she didn't pick up, so she sent a text instead,
and that was the exchange you heard at the top
of the episode. Since Erin had told Miss Atkinson she
was quite snowed under, she told the court that she
did not hear back from her until the next day.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
So then what happened On August two?
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Miss Atkinson said she sent Erin another text message, and
this was in the morning, around nine point thirty, and
she was asking Erin to confirm a number of things.
These included whether she had only cooked with the dried
mushrooms once, whether any drinks were served at the lunch,
whether she used a credit card to purchase the dried mushrooms,
and she even asked her to confirm what shalotts she
(06:02):
had used in the meal. Miss Atkinson told the court
that she didn't receive a reply from Erin, but later
that day she received a phone call from Katrina Cripps
from Child Protection. Our listeners may remember Miss Cripps she
gave evidence earlier in this trial, and she was actually
at Aaron's house on August two to conduct a visit
and she handed Erin a phone so she could talk
(06:24):
to Miss Atkinson directly.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
So did Erin actually answer any of Miss Atkinson's questions.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
She did so over the phone. Miss Atkinson said that
Erin confirmed the guests had drunk tea and coffee, as
well as water at the lunch. She also confirmed that
she did not locate a credit card purchase that related
to an Asian grosser and told Miss Atkinson that it
was likely she may have bought the dried mushrooms with cash.
And then she also spoke about the previous use of
(06:52):
these dried mushrooms. She told Miss Atkinson over the phone
that they had never been used in another meal, saying
that they smelled funny when she first open them, so
decided not to use them and just put them in
a container. Crown Prosecutor Jane Warren asked whether this statement
was consistent with what Erin had previously told Miss Atkinson,
and she said that it was not that it was different.
(07:13):
She said that the initial conversation she had with Erin
seemed to indicate that some of the dried mushrooms were
used in this pasta dish, but then by the next
day she was saying that they hadn't been used. Miss
Atkinson told the court that Erin was not being very clear.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
After this phone call, there was another text message exchange.
Miss Atkinson told the jury that Aaron originally said she
bought all the ingredients except the dried mushrooms, on the Friday,
but later she said she bought them over several days.
These are their words, but not their voices. Hi erin Sorry,
Counselor just asked what time of day did you buy
(07:50):
the ingredients on Friday? Counselor looking at when the supermarket
receives delivered and storage, etc. Time of shopping would help
with their investigation. Thank you, Hi, Sally.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
I'm not sure exactly what time of day. I went
a few times last week, and I know I got
some of the ingredients on maybe Wednesday or Thursday. I
know I bought some discounted Iphill at Stakes one time
on one of those two days, and then I went
back on either Thursday or Friday and bought a couple more,
but they weren't discounted, just normal price, and I bought
the rest of the ingredients at one of those shopping trips.
(08:23):
I often go daily or every second day to pick
up a bag or two and get what I need
as I go, so it's hard to pinpoint an exact
day I bought this or that, but I know I
bought all of it at some stage last week on Wednesday,
Thursday or Friday.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
The next day, on August three, there was another phone call.
This time Miss Atkinson was really focusing on the meal
and asked Aaron how she prepared the beef Wellington. She
said Erin told her that she used button mushrooms and
the dried mushrooms to make the mushroom pace that would
coach the iphill at stakes. She described how Erin rehydrated
(08:58):
the dried mushrooms before chopping them by hand. Miss Atkinson
said Erin told her she then fried garlic and Shalott's
in oil before adding all of the mushrooms until it
cooked down into that paste. Miss Atkinson told the jury
that she asked Aaron how many batches of this mushroom
paste she made, and the court heard that Erin said
(09:19):
she had only made one batch. Miss Warren asked miss
Atkinson why she asked Erin this question, and she said
that two batches would explain why some of the lunch
guests were sick and some were not. The conversation then
turned back to the dried mushrooms, and this time when
she was asking her about the Asian grocer, Aaron mentioned
(09:41):
that the grocer could have been located in Glen Waverley.
Miss Akinson told the court that Aaron had never mentioned
Glen Waverley to her before. Our listeners may remember that
over the days in early August, Monasity Council were conducting
an investigation, going to more than a dozen Asian grocers
across Clayton and Mount Waverley to try to find a
(10:03):
packet of dried mushrooms that matched Erin's description. Miss Atkinson
was part of this process and was texting Erin asking
if she recalled whether or not the mushrooms were sliced,
or whether they were shataki or for cheney mushrooms.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
The jury heard there was another text message exchange between
the pair on August four. This was about the leftovers
of that lunch. Good morning, Erin. I was wondering if
I could clarify with you please, what happened to the
leftover food from the lunchtime meal when the five of
you eate together. I know the pastry and mushrooms from
the leftovers you scraped off were in the bin, but
(10:40):
not sure if that was the same for the other leftovers.
Thanks Sally, Yes, it all went in the bit. Thank
you for confirming that I thought that would be the case.
Let's move on to another witness. Doctor Brian Beer, a
forensic pathologist at Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, gave evidence
about the autopsies surrounding Donengale, Patterson and Heather wil consent.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Doctor Beer said that for all three their causes of
death were consistent with amatoxin poisoning, which is toxic mushroom poisoning,
and he spoke about the injuries they had sustained, especially
around the liver as well as the small and large bow.
He said there was very extensive necrosis, which put in
Layman's terms, mean most of the cells were dead. Doctor
(11:28):
Beer was asked in relation to all three whether or
not they had any pre existing health conditions at the
time of the lunch. When it came to Heather, it
said that she appeared to be in good health, but
when he was asked about her sister, Gail, he said
that she was diagnosed with encephalitis in twenty twenty, but
he made it clear that this illness did not contribute
(11:49):
to her death. When it came to Don, doctor Beer
said that the autopsy showed he had a failed transplanted
liver and science could also be seen of mild hypertensive
heart disease, which is caused by high blood pressure. He
actually said that there would be many people walking around
with mild hypertensive heart disease that wouldn't even know they
(12:09):
have it, and he gestured to the courtroom, saying there
were probably some people in the public gallery who had
it themselves, but just like he did with Gail, he
confirmed that this did not contribute to his death. When
asked about Don's health generally, doctor Ber said that there
was nothing serious to note besides a slightly large heart
and the fact he was overweight.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
The jury also heard from Ben Goodwin. He's a forensic
officer at Victoria Police who examined the dehydrator with his colleagues.
Just to remind our listeners, this is the same dehydrator
that Aaron dumped at the local tip.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
The court heard that the dehydrator was seized by police
on August four, two days after it was dumped by Aaron.
On August two. He told the court he was tasked
with taking samples from the dehydrata of possible vegetable matter.
Was at at this point that photos of the dehydrata
were shown to the jury and you could see the
dehydrata had been taken apart for this analysis to occur.
(13:09):
The jury could see the separate parts included the vents,
the trays, as well as the door and the whole
inside of the dehydrata. He said that when they found
possible vegetable matter, they picked it up with tweezers and
placed it into a specimen jar. In total, seven samples
were taken from the appliance. Just like the leftovers, these
(13:31):
samples also went on their own little journey after they
were taken from the dehydrata. They were then transported to
the lab of doctor Dimitri Girista Mulis, who analyzed these
samples for the toxins present in deathcat mushrooms, namely alpha
amaneiton and beta amaneiton. The jury has previously heard that
(13:53):
from these seven samples, four tested positive for these amatoxins.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
While we're on the topic of the dehydrader, Sharman Fox
Henry finished his evidence after four days in court. He
was cross examined today by Aaron's barrister, Colin Mandy.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Sc Yes, that's right. He may not need an introduction
anymore because he's been on the stand across so many days.
He is the senior digital forensics officer at Victoria Police
who was tasked with examining devices that were seized from
Aaron's house. As you said, Brook, he was cross examined
by mister Mandy on a number of points, and one
(14:30):
line of questioning related to a Samsung tablet that had
been seized. The court was last week shown photos that
were extracted from the device, and these included photos of
the dehydrator. Mister fox Henry said the data that was
extracted alongside these photos did not say whether it or
any of the other photos had been received by anyone else,
(14:52):
and he agreed with mister Mandy that the data also
didn't say whether the user took the photo themselves or
whether they were sent to the photo by someone else. Earlier,
in his cross examination, mister Mandy asked mister fox Henry
about the experience he had when it came to extracting data.
He conceded that while he holds a number of qualifications now,
(15:14):
he did not hold those qualifications. When he examined these
devices in August twenty twenty three, he told the court
his only training in data collection was from his previous
experience in the audio visual unit at Victoria Police. Mister
Mandy asked that when he was tasked with analyzing these
devices in the cybercrime squad, whether he was really just
(15:34):
following instructions from his peers, and mister fox Henry replied
that he was.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
That was all the evidence today, But as we said
at the top of the episode, there was an unexpected event.
The hearing was briefly interrupted by a man who was
seated in the public gallery.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Yes, and he was actually seated right next to me.
Our listeners may remember that there are six seats in
the courtroom reserved for journalists, and I was sitting in
one of those seats today, And we had just finished
the mid morning break and mister fox Henry was about
to return to the stand to finish the rest of
his evidence. There was a moment of silence before mister
Mandy commenced his questioning, and all of a sudden, the
(16:13):
man sitting right next to me leapt to his feet
and addressed Justice Christopher Beale directly he said, how can
you be a judge and went on to make a
number of allegations where a reference was made to concealed crimes.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
The man was dressed in a yellow T shirt with
the words all we are saying is give truth a
chance in black letters.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
But this outburst didn't last long at all. The informant
in this matter, who was the detective leading this investigation,
his name is Stephen Eppingstall. He made a beeline for
the protester and very quickly he was frog marched out
of court.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
So it's safe to say there were really no disruptions
other than a brief few minutes.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Right even less I reckon the whole thing was over
in about thirty seconds, and before we knew it, mister
Fox Henry was continuing his evidence.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Thanks Laura, and to stay updated on the case, go
to the mushroomcook dot com dot au for more
Hi, Erin Sally from the Department of Health. I spoke
with you this morning. I've left a message for you
to call me, but thought it might be helpful if
I let you know the sort of information I want
to discuss. I need to know what drinks were served
at the lunch. I also need to know what type
of shalots you purchased. And if you could please give
me a basic description of the packaging of the mushrooms
from the Asian grocer, that would be good. Approximate weight
(00:23):
and size of the packaging, was it partially see through
or not? And if you think of the names of
the roads you were parking on or near when you
went to the different grocery stores, then I can get
the officers out looking around those areas. Even a landmark
you might have remembered at the time would be helpful.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Hi, Sally, sure, I will try to get that information
all to you as soon as possible. I'm just dealing
with trying to manage and look after the kids in
hospital here and a bit snowed under trying to manage that.
I'll get this info to you as soon as I can,
but I've just been in a couple of meetings with
people at the hospital when you've been trying to call.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
In the early days after the mushroom line, which Sally
Ann Atkinson messaged Aaron Patterson searching for information, she was
desperate to make sure poisonous ingredients hadn't found their way
into grocery stores across Victoria, desperate to make sure there
was no risk to the community. She described her search
(01:18):
and what Erin told her today in court. I'm Brooke
Greebert Craig, and this is the Mushroom Cook. It's week five,
day nineteen of Aaron Patterson's murder trial, and once again
I'm here in our makeshift podcast studio with my colleague
court reporter Laura Plasela. Hi, Laura, Hey, Brook.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
I cannot believe we are in week five.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
I know it's crazy. Time flies when you're having fun, and.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
I will say it seems like our podcast studio is
back to normal. Thank god.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
We had quite a number of witnesses in court today
for to be exact, we also had a man briefly
interrupt the proceedings, but we'll talk more on that later.
Let's start with our first witness, Sally Ann Atkinson. She
is a senior public health advisor at the Department of Health.
She took the stand today and spoke about several phone
(02:10):
calls and text message exchanges she had with Erin from
August one, twenty twenty three, So this is three days
after the lunch on July twenty nine.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Yes, that's right. Miss Atkinson told the jury today that
she received a disease notification relating to suspected deathcat mushroom poisoning,
and she spoke with a toxicologist from Austin Health who
filled her in on some of the details around the lunch.
Miss Atkinson told the court that she then spoke to
(02:42):
Erin to gather some more details. She spoke first about
the symptoms Aaron was experiencing, considering on August one, Erin
was herself at Monash Medical Center. She said that Erin
told her she had been experiencing explosive diarrhea the night
of the lunch that July twenty nine, and then every
(03:03):
forty five minutes she was experiencing the same on July thirty.
She said she started to feel better that night, but
the next morning, on July thirty one, when she had
a bowl of cereal, she began to feel worse, and
that was the morning she went to lean Gatha Hospital.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Miss Atkinson also said that Aaron told her about how
she served the beef wellington.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Yes, Miss Atkinson said she did ask Aaron some questions
about the lunch. Erin confirmed she made a beef wellington
that was served with mashed potatoes and beans, and she
told her all the beef Wellingtons were plated individually and
everyone around that table had the same food. Did jury
have heard previously that Erin used a best selling recipe
(03:46):
Tin Eats cookbook to make the beef wellington? And she
told Miss Atkinson that she had never made the meal
before and she wanted to do something fancy for her guests.
Miss Atkinson was really trying to gather as much information
as she could, so she also asked Erin about the
mushrooms she used in the beef wellington meal. Aaron told
her some of the mushrooms she used were purchased from
(04:08):
a Woolworths and leand Gatha, and said she also used
dried mushrooms that she purchased from an Asian grosser months earlier.
In April, she explained to Miss Atkinson that she no
longer had the packaging for the dried mushrooms, but she
remembers it being a small sea through bag with a
white label, noting that it didn't look very professional, and
she told miss Atkinson that she bought the dried mushrooms
(04:31):
in the first place because she wanted to use them
for a pasta dish. She noted that they smelled funny
when she opened the packaging, but miss Atkinson told the
court that Erin indicated to her that she could have
still used some of them in the meal.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Miss Atkinson then told the jury she attended a group
meeting with the Deputy Chief Health Officers, members of the
Food Safety Unit, and the department's media team. During this meeting,
they established that they needed to start and investigate.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
It's been a while since I've heard the words chief
Health officer. Definitely felt like a throwback to COVID, but
miss Atkinson was explaining that there was quite a lot
of urgency around getting answers and trying to figure out,
like you said at the top of the episode, Brook,
whether there were any products being sold across Victoria that
would put members of the public at risk. She came
(05:21):
out of that meeting and tried to call Erin, but
she didn't pick up, so she sent a text instead,
and that was the exchange you heard at the top
of the episode. Since Erin had told Miss Atkinson she
was quite snowed under, she told the court that she
did not hear back from her until the next day.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
So then what happened On August two?
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Miss Atkinson said she sent Erin another text message, and
this was in the morning, around nine point thirty, and
she was asking Erin to confirm a number of things.
These included whether she had only cooked with the dried
mushrooms once, whether any drinks were served at the lunch,
whether she used a credit card to purchase the dried mushrooms,
and she even asked her to confirm what shalotts she
(06:02):
had used in the meal. Miss Atkinson told the court
that she didn't receive a reply from Erin, but later
that day she received a phone call from Katrina Cripps
from Child Protection. Our listeners may remember Miss Cripps she
gave evidence earlier in this trial, and she was actually
at Aaron's house on August two to conduct a visit
and she handed Erin a phone so she could talk
(06:24):
to Miss Atkinson directly.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
So did Erin actually answer any of Miss Atkinson's questions.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
She did so over the phone. Miss Atkinson said that
Erin confirmed the guests had drunk tea and coffee, as
well as water at the lunch. She also confirmed that
she did not locate a credit card purchase that related
to an Asian grosser and told Miss Atkinson that it
was likely she may have bought the dried mushrooms with cash.
And then she also spoke about the previous use of
(06:52):
these dried mushrooms. She told Miss Atkinson over the phone
that they had never been used in another meal, saying
that they smelled funny when she first open them, so
decided not to use them and just put them in
a container. Crown Prosecutor Jane Warren asked whether this statement
was consistent with what Erin had previously told Miss Atkinson,
and she said that it was not that it was different.
(07:13):
She said that the initial conversation she had with Erin
seemed to indicate that some of the dried mushrooms were
used in this pasta dish, but then by the next
day she was saying that they hadn't been used. Miss
Atkinson told the court that Erin was not being very clear.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
After this phone call, there was another text message exchange.
Miss Atkinson told the jury that Aaron originally said she
bought all the ingredients except the dried mushrooms, on the Friday,
but later she said she bought them over several days.
These are their words, but not their voices. Hi erin Sorry,
Counselor just asked what time of day did you buy
(07:50):
the ingredients on Friday? Counselor looking at when the supermarket
receives delivered and storage, etc. Time of shopping would help
with their investigation. Thank you, Hi, Sally.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
I'm not sure exactly what time of day. I went
a few times last week, and I know I got
some of the ingredients on maybe Wednesday or Thursday. I
know I bought some discounted Iphill at Stakes one time
on one of those two days, and then I went
back on either Thursday or Friday and bought a couple more,
but they weren't discounted, just normal price, and I bought
the rest of the ingredients at one of those shopping trips.
(08:23):
I often go daily or every second day to pick
up a bag or two and get what I need
as I go, so it's hard to pinpoint an exact
day I bought this or that, but I know I
bought all of it at some stage last week on Wednesday,
Thursday or Friday.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
The next day, on August three, there was another phone call.
This time Miss Atkinson was really focusing on the meal
and asked Aaron how she prepared the beef Wellington. She
said Erin told her that she used button mushrooms and
the dried mushrooms to make the mushroom pace that would
coach the iphill at stakes. She described how Erin rehydrated
(08:58):
the dried mushrooms before chopping them by hand. Miss Atkinson
said Erin told her she then fried garlic and Shalott's
in oil before adding all of the mushrooms until it
cooked down into that paste. Miss Atkinson told the jury
that she asked Aaron how many batches of this mushroom
paste she made, and the court heard that Erin said
(09:19):
she had only made one batch. Miss Warren asked miss
Atkinson why she asked Erin this question, and she said
that two batches would explain why some of the lunch
guests were sick and some were not. The conversation then
turned back to the dried mushrooms, and this time when
she was asking her about the Asian grocer, Aaron mentioned
(09:41):
that the grocer could have been located in Glen Waverley.
Miss Akinson told the court that Aaron had never mentioned
Glen Waverley to her before. Our listeners may remember that
over the days in early August, Monasity Council were conducting
an investigation, going to more than a dozen Asian grocers
across Clayton and Mount Waverley to try to find a
(10:03):
packet of dried mushrooms that matched Erin's description. Miss Atkinson
was part of this process and was texting Erin asking
if she recalled whether or not the mushrooms were sliced,
or whether they were shataki or for cheney mushrooms.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
The jury heard there was another text message exchange between
the pair on August four. This was about the leftovers
of that lunch. Good morning, Erin. I was wondering if
I could clarify with you please, what happened to the
leftover food from the lunchtime meal when the five of
you eate together. I know the pastry and mushrooms from
the leftovers you scraped off were in the bin, but
(10:40):
not sure if that was the same for the other leftovers.
Thanks Sally, Yes, it all went in the bit. Thank
you for confirming that I thought that would be the case.
Let's move on to another witness. Doctor Brian Beer, a
forensic pathologist at Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, gave evidence
about the autopsies surrounding Donengale, Patterson and Heather wil consent.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Doctor Beer said that for all three their causes of
death were consistent with amatoxin poisoning, which is toxic mushroom poisoning,
and he spoke about the injuries they had sustained, especially
around the liver as well as the small and large bow.
He said there was very extensive necrosis, which put in
Layman's terms, mean most of the cells were dead. Doctor
(11:28):
Beer was asked in relation to all three whether or
not they had any pre existing health conditions at the
time of the lunch. When it came to Heather, it
said that she appeared to be in good health, but
when he was asked about her sister, Gail, he said
that she was diagnosed with encephalitis in twenty twenty, but
he made it clear that this illness did not contribute
(11:49):
to her death. When it came to Don, doctor Beer
said that the autopsy showed he had a failed transplanted
liver and science could also be seen of mild hypertensive
heart disease, which is caused by high blood pressure. He
actually said that there would be many people walking around
with mild hypertensive heart disease that wouldn't even know they
(12:09):
have it, and he gestured to the courtroom, saying there
were probably some people in the public gallery who had
it themselves, but just like he did with Gail, he
confirmed that this did not contribute to his death. When
asked about Don's health generally, doctor Ber said that there
was nothing serious to note besides a slightly large heart
and the fact he was overweight.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
The jury also heard from Ben Goodwin. He's a forensic
officer at Victoria Police who examined the dehydrator with his colleagues.
Just to remind our listeners, this is the same dehydrator
that Aaron dumped at the local tip.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
The court heard that the dehydrator was seized by police
on August four, two days after it was dumped by Aaron.
On August two. He told the court he was tasked
with taking samples from the dehydrata of possible vegetable matter.
Was at at this point that photos of the dehydrata
were shown to the jury and you could see the
dehydrata had been taken apart for this analysis to occur.
(13:09):
The jury could see the separate parts included the vents,
the trays, as well as the door and the whole
inside of the dehydrata. He said that when they found
possible vegetable matter, they picked it up with tweezers and
placed it into a specimen jar. In total, seven samples
were taken from the appliance. Just like the leftovers, these
(13:31):
samples also went on their own little journey after they
were taken from the dehydrata. They were then transported to
the lab of doctor Dimitri Girista Mulis, who analyzed these
samples for the toxins present in deathcat mushrooms, namely alpha
amaneiton and beta amaneiton. The jury has previously heard that
(13:53):
from these seven samples, four tested positive for these amatoxins.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
While we're on the topic of the dehydrader, Sharman Fox
Henry finished his evidence after four days in court. He
was cross examined today by Aaron's barrister, Colin Mandy.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Sc Yes, that's right. He may not need an introduction
anymore because he's been on the stand across so many days.
He is the senior digital forensics officer at Victoria Police
who was tasked with examining devices that were seized from
Aaron's house. As you said, Brook, he was cross examined
by mister Mandy on a number of points, and one
(14:30):
line of questioning related to a Samsung tablet that had
been seized. The court was last week shown photos that
were extracted from the device, and these included photos of
the dehydrator. Mister fox Henry said the data that was
extracted alongside these photos did not say whether it or
any of the other photos had been received by anyone else,
(14:52):
and he agreed with mister Mandy that the data also
didn't say whether the user took the photo themselves or
whether they were sent to the photo by someone else. Earlier,
in his cross examination, mister Mandy asked mister fox Henry
about the experience he had when it came to extracting data.
He conceded that while he holds a number of qualifications now,
(15:14):
he did not hold those qualifications. When he examined these
devices in August twenty twenty three, he told the court
his only training in data collection was from his previous
experience in the audio visual unit at Victoria Police. Mister
Mandy asked that when he was tasked with analyzing these
devices in the cybercrime squad, whether he was really just
(15:34):
following instructions from his peers, and mister fox Henry replied
that he was.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
That was all the evidence today, But as we said
at the top of the episode, there was an unexpected event.
The hearing was briefly interrupted by a man who was
seated in the public gallery.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Yes, and he was actually seated right next to me.
Our listeners may remember that there are six seats in
the courtroom reserved for journalists, and I was sitting in
one of those seats today, And we had just finished
the mid morning break and mister fox Henry was about
to return to the stand to finish the rest of
his evidence. There was a moment of silence before mister
Mandy commenced his questioning, and all of a sudden, the
(16:13):
man sitting right next to me leapt to his feet
and addressed Justice Christopher Beale directly he said, how can
you be a judge and went on to make a
number of allegations where a reference was made to concealed crimes.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
The man was dressed in a yellow T shirt with
the words all we are saying is give truth a
chance in black letters.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
But this outburst didn't last long at all. The informant
in this matter, who was the detective leading this investigation,
his name is Stephen Eppingstall. He made a beeline for
the protester and very quickly he was frog marched out
of court.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
So it's safe to say there were really no disruptions
other than a brief few minutes.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Right even less I reckon the whole thing was over
in about thirty seconds, and before we knew it, mister
Fox Henry was continuing his evidence.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Thanks Laura, and to stay updated on the case, go
to the mushroomcook dot com dot au for more
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.