May 5, 2025 • 9 mins
Several of Erin Patterson's online friends took to the stand and detailed her "love" of mushrooms and her reputation as an internet sleuth.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Before she found herself at the center of her own
murder trial, Aaron Patterson joined an online group to discuss
another high profile okase, Kelly Lane. After Kelly Lane was
Kelly Lane found Kelly Lane's killing. Overtime, she formed friendships
with some of the women in the group. Talking about
the case of Kelly Lane, she also discussed other things.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
I've been hiding powdered mushrooms in everything, mixed it into
chocolate brownies yesterday. The kids had no idea so fun
fact the dehydrator reduces mushroom mass by ninety percent. Do
you think woolies would mind if I brought the dehydrator
into their vegetable section and dry things before I buy them.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Some of the conversations she had in that group were
laid out in court in the first day of the
second week of her murder trial. I'm Brook Crebert Craig,
and this is the mushroom Cork. I'm joined once again
by my colleague, court reporter Laura Placella. Laura, let's put
(01:03):
in some contacts around what we just heard.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Yes, and can I say it's great to be back
with you, Brook. We had a nice relaxing weekend and
we're ready to jump back into the evidence. So what
our listeners heard earlier was a voice actor reading some
messages that Aaron wrote in a Facebook group chat with
a number of women she met years earlier, but she
met these women online. She came to know them through
a Facebook group about the Kelly Laane case. This was
(01:29):
a large group at the time, it had a few
thousand people in it, but over time these women formed
a smaller group that they used to start talking about
their lives. They spoke about the news, politics and really
leaned on each other, especially during the pandemic.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
We heard in court today that it was essentially a
place for the women to vent to each other.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
That's correct, and three women gave evidence today in court.
Their names were Christine Hunt, Daniella Barclay, and Jenny Hay.
These women were all in that smaller group chat we
were referred to where Erin was a member herself, and
they started to recall some of the conversations they remember
Aaron having.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
And the jury heard today that one of the witnesses, Daniella,
said that Aaron loved mushrooms and she posted photos of
mushrooms in this group, and she also posted photos of
a dehydrader.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
And the jury were actually shown some of these photos.
They were screenshots provided by Daniella, and they were put
up on the screen and in one of the photos
you can see the dehydrader. It has six trays and
on every one of those trays you can see dozens
of sliced mushrooms. We also heard from another witness, Jenny,
who we mentioned earlier. She said that she remembers Aarin
(02:44):
mentioning the fact she was making mushroom soup and she
was blitzing these mushrooms to make powder to put into
food items for her children because they didn't like mushrooms.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Now, we also heard that Aaron used different Facebook name
like Aaron Pattison, Aaron Aaron, and Aaron Aaron Aaron while
she was communicating to these online friends.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
That's correct, and all of these friends mentioned that at
some point in July twenty twenty three, when they were
discussing things relating to cooking, Aaron mentioned that she wanted
to make a beef Wellington. One of the witnesses, Daniella,
actually joked that when Aaron asked the group chat how
to make this meal, she said she didn't know because
she was a vegetarian herself. She said that she'd maybe
(03:29):
make a tofu Wellington, and everyone in that group chat
joked that that must taste awful. One of the other witnesses, Christine,
she said she had made a beef Wellington before and
gave Erin some advice about how to go about preparing
that meal.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Now. Christine also said in court that Aaron was well regarded.
She was a really good researcher, and she was well
known to be able to get information. And this kind
of goes back to how these women all met. They
met while discussing the Kellie Lane case and true crime
more broadly, and if there was anyone in the group
(04:04):
chat who had a question about something, Aaron was seen
as someone who would be able to go search for
that information and come back with an answer.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Now.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Christine also said that Aaron spoke about her relationship with
Simon Patterson in these online Facebook.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Groups, and just to remind everyone, Simon is Erin's estranged husband.
Erin has been accused of murdering Simon's parents, Don and
Gail Patterson, as well as Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, and
attempting to murder Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Christine said that Aaron said Simon was coercive and controlling.
She also said that the family, as in Simon's family,
was very demanding.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
She said she was challenged by their demands, particularly around
the kids attending a faith based school. Christine also expanded
on this topic of religion, telling the jury that she
believed Erin was two sided when it came to her
religious beliefs. Week we heard in court that Aaron was
an atheist before she met Simon, and then in Simon's evidence,
(05:06):
he speaks of Erin attending church with him in the
early two thousands and having an epiphany of sorts and
becoming religious after that. But according to Christine, Erin was
only going to church because of Simon's family. She was
saying in that group chat that they were all a
part of that She didn't necessarily believe in God, and
(05:28):
Christine said that Erin described herself as an atheist.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Witness Daniella also said that Aaron said Simon wasn't a
very nice person. She told the jury that Aaron wasn't
happy with his cleanliness and she didn't want the kids
to sleep over at Simon's house because she wasn't happy
with the way that he lived. Laura, this might be
the right time that we start talking about Simon's evidence.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Yes, as our listeners might remember, Simon didn't finish giving
evidence on Friday to return to the witness box today
to complete his testimony.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Now, the court was told last week that Simon said
Aaron sent extremely aggressive messages. We got more detail about
that today, didn't we, Laura.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
We did. Lead Prosecutor Nnette Rodgers asked Simon to describe
the message he was referring to. This comes after a
previous exchange with the defense barrister mister Mandy, where mister
Mandy walked Simon through a whole host of messages, But
Simon told the court that these weren't the ones he
was referring to. He said that the ones that stuck
(06:35):
in his mind as being extremely aggressive or inflammatory were
ones Aaron sent in early twenty twenty three. She sent
these in that signal family group chat we were talking about,
But it was around the time that Simon's mum, Gail,
was sick with encephalitis and was feeling quite anxious. Simon
said that his mother wasn't going to read any messages
(06:57):
in the group chat from Aaron at the time to
give a little bit more contact. Simon said that him
and Aaron were having a private conversation at the time,
where Simon was telling Erin that their son had been
very sleepy and quite exhausted whenever he was spending time
with him. He messaged Erin about this again privately, but
in response, Aaron went to the family group chat and,
(07:20):
in Simon's words, started having a crack at him. He
then said this to the court, it's his words, it's
not his voice.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
If Mum had read that, I don't know what that
would have done to her.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
He went on to say, it was.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Having a crack at me and accusing me of some things.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
That's not the bit I objected to.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
It was the fact that she'd said it, especially to Mum,
knowing Mum's condition and what it can do to mum.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
The court then heard that a few weeks later, things
seemed to have smooved over. On December eighteen, Aaron sent
a message to Simon saying we don't really have the
kind of a relationship right now where I can ask
for favors, but I don't have anywhere else to turn
She went on to say that neighbors had caught her
saying a tree had come down across a fence before
(08:06):
asking Simon if he could help remove it.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
In response, Simon said, hey, there, I'm always your husband
no matter how we're doing, so no probs with you asking.
I'd be up for it, but I'm in Brisbane, so
I can't today. Sorry, I'll be back tomorrow if it
can wait for them.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Aaron then replied and said that's very kind. I hope
you enjoy your time in Brisbane. I'll let you know
tomorrow if I still need help. Much appreciated.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
After taking Simon to this exchange, mister Mandy asked whether
this exchange proved that his earlier arguments with Erin about
school fees and child support had abated by this time,
but Simon said they had not, and he was very
firm about that. And so after three days of evidence,
Simon was done in the witness box. He was excused
(08:53):
by the judge and will no longer need to give
evidence in this trial.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
So it was another busy day in court. Laura for sure,
well tomorrow or we'll hear from another key witness. To
stay updated with all our latest coverage, go to The
mushroomcook dot com, dot au
Before she found herself at the center of her own
murder trial, Aaron Patterson joined an online group to discuss
another high profile okase, Kelly Lane. After Kelly Lane was
Kelly Lane found Kelly Lane's killing. Overtime, she formed friendships
with some of the women in the group. Talking about
the case of Kelly Lane, she also discussed other things.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
I've been hiding powdered mushrooms in everything, mixed it into
chocolate brownies yesterday. The kids had no idea so fun
fact the dehydrator reduces mushroom mass by ninety percent. Do
you think woolies would mind if I brought the dehydrator
into their vegetable section and dry things before I buy them.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Some of the conversations she had in that group were
laid out in court in the first day of the
second week of her murder trial. I'm Brook Crebert Craig,
and this is the mushroom Cork. I'm joined once again
by my colleague, court reporter Laura Placella. Laura, let's put
(01:03):
in some contacts around what we just heard.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Yes, and can I say it's great to be back
with you, Brook. We had a nice relaxing weekend and
we're ready to jump back into the evidence. So what
our listeners heard earlier was a voice actor reading some
messages that Aaron wrote in a Facebook group chat with
a number of women she met years earlier, but she
met these women online. She came to know them through
a Facebook group about the Kelly Laane case. This was
(01:29):
a large group at the time, it had a few
thousand people in it, but over time these women formed
a smaller group that they used to start talking about
their lives. They spoke about the news, politics and really
leaned on each other, especially during the pandemic.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
We heard in court today that it was essentially a
place for the women to vent to each other.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
That's correct, and three women gave evidence today in court.
Their names were Christine Hunt, Daniella Barclay, and Jenny Hay.
These women were all in that smaller group chat we
were referred to where Erin was a member herself, and
they started to recall some of the conversations they remember
Aaron having.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
And the jury heard today that one of the witnesses, Daniella,
said that Aaron loved mushrooms and she posted photos of
mushrooms in this group, and she also posted photos of
a dehydrader.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
And the jury were actually shown some of these photos.
They were screenshots provided by Daniella, and they were put
up on the screen and in one of the photos
you can see the dehydrader. It has six trays and
on every one of those trays you can see dozens
of sliced mushrooms. We also heard from another witness, Jenny,
who we mentioned earlier. She said that she remembers Aarin
(02:44):
mentioning the fact she was making mushroom soup and she
was blitzing these mushrooms to make powder to put into
food items for her children because they didn't like mushrooms.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Now, we also heard that Aaron used different Facebook name
like Aaron Pattison, Aaron Aaron, and Aaron Aaron Aaron while
she was communicating to these online friends.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
That's correct, and all of these friends mentioned that at
some point in July twenty twenty three, when they were
discussing things relating to cooking, Aaron mentioned that she wanted
to make a beef Wellington. One of the witnesses, Daniella,
actually joked that when Aaron asked the group chat how
to make this meal, she said she didn't know because
she was a vegetarian herself. She said that she'd maybe
(03:29):
make a tofu Wellington, and everyone in that group chat
joked that that must taste awful. One of the other witnesses, Christine,
she said she had made a beef Wellington before and
gave Erin some advice about how to go about preparing
that meal.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Now. Christine also said in court that Aaron was well regarded.
She was a really good researcher, and she was well
known to be able to get information. And this kind
of goes back to how these women all met. They
met while discussing the Kellie Lane case and true crime
more broadly, and if there was anyone in the group
(04:04):
chat who had a question about something, Aaron was seen
as someone who would be able to go search for
that information and come back with an answer.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Now.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Christine also said that Aaron spoke about her relationship with
Simon Patterson in these online Facebook.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Groups, and just to remind everyone, Simon is Erin's estranged husband.
Erin has been accused of murdering Simon's parents, Don and
Gail Patterson, as well as Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, and
attempting to murder Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Christine said that Aaron said Simon was coercive and controlling.
She also said that the family, as in Simon's family,
was very demanding.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
She said she was challenged by their demands, particularly around
the kids attending a faith based school. Christine also expanded
on this topic of religion, telling the jury that she
believed Erin was two sided when it came to her
religious beliefs. Week we heard in court that Aaron was
an atheist before she met Simon, and then in Simon's evidence,
(05:06):
he speaks of Erin attending church with him in the
early two thousands and having an epiphany of sorts and
becoming religious after that. But according to Christine, Erin was
only going to church because of Simon's family. She was
saying in that group chat that they were all a
part of that She didn't necessarily believe in God, and
(05:28):
Christine said that Erin described herself as an atheist.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Witness Daniella also said that Aaron said Simon wasn't a
very nice person. She told the jury that Aaron wasn't
happy with his cleanliness and she didn't want the kids
to sleep over at Simon's house because she wasn't happy
with the way that he lived. Laura, this might be
the right time that we start talking about Simon's evidence.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Yes, as our listeners might remember, Simon didn't finish giving
evidence on Friday to return to the witness box today
to complete his testimony.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Now, the court was told last week that Simon said
Aaron sent extremely aggressive messages. We got more detail about
that today, didn't we, Laura.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
We did. Lead Prosecutor Nnette Rodgers asked Simon to describe
the message he was referring to. This comes after a
previous exchange with the defense barrister mister Mandy, where mister
Mandy walked Simon through a whole host of messages, But
Simon told the court that these weren't the ones he
was referring to. He said that the ones that stuck
(06:35):
in his mind as being extremely aggressive or inflammatory were
ones Aaron sent in early twenty twenty three. She sent
these in that signal family group chat we were talking about,
But it was around the time that Simon's mum, Gail,
was sick with encephalitis and was feeling quite anxious. Simon
said that his mother wasn't going to read any messages
(06:57):
in the group chat from Aaron at the time to
give a little bit more contact. Simon said that him
and Aaron were having a private conversation at the time,
where Simon was telling Erin that their son had been
very sleepy and quite exhausted whenever he was spending time
with him. He messaged Erin about this again privately, but
in response, Aaron went to the family group chat and,
(07:20):
in Simon's words, started having a crack at him. He
then said this to the court, it's his words, it's
not his voice.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
If Mum had read that, I don't know what that
would have done to her.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
He went on to say, it was.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Having a crack at me and accusing me of some things.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
That's not the bit I objected to.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
It was the fact that she'd said it, especially to Mum,
knowing Mum's condition and what it can do to mum.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
The court then heard that a few weeks later, things
seemed to have smooved over. On December eighteen, Aaron sent
a message to Simon saying we don't really have the
kind of a relationship right now where I can ask
for favors, but I don't have anywhere else to turn
She went on to say that neighbors had caught her
saying a tree had come down across a fence before
(08:06):
asking Simon if he could help remove it.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
In response, Simon said, hey, there, I'm always your husband
no matter how we're doing, so no probs with you asking.
I'd be up for it, but I'm in Brisbane, so
I can't today. Sorry, I'll be back tomorrow if it
can wait for them.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Aaron then replied and said that's very kind. I hope
you enjoy your time in Brisbane. I'll let you know
tomorrow if I still need help. Much appreciated.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
After taking Simon to this exchange, mister Mandy asked whether
this exchange proved that his earlier arguments with Erin about
school fees and child support had abated by this time,
but Simon said they had not, and he was very
firm about that. And so after three days of evidence,
Simon was done in the witness box. He was excused
(08:53):
by the judge and will no longer need to give
evidence in this trial.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
So it was another busy day in court. Laura for sure,
well tomorrow or we'll hear from another key witness. To
stay updated with all our latest coverage, go to The
mushroomcook dot com, dot au
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