Inside Australia's biggest and most gripping trials - the evidence, witness testimony and every update - as it unfolds before a jury.
Join Nine's Penelope Liersch & The Age's Erin Pearson as they bring you real-time reporting from cases that have Australia, and the world, talking.
The mushroom murder trial captured attention all over the world, but unlike most cases, people began travelling to court to see it for themselves. In this episode we’re joined by Tammy Egglestone, who’d never attended court and then spent months in Morwell watching this case unfold. Erin Patterson has appealed against her convictions by a Supreme Court jury, maintains her innocence, and prosecutors have also appealed for a harsher sentence. The Victorian Court of Appeal has yet to hand down its decision in both appeals. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
As the jury deliberated in Erin Patterson’s mushroom murder trial, they were staying in the same hotel as police and the media. So what actually happened during the accommodation cross over? Senior reporter at The Age, Chris Vedelago, joins Penny and Erin to unpack it all. Erin Patterson has appealed against her convictions by a Supreme Court jury, maintains her innocence, and prosecutors have also appealed for a harsher sentence. The Victorian court of appeal has yet to hand down its decision in both appeals. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Erin Patterson's interest in foraging for wild mushrooms was at the centre of the second day of her appeal against her convictions for murder and attempted murder, which she has always denied, as prosecutors zeroed in on the lies she told police. The DPP also put forward its case for why she should never be released from prison as they appeal her sentence. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Lawyers for mushroom murderer Erin Patterson claim the jury could have been contaminated by a hotel blunder and that the killer was forced to take the stand. Her legal team have argued seven key issues in an attempt to have her convictions thrown out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Erin Patterson’s new barrister tells the court his team needs more time to prepare an appeal case against the triple murderer’s conviction. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The prosecution calls for Erin Patterson to be handed a life sentence, without the possibility of parole. The court is also given a rare insight into the killer’s life in a maximum security prison cell, including the personal items she keeps. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The only survivor of the deadly mushroom lunch says he forgives the woman who tried to kill him, pastor Ian Wilkinson telling the court ‘now I am no longer Erin Patterson’s victim, and she has become the victim of my kindness’. Speaking through tears the family she tried to destroy say they can not understand her murderous wrath. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen for the first time what the jury didn't hear, including Simon Patterson's claims his estranged wife was trying to kill him for years, secret poison papers found on her electronic devices and the killer's imaginary cat. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In the aftermath of the trial, Erin and Penny take listeners through their observations from the courtroom, things the jury didn’t see and just how big the global attention is. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In an extended interview, Leongatha doctor and trial witness Christopher Webster sits down with our hosts to speak about his interactions with murderer Erin Patterson when she arrived on his hospital doorstep in the aftermath of the fatal lunch. It’s a case, he says, that’s changed his life forever. Please be advised: This episode contains strong language. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12 jurors have convicted Erin Patterson of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. Come inside the courtroom as the verdict was handed down and hear some of the evidence for the first time. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
After 6 days of deliberations, the jury has returned with its verdicts. We bring you some of the reaction as it unfolded in Morwell. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
After 40 trial days, the jury retires to deliberate. With two jurors balloted off, the remaining 12 are now sequestered, unable to return home. The judge gives them a final warning to avoid discussing the case with anyone outside the secure jury room. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The final instructions to the jury, known as the judge’s charge, are underway. Justice Christopher Beale gives directions on the principles of law while also summarising parts of the evidence. He says the jurors, and only them, are the judges of the facts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Erin Patterson’s barrister finishes his final plea to the jury, telling them they must find his client not guilty. He points to four ‘ridiculous convoluted propositions’ from the prosecution and argues the accused never had any reason to harm the lunch guests. He urges the jurors to put themselves in her shoes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Crown closes its case, accusing Patterson of engaging in multiple calculated deceptions and telling lies even when her lunch guests were gravely ill. Rogers also accused Patterson of trying to play the jury. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
During the accused killer's final hours on the stand, more questions are raised around gastric bypass surgery and an 11th hour bid for a fresh police statement challenges her account. Erin Patterson also maintains she fed fatal lunch leftovers to her children, and answers three final accusations from the prosecution. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The accused disputes claims she was never sick. She is also pressed on possible weight loss surgery and if she has “two faces”. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
During cross examination, Erin Patterson denies telling relatives she had cancer. She also denies ever thinking her cancer lie could remain a secret because her lunch guests would be dead. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Erin Patterson gives evidence that she began to think foraged mushrooms she’d dried in the weeks before the lunch could have ended up in the meal. Telling the court her estranged husband asked if she'd used her dehydrator to poison his parents - and that she panicked, dumping the kitchen appliance and resetting a phone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The accused killer tells the jury she loved mushrooms and developed an interest in foraging for them during covid lockdowns. She admits there must have been death cap mushrooms in the meal she served. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Erin Patterson gives evidence. The accused killer chokes back tears as she recalls a “traumatic birth”. She describes her mother in-law as patient and supportive and reveals she wanted to convert Simon Patterson to atheism before her own spiritual experience. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The lead investigator is quizzed on exactly what CCTV from the evening of the fatal lunch shows. He also tells the jury, pulling all of the accused killer’s phone records was too expensive. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The lead detective continues his evidence cataloguing phones connected to the accused killer, noting one has never been found. Erin Patterson’s shopping receipts and medical records are also shown to the jury. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The jury watches a police interview with the accused killer. When asked why she hosted her ex partner’s family for lunch, Erin Patterson replies ‘I love them’ and denies owning a food dehydrator. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A public health official tells the court she had trouble reaching Erin Patterson on the phone as she tried to find the source of the poisoning. The jury hears the pair exchanged text messages and a digital forensics officer faces questions from the defence. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
An intensive care specialist tells the court how doctors fought to save the four lunch guests' lives, and recalls how close Ian Wilkinson came to death. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Facebook messages discovered on a phone found in Erin Patterson’s home are read to the jury, calling Simon Patterson a ‘deadbeat’ and his parents ‘a lost cause’. The court is also shown photos of mushrooms in a dehydrator and screenshots of cancer information, taken from a tablet police say was seized from Patterson’s home. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A phone tower expert answers dozens of questions about the limitations of mobile phone records. Service station footage is also played to the jury, showing the accused killer visiting a toilet area. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
About On Trial Australia
Inside Australia's biggest and most gripping trials - the evidence, witness testimony and every update - as it unfolds before a jury.
Join Nine's Penelope Liersch & The Age's Erin Pearson as they bring you real-time reporting from cases that have Australia, and the world, talking.
On Trial Australia is a English true crime podcast from Tapt Media. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.
The Melo app keeps playing with the screen off, works in the car and on your watch, wakes you to your station, and browses the whole catalogue offline. Free, no ads, no account.
