What the jury heard yesterday
While we wait for today’s proceedings to get underway, here’s a recap of what the jury heard on Monday:
Patterson entered the witness box to begin testifying in her triple murder trial. Members of the Patterson and Wilkinson families, including Ian Wilkinson, were in the court.
The accused said in the months prior to the July 2023 lunch she felt her relationship with the Patterson family, particularly her in-laws Don and Gail, had “a bit more distance”. She said from the start of 2023 her relationship with her estranged husband, Simon, was “functional” and the pair communicated mainly about logistical matters.
Patterson had a “never-ending battle of low self-esteem” for most of her adult life, she told the court. She said around the time of the lunch she was planning to have gastric bypass surgery for weight loss.
Defence lawyer Colin Mandy SC asked his client about the tension in her relationship with Simon, which involved multiple separations between 2009 and 2015. She said the pair “just couldn’t communicate well” when they had a disagreement. “We would just feel hurt,” she said.
The prosecution closed its case on Monday afternoon before Patterson entered the witness box.
Welcome
Welcome to day 25 of Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial.
Patterson, who began testifying on Monday, is expected to continue giving evidence.
We’re expecting the trial to resume from 10.30am once the jurors enter the courtroom in Morwell.
Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha, in regional Victoria, on 29 July 2023.
She is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and her estranged husband’s aunt, Heather Wilkinson. The attempted murder charge relates to Heather’s husband, Ian.
She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The prosecution alleges Patterson deliberately poisoned her lunch guests with “murderous intent”, but her lawyers say the poisoning was a tragic accident.
