Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial LIVE updates: Erin Patterson’s lawyer makes shock claim about location of mysterious missing ‘Phone A’ – as her Facebook messages with online friends are revealed: ‘What morons’

Defence barrister Colin Mandy SC showed homicide detective Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall an excerpt of Facebook messages between Erin Patterson and her ‘online friends’.

Mr Mandy said the excerpt came from a report which contained 186 pages of chat messages between a number of people.

The jury heard a friend sent a message, ‘what ‘morons’, and followed up with, ‘anyway, you weren’t asking them to adjudicate, you just wanted them to hear your story’.

Patterson responded: ‘I said to him about 50 times yesterday that I didn’t want them to adjudicate’.

‘Nobody bloody listens to me. At least I know they’re a lost cause.’

Another friend wrote: ‘If you haven’t heard from Simon, invite him for a response.’

Another wrote: ‘It’s pathetic.’

A third wrote: ‘If he doesn’t want to talk about your marriage, they could at least demand to know how he’s financially supporting the kids.’

Mr Mandy suggested the friends were venting with each other.

They also discussed Cheers actress Kirstie Alley’s death and their pets.

Defence barrister Colin Mandy SC is now questioning homicide detective Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall about the police search at Erin Patterson’s Leongatha home on August 5, 2023.

Sen-Constable Eppingstall said he spent most of the time supervising Patterson during the search which occured a week after the deadly mushroom lunch.

Senior Constable Meg Crawford supervised Patterson while she went to the toilet and aided with the accused’s young daughter at one stage, the jury heard.

Mr Mandy suggested Patterson was allowed to spend about 14 minutes in a TV room near the front of the house.

‘It was longer, I think it was about 20 minutes, sir,’ Sen-Constable Eppingstall said.

Sen-Constable Eppingstall said police did not locate or seize a Nokia owned by Erin Patterson but discussed that phone during the police interview later that day.

The court has previously heard that records show the SIM card from a Samsung Galaxy A23 known as ‘Phone A’ was switched into a Nokia during the search.

Police have been unable to locate Phone A.

‘We definitely didn’t seize the Nokia,’ the detective said.

Sen-Constable Eppingstall also agreed a second Samsung Galaxy A23 known as ‘Phone B’ – which police did seize – was connected to the internet while it was sealed in a bag and placed in a locker at the Homicide Squad headquarters in Melbourne.

Mr Mandy showed Sen-Constable Eppingstall photographs from the police search, pointing to a black object shown in one of them.

‘Can I suggest that is Phone A in a case,’ Mr Mandy said.

The detective responded: ‘If that was a phone I think we would have found it, we would have seized it.’

‘We took everything (electronic devices) we found.’

Mr Mandy also showed the detective several other search photographs which he suggested showed electronic items and devices that were not seized.

‘I was with Ms Patterson, sir,’ Sen-Constable Eppingstall said.

Defence barrister Colin Mandy SC ended the day reading text messages between Don Patterson (pictured with wife Gail) and Erin Patterson sent through the Signal app from January 1 to January 15, 2022.

Don asked: ‘Hi Erin, how is your back today? How was your trip?’

Erin responded by thanking Don for his ’empathy’.

Don: ‘Sorry to hear about your back problems. Hope and pray it gets better quickly. Great to chat with the kids this morning.’

Erin then sent a message which described what she is ‘going through’.

Don: ‘We will keep praying that he keeps you all in good health, love, Don and Gail.’

Erin: ‘The only pain relief that seems to help is Nurofen. But I stupidly let myself run out of it yesterday, so I had to wait until the shops open today to get more, but no pharmacies are open.

‘So I just got some generic Nurofen from the IGA and on it goes.’

Don sent another message suggesting activities for Erin’s children: ‘French cricket can be played with anything looking like a bat. For example, a fairly thick, but not too heavy, stick.’

Don also wrote: ‘It sounds like the kids had a great time, I hope your health is okay and they can get to the bottom of your problems, lockdown and go. Take care. Bye.’

The jury heard Don sent Erin a love heart emoji.

The trial has concluded for the day and will resume on Friday morning.

Defence barrister Colin Mandy SC (pictured below left) has told the court that vision of a person entering the Leongatha Subway was not the accused’s son, as the jury has previously heard.

Sen-Constable Eppingstall was asked to compare a photo of the son with Don Patterson and a still image taken from the Subway of a person inside the store, which Mr Mandy said does not depict the son.

The jury was also known a still image taken from video of the son’s police interview and again compared the images.

‘But it’s not the same person,’ Mr Mandy said.

‘That’s a matter for the jury,’ Sen-Constable Eppingstall said.

Defence barrister Colin Mandy SC told homicide detective Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall that Professor Matthew Sorell said EBN data – a specialist mobile device location tool – was more ‘useful in establishing possible locations of handsests’ than another method known as CCR data.

The jury heard ‘EBN data can establish whether or not a visit was made (to any location) even if CCRs did not provide a foundation for that proposition’.

Sen-Constable Eppingstall agreed with Mr Mandy but said police only had EBN data for a ‘handful of days’ because of the cost.

The detective said during the investigation the cost of using EBN data was $1700 for two hours.

‘(Using EBN data dating back) a year would be well into six figures,’ Sen-Constable Eppingstall said.

‘My boss isn’t too keen when I spend too much money.’

Sen-Constable Eppingstall said he was talking to Dr Tom May (pictured) about death cap mushrooms when the expert witness told him about a sighting in Outtrim, about 15 minutes drive from Leongatha.

The jury heard Dr May told the detective, unprompted, he had spotted a death cap in Outtrim and uploaded it to iNaturalist under the handle ‘Funkey Tom’.

Homicide detective Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall told the jury that Simon Patterson (pictured) handed his phone to police on August 6, 2023, but could not perform a data extraction so handed the phone back.

Simon gave the phone to police again on September 12 and it then was handed over to the Cybercrime Squad for data extraction.

The court heard Simon had changed phones during that period but said the device he gave police on September 12 was the same one returned to him on August 6.

Sen-Constable Eppingstall said he only gave instructions to retreive text messages from Simon’s phone.

‘‘That’s all I asked for,’ the detective said.

The jury heard 70 pages of data was extracted which contained about 280 texts between Simon and Erin.

The full download of Simon’s phone was shown to the jury.

The jury heard Simon handed over phones belonging to his parents Gail and Don Patterson on August 6.

‘I believe we got a full extraction of Gail’s phone,’ Sen-Constable Eppingstall said.

‘Don’s phone was quite empty, I don’t think he used his phone very much.’

Sen-Constable Stephen Eppingstall said he had several more meetings with Erin Patterson and her estranged husband Simon after her initial police interview on August 5, a week after the deadly mushroom lunch.

He told the jury he also obtained statements from Erin’s Bendigo Bank account from July 1 to August 4, 2023.

‘Can’t explain why we didn’t go back further,’ Sen-Constable Eppingstall said.

Mr Mandy raised with Sen-Constable Eppingstall two purchases Erin had made on July 5, 2023.

One transaction was made at a 7-Eleven store at Glen Waverley, in Melbourne’s east.

The other was made soon after with a vendor the jury heard was called ‘Chou Trading P/L’.

Sen-Constable Eppingstall agreed he saw the 7-Eleven record.

Lead defence barrister Colin Mandy SC is continuing his cross-examination of the final prosecution witness, Homicide Squad detective leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall.

Erin Patterson, who is today wearing a paisley top, listened as Mr Mandy asked Sen-Constable Eppingstall if he was aware the accused weighed 111.7kg when she was admitted to hospital on July 31.

Sen-Constable Eppingstall confirmed he was aware and also agreed that Patterson bought several books about diet from Booktopia.

Mr Mandy also raised police protocols regarding media coverage of the deadly mushroom lunch case.

Sen-Constable Eppingstall agreed that holding lines – a generic statement from police media – had been prepared.

‘There was significant media interest,’ Mr Mandy said.

The jury heard mainstream media had covered the case widely on August 5.

Sen-Constable Eppingstall said investigators noted the ‘significant’ media coverage and media ‘management’ was to be ongoing.

The detective also agreed media was camped outside Patterson’s Leongatha home and some members even went onto the property.

Lead homicide detective Senior-Constable Stephen Eppingstall (pictured below) told the Erin Patterson murder trial jury that police examined 81 pages of digital records surrounding the device known in the trial as ‘Phone A’.

However, the jury heard police were never able to find and seize the phone, a second Samsung Galaxy A23.

Sen-Constable Eppingstall said he discovered the existence of the phone and retreived records dating from 2019 to July 2023 for the number ending ‘783’.

‘The 783 number is in use for that entire period,’ he told the jury.

The detective said he investigated the phone after police realised they had an ‘issue’ with ‘Phone B’, another Samsung Galaxy A23 seized from Patterson’s bedroom during a search of her home on August 5, 2023 – a week after the deadly lunch.

The jury previously heard evidence that Phone B was remotely factory reset while in a secure locker at the Homicide Squad headquarters in Melbourne on August 6.

The phone had also been reset at 1.20pm on August 5 – about the same time Patterson was left alone for ’20 to 30 minutes’ to make a phone call while police searched her Leongatha home.

Later, Sen-Constable Eppingstall said he realised the number for Phone B provided by Patterson during her police interview had only been connected on July 11, 2023.

Police also seized a Samsung Galaxy tablet which contained 19 pages of mostly data records. However, SMS text messages were discovered on the device.

Sen-Constable Eppingstall said the SIM card from the tablet had been in the device until August 3, 2023, before it was then placed in Phone B.

The detective told the court records indicated the SIM card from Phone A was placed into a Nokia phone which had been seized by police.

‘(At) 1.45pm on the 5th of August, 2023, we see the actual SIM card change from Phone A into a different phone,’ Sen-Constable Eppingstall told the court.

Investigators searched Patterson’s Leongatha home again on November 2 looking for Phone A but could not locate it.

Erin Patterson, 50, is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, after allegedly serving them a beef Wellington lunch which included death cap mushrooms.

Patterson is also accused of attempting to murder Heather’s husband, pastor Ian Wilkinson, who survived the lunch after spending several weeks in an intensive care unit.

The court heard Patterson’s estranged husband, Simon, was also invited to the gathering at her home in Leongatha, in Victoria’s Gippsland region, but didn’t attend.

Witnesses told the jury Patterson ate her serving of the lunch from a smaller and differently coloured plate than those of her guests, who ate from four grey plates.

Patterson told authorities she bought dried mushrooms from an unnamed Asian store in the Monash area of Melbourne, but health inspectors could find no evidence of this.

Victoria’s health department declared the death cap mushroom poisoning was ‘isolated’ to Patterson’s deadly lunch.

Multiple witnesses, including Erin’s estranged husband Simon Patterson, Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson and other family members, have given emotion-charged evidence to the jury.

Medical staff have told the jury of the painful symptoms the dying lunch guests and Mr Wilkinson suffered.

An expert witness told the court death cap mushrooms were detected in debris taken from a dehydrator Patterson had dumped at a local tip.

Telecommunications expert Dr Matthew Sorell also told the jury that Patterson’s phone was detected near areas at Outtrim and Loch, in the Gippsland region, where death cap mushrooms had been spotted.

Victoria Police Cybercrime Squad senior digital forensics officer Shamen Fox-Henry said he found evidence of a death cap mushroom on data from a computer seized from Patterson’s Leongatha home on August 5, 2023.

On Friday, Austin Hospital intensive care director Professor Stephen Warrillow told the jury he was at the Melbourne health facility in July 2023 when the poisoned lunch guests were transferred to his care.

Professor Warrillow said all patients were given intense treatment and Don received a liver transplant.

Ian Wilkinson (pictured below) sat in court and listened as details of his wife died from death cap poisoning were aired in court.

The jury also heard the text exchanges between health department officer Sally Anne Atkinson and Patterson in the days after the deadly lunch as authorities rushed to solve the cause of the outbreak.

On Tuesday, the jury was shown the police interview Patterson took part in shortly after her home was searched on August 5.

Detectives seized a manual for a Sunbeam hydrator but Patterson denied in her interview that she ever owned such an appliance.

Patterson also told police she invited her in-laws for lunch because she loved them and they were like real family to her.

Homicide Squad detective leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall, the police informant in the Patterson trial, told the court officers searched for a Samsung Galaxy A23 – known as ‘Phone A’ – but it was never found.

Sen-Constable Eppingstall also said another Samsung Galaxy A23 – known as ‘Phone B’ – was factory reset multiple times including while police searched Patterson’s Leongatha home.

He said Phone B was later remotely wiped while it was kept in a secure locker at the Homicide Squad headquarters in Melbourne.

The jury also heard Patterson’s family had a history of cancer and her daughter had a benign ovarian cancer cyst removed.