Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial LIVE updates: Rolling updates as Erin Patterson tells murder trial her side of the story following fatal beef Wellington lunch

Erin Patterson (pictured) will resume giving evidence in her murder trial shortly after today’s proceedings kick off at 10.30am.

Lead defence barrister Colin Mandy SC is expected to finish questioning his client before the prosecution lead by Dr Nanette Rogers SC (pictured) will have an opportunity to cross-examine the accused killer.

Patterson in the witness box has been a big-ticket item as far as members of the public are concerned.

Since Tuesday morning huge lines to get into Morwell Court – a small regional courthouse about two hours east of Melbourne – have formed with people eager to see Patterson give evidence in her own trial.

The increased interest has meant many people hoping to get in have to arrive early and queue up for a chance of getting into the cramped courtroom 4 where the murder trial has been taking place for more than six weeks.

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

On Wednesday, Patterson denied foraging for death cap mushrooms at Outtrim or Loch.

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

Homicide Squad detective Stephen Eppingstall 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.

Messages from several devices including phones owned by Patterson, Gail and Simon have been aired in court.

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 said the death cap mushroom poisoning was ‘isolated’ to Patterson’s deadly lunch.

Multiple witnesses, including Patterson’s estranged husband, Heather’s husband and other family members, have given emotionally-charged evidence to the jury.

Medical staff have told the jury of the painful symptoms the dying lunch guests and survivor Pastor Ian Wilkinson (pictured) suffered.

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 made with 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 from a smaller, differently-coloured plate than those of her guests, who ate off four grey plates.

The lunch was held on July 29, 2023 but Patterson was charged in November following a lengthy police investigation lead by detective Leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall (pictured).

Patterson on Wednesday told the jury she spoke about her health with her lunch guests ‘right at the end of the meal’.

‘I mentioned I had an issue a year or two earlier where I feared I had ovarian cancer,’ she said.

‘I’m not proud of this but I led them to believe that I might need some treatment for that over the next weeks and months, I did (mislead them).

‘They all showed a lot of compassion about that and then we saw Simon’s car driving into the driveway, so Ian said why don’t we pray for Erin and that’s what we did.’

Patterson said she was embarrassed and ashamed that she didn’t have control over her body or what she ate.

‘I lied, I was ashamed, I was embarrassed, I shouldn’t have lied to them,’ she said tearfully.

Patterson said the conversation with Simon made her think about all the times she had used the dehydrator and dried foraged mushrooms with it weeks earlier.

‘What if they got in the container with the Chinese mushrooms,’ she said.

‘Maybe that had happened, I was thinking maybe that’s how this all…’

Patterson said after she dumped the dehydrator at the tip she felt ‘scared and responsible’.

‘I just felt really scared,’ she said.

‘I was frantic, people had got sick.’

Patterson said she got the dehydrator and then drove to the Koonwarra Transfer Station tip (pictured).

The jury heard the dehydrator was located and seized by police.

Debris found within the appliance tested postive for death cap mushrooms.

On Wednesday, Patterson told the jury she spoke to estranged husband Simon Patterson (pictured) on August 2.

She said she had a conversation with the kids about why they were at the hospital, and why everyone else was unwell.

Patterson said there was concerns her lunch had made people unwell.

Patterson explained how she had previously used a dehydrator to dry mushrooms.

‘(Simon) said to me “is that how you poisoned my parents using that dehydrator?”‘ Patterson said while sobbing in court.

‘I said “of course not”.’