Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial LIVE updates: Defence wraps up its case as marathon murder trial enters its final days

Mr Mandy said his client’s son had suggested she was unwell and told him Don and Gail had been sick too, so she thought perhaps it had something to do with the lunch.

‘When did she tell him that she thought it might be the lunch?’ Mr Mandy asked.

‘No questions asked of him on that.’

Mr Mandy told the jury his client felt sick in the evening after the lunch and suffered from the runs.

However, Mr Mandy said Patterson’s (pictured) son’s account of seeing his mother drinking a coffee the morning after was ‘likely incorrect’.

He told the jury Patterson’s son had no specific conversation about what was in his mother’s cup, of which she told the jury was herbal tea.

Mr Mandy said Patterson’s teenage son had not watched his mum ‘like a hawk’ that morning and suggested he would not have known how often she had gone to the toilet.

He said the son may’ve have done what teenage boys do and ‘go to the computer room and play computer games’.

Mr Mandy has refuted Patterson lied about being sick as he again takes the jury to the timing of Patterson’s supposed illness after the lunch.

Mr Mandy said Patterson did not say in her evidence that she tasted the duxelles after she added the dried mushrooms to it, but it was ‘common sense’ that she did so.

‘She wasn’t cross examined about it at all,’ he said.

Lead defence barrister Colin Mandy SC (pictured right) has continued his closing address by focusing on the credibility of Facebook group chat participant Christine Hunt.

Mr Mandy said Ms Hunt and another witness Daniela Barkley were part of a Facebook group with Patterson which included about ’18-20′ members.

Mr Mandy said Patterson was part of a smaller group chat with five people which included Ms Barkley but not Ms Hunt.

Mr Mandy said the prosecution was ‘picking and choosing the evidence which suits them’ after telling the jury they put forward Ms Hunt as a witness to be believed despite Patterson never meeting her in person.

Mr Mandy said Patterson’s Facebook friends weren’t asked any questions about what his client said about her religious beliefs.

Mr Mandy described his client as a religious person and urged the jury to reject any evidence that suggested otherwise.

‘Erin Patterson was not an atheist,’ he said.

Justice Christoper Beale has told the jury he will now commence his charge on Tuesday morning, where he will give instructions to the jury.

‘I have some news to tell you… I won’t be starting my charge until Tuesday…,’ Justice Beale said.

‘Mr Mandy will finish his closing address and then we have some legal discussion… think of it like a second Easter…’

His charge is expected to last two days, after which the jury will then begin deliberations.

Mr Mandy on Wednesday suggested his client may have felt sick earlier than her guests because she had been sampling the mushrooms while she prepared and cooked the meal.

Mr Mandy previously told the jury what amount of Wellington the other guests ate and repeated his client’s evidence she ate two-thirds of a cake after the lunch and made herself sick.

Mr Mandy suggested Patterson (pictured) told the truth about vomiting up the cake.

‘If she had lied, she would have mentioned throwing up the Wellington, but she didn’t,’ Mr Mandy said.

Mr Mandy said there was a sensible reason why Patterson got sicker earlier than the others.

‘That was because she had tasted the mushrooms while preparing the lunch earlier,’ Mr Mandy suggested.

The trial continues at 10.30am.

Mr Mandy reminded the jury that the Crown said five poisoned beef Wellington parcels and one unpoisoned one were baked in the oven.

‘If that was the case, it would be very important to make sure… you can tell which one is the non-poisonous one,’ Mr Mandy suggested yesterday.

Mr Mandy reminded the jury Mr Wilkinson (pictured right) gave evidence all the Wellingtons came out of the oven on the same tray and he, his wife Heather and Don and Gail ate off four large grey plates and Patterson ate from a smaller colourful plate.

Mr Mandy said you’d need to mark the unpoisoned one to recognise it when it comes off the oven tray.

‘So different coloured plates would not be required,’ Mr Mandy said

Mr Mandy suggested Mr Wilkinson was wrong about the different coloured plate.

‘On all of the evidence he’s wrong, honestly mistaken,’ Mr Mandy said.

Mr Mandy said the search by police in August was thorough and they found no plates that matched Mr Wilkinson’s description in the house.

Mr Mandy also said Simon said Patterson did not have matching plates

‘He believed Patterson had a random selection of plates,’ Mr Mandy said

‘Which is what police found during their search,’ he suggested.

Mr Mandy told the court Patterson was often worried about her health while denying his client had a ‘sinister’ motive to get everyone to the lunch.

‘Obviously this worry [about her health] was without substance,’ Mr Mandy said.

Mr Mandy said a lump on her elbow resulted in concern for his client.

Patterson told the jury she told Don and Gail about the lump and they were concerned but as it healed, she maintained the lump was an issue because she wanted her in-laws’ care to continue.

Patterson admitted she was embarrassed about maintaining the lump issue.

Mr Mandy said everyone was happy to come to the lunch apart from Simon.

Asked why she held it, Mr Mandy said his client was worried about her relationship with her in-laws and wanted to be more pro-active to maintain contact with them.

Mr Mandy also dismissed Patterson had any sinister motive to invite her in-laws to the lunch.

He agreed she told lies at the lunch about her medical issues.

Mr Mandy told the jury again Patterson was not on trial for lying and urged the jury not to take a lie about her elbow and believe she was guilty of a triple murder.

Mr Mandy said Patterson had no malicious intent by telling the lie.

‘All she wanted was the continued love and care of Don and Gail,’ he said.

Mr Mandy dismissed suggestions the ‘ruse’ the prosecution alleged Patterson used to lure her guests to the lunch was to discuss her medical issues.

‘Only Simon gave that evidence,’ Mr Mandy said.

Mr Mandy (pictured right) said just because Patterson landed on an iNaturalist page about a death cap sighting on May 28, 2022, doesn’t mean it’s linked to the lunch 14 months later.

He reminded the jury Patterson’s claim she was foraging is ‘her account’ and ‘you know she doesn’t have to prove anything’.

‘There is no way the prosecution is able to rebut that claim with this kind of evidence,’ Mr Mandy said.

Mr Mandy also said the iNaturalist death cap search found on the computer seized from her home was 14 months before the lunch.

‘It’s not suggested that activity had anything to do with planning that lunch… it’s very brief, it’s a matter of seconds…,’ Mr Mandy said.

‘The way you end up on a website varies [as you know if you use Google].’

Mr Mandy also said there was no evidence Patterson had previous knowledge of iNaturalist before the brief visit on May 28, 2022.

Mr Mandy said, at the time, the site contained no information on death caps in the Gippsland area.

Mr Mandy said his client likely checked the site to see if death caps grew in Gippsland.

‘Maybe she’d seen some mushrooms earlier that day,’ he said.

Lead defence barrister Colin Mandy SC commenced his closing address to the jury in the Erin Patterson murder trial on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr Mandy, who is expected to wrap up his closing address today, called the prosecution’s case ‘flawed’ and even labelled an aspect of the case a ‘charade’.

Crown prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers wrapped up her closing address to the jury just before lunch on Tuesday.

Justice Christopher Beale has indicated he will commence his ‘charge’ to the jury after Mr Mandy has concluded his closing address.

Justice Beale already indicated to the jury his final instructions will go for several days.

The closing arguments followed Patterson who entered the witness box for her eighth and final day in her own marathon murder trial last Thursday.

Dozens of members of the public have braved the cold to queue up outside (pictured) the courthouse very early each morning to get a front row seat in the courtroom.

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 that Patterson ate her serving from a smaller, differently-coloured plate to those of her guests, who ate off 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.