Mushroom trial LIVE updates: Erin Patterson murder trial continues

Simon Patterson told the court he noticed a change in his relationship with Erin in 2022, after she moved to the Gibson Street home.

Mr Patterson told the jury an issue between the pair arose when Erin found a tax return which noted they were separated.

He said he was dropping off their children when Erin sat in his car and requested a chat.

‘She discovered that my tax return for the previous year for the first time noted we were separated,’ he told the court.

Mr Patterson said Erin told him she was obliged to now claim child support.

‘She was upset about it,’ he told the jury.

He offered to change his tax return but she declined.

‘It was resolved by us agreeing she would apply for child support,’ he said.

Mr Patterson said he contacted a child support agency who advised him not to pay for his children’s medical bills.

‘I’ve been advised (by the child support agency) not to pay things like that,’ he said.

‘I think the arrangement before that is I would pay their school fees.’

The relationship blew up after Mr Patterson told Erin he would not pay for a medical procedure given to one of their children.

‘She was very upset, I was sure she was very upset about that,’ Mr Patterson said.

Ms Patterson’s legal team is pictured below heading into court.

Simon Patterson told the jury his wife Erin Patterson received a $2million slice of her deceased grandmother’s estate a year before they were married.

Mr Patterson said the money was ‘dispersed very gradually over eight years’ before Erin initiated a ‘permanent separation’.

The jury heard the pair had bought a house together in Erin’s name only, but she later bought herself a house in nearby Korumburra which she moved into by herself.

Mr Patterson said it was hard put into words how Erin would come and go during their marriage.

‘She would leave each time, it’s a hard thing to word,’ he said.

‘When we lived together it was always her leaving me.’

Simon said their relationship was friendly ‘most of the time’.

‘It’s good to be friends with the person you’re married to,’ he said before almost breaking down in tears.

‘It was really important to me that… sorry can I have some tissues please,’ he said.

Prosecutor Rogers asked if Simon wanted a break, which he resisted.

‘Did you continue to care for her,’ Dr Rogers asked.

‘Yes, very much so,’ Mr Patterson said.

Mr Patterson also revealed the couple jointly owned a unit in Syndal, a suburb in Melbourne’s outer east.

He said the couple jointly owned the Gibson St, Leongatha, home where the deadly lunch was held until Erin Patterson owned it outright in 2021.

Erin Patterson first mentioned the lunch which ultimately turned fatal about July 16, the jury has been told.

‘She (Erin) was keen for it (the lunch) to be without the kids,’ her estranged husband Simon Patterson said on the witness stand.

‘It was about this “serious matter”; I was a bit reluctant.’

However, Mr Patterson said it ‘sounded OK, though’.

He said Erin asked him: ‘Are you going to put that in your diary in your phone?’

Mr Patterson said he discussed the lunch with his parents and Ian and Heather Wilkinson.

‘They (Heather and Ian) were intrigued about why they were invited,’ Mr Patterson told the jury.

He said he and his father discussed the lunch and the mystery cancer lump Erin claimed she had.

He later called his parents to say he would not be attending before telling Erin in a text message (pictured below).

‘Sorry I feel too uncomfortable about coming to lunch with you, mum, dad, Heather and Ian tomorrow but am happy to talk about your health and implications of that at another time,’ Mr Patterson wrote.

‘If you’d like to discuss on the phone just let me know.’

Erin responded: ‘That’s really disappointing. I’ve spent many hours this week preparing lunch for tomorrow which has been exhausting in light of the issues I’m facing and spent a small fortune on beef eye filet to make beef Wellingtons because I wanted it to be a special meal as I may not be able to host a lunch like this again for some time.

‘It’s important to me that you’re all there tomorrow, and that I can have the conversations that I need to have.

‘I hope you’ll change your mind. Your parents, Heather and Ian, are coming at 12.30, and I hope to see you there.’

Simon Patterson has entered the witness box to give evidence against his former wife Erin.

It is the first time Simon has laid eyes on his estranged wife in person since her arrest over the alleged murder of his parents in 2023.

Patterson, 50, is accused of killing her former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, with death cap mushrooms served in a pastry dish during a lunch at her Leongatha home on July 29, 2023.

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Simon Patterson has called his estranged wife ‘witty and quite intelligent’ before telling the court she previously held a position as an air-traffic controller at Melbourne Airport in Tullamarine.

Mr Patterson (pictured entering court with his media cohort Jessica O’Donnell) said Erin had a business and accountancy degree.

He revealed he and Erin are still married after forming a romantic relationship while working together at Monash Council.

Mr Patterson said he was a civil engineer and Erin worked in animal management.

They were part of an eclectic friendship group.

‘We had a romantic relationship then got married,’ Mr Patterson told the jury.

He told the jury the pair travelled around Australia camping in tents.

Erin Patterson has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and a charge of attempted murder following a fateful death cap mushroom-laden lunch at her home at Leongatha, in south-western Victoria, on July 23, 2023.

Her in-laws Don and Gail Patterson and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson all died after eating beef Wellington prepared by Patterson.

Ian Wilkinson, a pastor and Heather’s husband, survived the lunch after spending several months in hospital.

The jury heard Patterson feigned having cancer to get her relatives together for lunch.

Her estranged husband Simon Patterson was invited, but did not attend.

Before she died, Heather claimed Erin Patterson ate her own beef Wellington off a different coloured and shaped plate.

Patterson also told doctors she became sick but attempted to stop medical professionals treating her children after it was feared they also ingested poisonous mushrooms.

Prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers SC and lead defence barrister Colin Mandy SC will continue their roles in the trial today which is before Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale.

Day three of Erin Patterson’s murder trial is is expected to start this morning with her estranged husband Simon Patterson (pictured below arriving at court) appearing as a witness for the first time. The trial resumes at 10.30am today.