The estranges husband of alleged triple-murderer Erin Patterson has taken the witness stand for a third day. Ms Patterson stands accused of murdering her ex-husband’s parents and aunt who died after she served them a beef wellington containing death cap mushrooms in 2023.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Well, Simon Patterson has arrived today for another day of questioning by Aaron Patterson's
00:07lawyers. It's his third day on the witness stand, his second day of cross-examination.
00:12Now, so far today, the defence has put to him that in the aftermath of the lunch, it
00:17was a stressful, a traumatic time and that his parents were in hospital with declining
00:21health. And it was put to him that he might not recall certain details with accuracy,
00:25which he conceded. And once again, we've been shown messages between Aaron and Simon Patterson
00:31in the months prior to that fateful mushroom lunch. There were disagreements around child
00:36support and school fees for their two kids in the aftermath of their separation. Simon's
00:41evidence being that there was tension in their relationship at that time. Now, last week,
00:46we heard that Simon Patterson had rejected an invitation to that mushroom lunch where his
00:53parents, aunt and uncle were served a beef Wellington lunch laced with poisonous mushrooms.
00:59Aaron, of course, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one of attempted
01:03murder. Her defence saying that it was a terrible accident, that she foraged for mushrooms, but
01:08she didn't specifically seek out death cat mushrooms. We also heard that the lunch was served
01:13on separate dinner plates, four grey plates for her guests, an orange plate, an orange tan plate
01:20for Erin herself. And we also heard graphic details of the illness that guests suffered in the
01:25aftermath of the lunch and in the lead up to their deaths. Simon Patterson becoming emotional at times
01:32when speaking about his late father, especially, and the condition that he was in in hospital the
01:37first time he managed to visit him. So this trial is expected to go for five to six weeks. We're
01:42currently in week two. We'll hear from a plethora of witnesses.