The lunch chef says trial food was “special”

An Australian woman accused of deliberately preparing a fatal mushroom lunch told her test that she wanted beef eating to be “special”.

Erin Patterson admitted that he was not guilty of killing three people and tried to kill another at her home in regional Victoria in July 2023.

The 50-year-old says it was a tragic disaster and she never intended to hurt family members she loved. But prosecutors claim that D -Ja Patterson has put poisonous mushrooms into her food in a carefully crafted story to kill them.

On Friday, the court heard that it was “unusual” to host such an event in her house and she was questioned about her relationship with her guests.

The legal laws, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, along with Gail Heather Wilkinson’s sister, 66, everyone became ill and died days after lunch.

Heather’s husband, local pastor Ian Wilkinson, was also hospitalized, but recovered after leaving a coma -induced coma. Simon Patterson, the alienated husband of the accused, was also invited, but was taken out the previous day.

More than 50 witnesses to the prosecutor’s office gave evidence in the process, which began six weeks ago, but D -Ja Patterson became the first to defense when she came out on the podium on Monday.

On her second day of cross-examination on Friday, Mrs. Patterson told the court that she had accepted that the invitations to her house were rare, but said she had arranged the occasion to discuss a health problem and wanted to make a pleasant food for her relatives to thank them for their support.

“I wanted it to be special,” said G -ja Patterson.

Before she admitted that she had misled her guests to believe that she could need cancer treatment by telling the jurors that she had done as a cover for a weight loss surgery she had planned to have, but was too confused to reveal.

However, prosecutor Nanet Rogers told her that there was no health problem to discuss and that she invited Simon and his relatives to kill them. She had even prepared a reserve toxic food if Patterson changed her mind and came, suggested Dr. Rogers.

During this week, D -Ja Patterson denies these claims often becomes emotional as she said to the court that she loves lunch guests Like your own family.

In addition, she has repeatedly told the court that she realized, in the days after lunch that beef Wellington may have accidentally included dried mushrooms that had invaded, which were kept in a container bought in the store.

Lies to the police and health authorities regarding the source of mushrooms and her decision to dispose of a nutritional dehydrator, as she was afraid of being blamed for the serious illnesses of the guests, she said.

“Certainly, if you loved them, then you would immediately inform the medical authorities?” asked Dr. Rogers.

D -Ja Patterson said she did not tell the doctors about the possibility of wild mushrooms involuntarily involved, as lunch guests are already receiving treatment for mushroom poisoning from death.

“Even after you were discharged from a hospital, you did not tell any person that there may have been mushrooms with feed used in nutrition,” said Dr. Rogers.

“Instead, you got up, you drove your children to school … and you went home. And then you got rid of the dehydrator.”

“Correct,” said Da Patterson.

The court heard that there was a conflict between Mrs. Patterson and her husband, and Dr. Rogers suggested that the accused was still angry with her laws that he had taken their son’s country.

“You had two faces,” said Dr. Rogers, after making G -ja Patterson read aloud messages in which she is critical of both Simon Patterson and his parents.

There was her “public face” that she seemed to have a good relationship with Don and Gail, said Dr. Rogers and a “private person”, which she showed in the messages.

“How did you really feel about Don and Gail was how you expressed it (there),” she said.

“And so you really felt about Simon Patterson … You didn’t consider him a decent person at his base, correct or wrong?”

It was “wrong,” Da Patterson replied, her head trembled and the voice was falling apart.

The use of G -Ja Patterson on the Intral website – which lists the places of Death Cap mushrooms in areas close to its home – it has also been viewed, and the accused repeatedly says that it cannot be clearly reminded that it has ever used the site.

She will resume that she has been examined next week. The process, which is initially expected to take six weeks, is now expected to run for at least another two weeks, the judge told the court.