Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial LIVE updates: Digital forensics expert tells court what was found on computer seized from Patterson’s home

Victoria Police Cybercrime Squad senior digital forensics officer Shamen Fox-Henry yesterday told the jury he and other cyber experts were tasked with analysing a device linked to Patterson’s murder trial.

He confirmed the device was a computer sent for analysis after it was seized from Patterson’s home on August 5, 2023.

The officer confirmed the device was a Cooler Master personal computer with the PaLM number 202308-C-0124-001.

Mr Fox-Henry (pictured below) said he found three storage devices attached to the computer he commenced his extraction of data on August 15.

Mr Fox-Henry said investigators had provided ‘some’ of the search words before he commenced his analysis.

He said he compiled his report for investigators on March 16, 2024.

Mr Fox-Henry told the jury he found a Google Chrome history which revealed a search for www.inaturalist.org/observations and ‘some numbers’ just after 7.23pm on May 28, 2022.

The court heard the URL page was titled: ‘Death cap mushroom from Melbourne Vic Australia’ and included information the sighting was made by an Inaturalist user at Bricker Reserve, Moorabbin at 2.36pm on May 18.

The jury previously heard iNaturalist is an app that was used by experts to identify and upload the location of death caps at Outtrim and Loch.

The officer said an iNaturalist search also occurred on Bing at 7.20pm on May 28, 2022, which he said was the time the ‘URL was generated on that device’.

Mr Fox-Henry said he also found another search term for iNaturalist via Bing on the Edge browser at 7.21pm on May 28, 2022.

The internet search for death caps was discovered at 7.23pm less than two minutes after the last search was discovered for iNaturalist, the jury heard.

Monash Council Environmental Health Officer Troy Schonknecht told the jury he was tasked to track down all mushrooms sold at Asian grocers in three suburbs in his council area.

‘They only told us it was Oakleigh, Clayton or Mount Waverley where it was alleged a person may’ve purchased those mushrooms from an Asian grocer in those suburbs,’ Mr Schonknecht said.

‘They were requesting us to use our database to establish the Asian grocers to establish the Asian grocers that are in those suburbs and attend and (investigate all mushrooms fresh and dry).

‘(We were told to) Investigate supply and take photographs and have a close look at mushrooms (not in manufacture packaging).’

Mr Schonknecht said he was not told why he was asked to probe loose unpackaged mushrooms, but was informed the purchase was likely made in April 2023.

‘I used my knowledge of the area to nail down which were Asian grocers or similar,’ Mr Schonknecht said.

He told the jury he visited every store personally.

The jury was then shown a report prepared by Mr Schonknecht titled, ‘Mushroom Investigation Monash Council’.

Ms Cespon previously told the jury Patterson was asked to bring her kids in, but she ‘became emotional’ and was ‘crying’.

The jury heard Patterson said she didn’t want her kids ‘stressed or panicked’ by ‘pulling them out of school’.

Ms Cespon said Patterson asked ‘was it really necessary for them to be assessed because they didn’t have any symptoms?’

Justice Christopher Beale then asked Ms Cespon if Dr Chris Webster (pictured) came and spoke to her about her kids.

Ms Cespon said both she and Dr Webster were there when Patterson was asked about the kids

Patterson said the kids just ate the meat and she scraped the mushrooms and ‘crust’ off from the lunch, the jury heard.

Dr Webster told her ‘you don’t want to wait and have the symptoms get worse’, the jury heard.

Ms Cespon said Patterson briefly left the hospital again about 10am, but returned shortly later after telling staff she needed to get something from the car.

The jury heard Ms Cespon told Patterson to inform her every time she went to the toilet so the nurse ‘could have a look’.

Ms Cespon said she inspected her bowel movements and said they all looked the same and there was no blood detected.

Patterson said she needed to go to the toilet and was asked to get a sample, the jury heard.

The nurse told the court Patterson was given a ‘witches hat’ pan to catch her bowel movements.

The court heard four ‘outputs’ were recorded on a ‘bowel chart’ which was exhibited to the jury.

Patterson told the nurse she had a bowel movement which looked like a ‘wee’.

Ms Cespon said Patterson’s pain level was a ‘7 out of 10’.

Patterson told Ms Cespon she had ‘diarhhoea all day’ on July 30, 2023, but it ‘settled in the evening’, the court heard.

The jury has previously viewed CCTV which depicted Patterson purchasing food items from a BP service station while wearing white pants early on July 30.

Gippsland Southern Health registered nurse Mairim Cespon told the jury how they were concerned for Patterson’s health.

Patterson, who is today wearing a paisley top, listened as Ms Cespon said she had assisted Heather and Ian Wilkinson shortly after she arrived for work at Leongatha at 7am on July 31, 2023.

Ms Cespon said she had received a handover for the Wilkinsons then overheard a phone conversation between a senior nurse and Dr Christopher Webster.

She told the jury Dr Webster had instructed the nurses to prepare the Wilkinsons for urgent transfer over fears the pair had ingested death cap mushrooms.

‘I looked after Heather while she was in urgent care and another nurse looked after Ian,’ Ms Cespon said.

‘I wasn’t aware (Patterson) had entered. She was just sitting across the nursing station.

‘I was informed she will be back in about 30 minutes. I was informed just in case she returned she needed to be assessed.

‘She didn’t answer any phone calls, Dr Webster was quite concerned. He called police because we were concerned for her health.’

Ms Cespon said Patterson arrived later.

‘She said, “I’m Erin Patterson and I want to be assessed”,’ Ms Cespon said.

Ms Cespon told the jury Patterson gave her no reason for why she left the hospital.

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 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, but didn’t attend.

Witnesses told the jury Patterson ate her serving from a smaller and differently coloured plate than those of her guests, who ate from 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.

The health department declared the death cap poisoning was ‘isolated’ to Patterson’s deadly lunch.

Multiple witnesses, including Simon Patterson, Ian Wilkinson and other family members, have given emotion-charged evidence to the jury.

Medical staff have told the jury of the painful symptoms the dying lunch guests and Ian Wilkinson suffered.

An expert witness told the court death cap mushrooms were detected in debris taken from a dehydrater Patterson had dumped at a local tip.

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

CCTV of a short toilet pitstop at a Gippsland BP service station following the day of the lunch was also shown to the court.

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