Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial LIVE updates: Legal team queries test results of fatal lunch leftovers

Dr Dimitri Gerostamoulos, head of forensic science at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, told the jury the rigorous checks and controls his team stringently adheres to when samples are sent in for testing.

These measures included wearing gloves, protective clothing and having a secondary team member supervise testing practices.

Patterson, who is today wearing a brown paisley-patterned cardigan, listened as Dr Gerostamoulos confirmed the sample leftovers were delivered to the institute in two bags on August 29, 2023.

The defence led by Colin Mandy SC and supported by Sophie Stafford (pictured below) suggested to Dr Gerostamoulos the contents he tested were received from an outdoor bin, liquid was seeping, and the leftovers had been found with other rubbish.

‘That would not be an ideal way of handling the exhibits as they were handed to you,’ Colin Mandy SC suggested.

Dr Gerostamoulos agreed he could only control what happens when his team receives samples.

‘Those items were tested as received,’ Dr Gerostamoulos said.

Mr Mandy pointed out the samples arrived on trays in two separate bags and samples were taken and placed in small vials for testing.

Dr Gerostamoulos said methanol was added to the sample vials to help identify the ‘compounds of interest’.

The jury heard the compounds and other chemicals and substances were absorbed into the methanol and then centrifuged, dried down and tested.

Dr Gerostamoulos also said it was possible death cap toxin beta-Amanitin detected in a beef sample could also have been detected in a sample in contact with the meat.

The jury has heard a person’s weight could be a factor in how ingesting death cap mushrooms would affect their ‘toxic response’.

Dr Gerostamoulos (pictured below) agreed multiple factors including weight, age, health status,and how much of a meal containing death caps consumed would vary from person to person.

He agreed that even if a person ate the same meal as someone else which contained death caps, it was possible one person’s toxicity levels would be different to the other’s.

Dr Gerostamoulos agreed how much of the meal a person consumed would be a factor in determining the extent of the affect of the toxins.

The doctor also said some people just have a ‘better toxic response’ to others after consuming death caps.

The doctor told the jury the estimated lethal dose of death cap mushrooms was not completely accurate and was based on animal rather than human studies.

Accused mushroom murderer Erin Patterson, 50, yesterday heard evidence that she allegedly found the recipe for her lunch from a RecipeTin Eats cookbook.

Child protection practitioner Katrina Cripps (pictured below) said Patterson said she found the recipe for her meal in the cookbook and she ‘wanted to do something new and special’ for lunch.

Ms Cripps said Patterson told her she bought chopped mushrooms from a local Woolworths and dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer.

Patterson said she used the dried mushrooms because she heard they would ‘add flavour’ to the beef Wellingtons.

Patterson, who is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, after serving them a deadly meal laden with death cap mushrooms, became emotional after seeing video evidence from her son and daughter.

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.

Patterson’s movements at hospital and her abrupt departure have also been aired in court as the trial continues this morning.