Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial LIVE updates: What to expect in week three

The jury heard a statement from a friend of Patterson’s now 16-year-old son.

Patterson, who is wearing a brown cardigan and a green top, sat quietly as the statement from the then 15-year-old boy was read to the jury.

The boy said he had been friends with Patterson’s son since Year 6, but couldn’t remember the name of his friend’s dad.

‘Sam and I are very close friends,’ he said.

The teenager said he would visit Patterson’s son at their Leongatha home every Tuesday and Friday after youth club.

He said he stayed the night before the lunch and the next day attended the movies with his friend and sister.

The boy said his friend’s dad dropped him and Patterson’s son at the Leongatha home as the lunch gathering was wrapping up.

He said they all greeted each other and spoke about the son’s flying lessons.

The boy said he and his friend ate some dessert, which he thought may have been a cake or muffin.

The teenager claimed he thought he saw his friend’s grandma cleaning a plate, and believes he saw some white plates in the kitchen sink.

Later that evening, he said Patterson drove him home.

The boy said he spoke with his mate about school and can’t remember if he spoke to Patterson.

‘Erin just seemed like her normal self to me,’ the boy said.

The court heard the boy went home because his friend had a flying lesson the following day.

Flight instructor Ulysses Villalobos made a statement that Patterson seemed ‘easy-going’ and a ‘typical mum’.

He recalled Patterson dropping him off one time and they discussed the son’s flying performance.

‘I told her he was good, and she seemed pretty proud,’ he said in his statement.

He recalled on the Sunday after the lunch that he called Patterson to say he was running late for that afternoon’s lesson.

The lesson was pushed from 2pm to 4pm, but he later called Patterson to cancel due to poor weather.

‘She got grumpy at me,’ he said.

She complained about the hour-long drive and why she hadn’t been contacted earlier.

Accused mushroom killer Erin Patterson, 50, will return to court this morning after she pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and a charge of attempted murder.

The charges relate to a meal Patterson prepared for her in-laws at her Leongatha home on July 29, 2023.

Patterson cooked individual beef Wellingtons which contained death cap mushrooms.

Lunch guests including her parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson all died after consuming the lunch and spending several days in hospital.

Heather’s husband Pastor Ian Wilkinson survived after spending several weeks in intensive care.

This is the third week of the trial.

So far, the jury has evidence from several medical witnesses who treated the lunch guests.

Other medical staff who encountered Patterson also told what they knew to the jury.

Paramedic Eleyne Spencer (pictured below right) told the jury how she travelled in a ambulance with Patterson and administered the suspected killer powerful opioid fentanyl to treat a headache.

Family members including Patterson’s estranged husband Simon told the jury how he was invited to the lunch but declined the invitation.

Lone lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson told the jury how he noticed Patterson ate her lunch from a smaller and different coloured plate to those of her guests.

In an emotionally charged end to week two, Patterson choked back tears after video recorded evidence of her children was played to the court.

The trial will resume shortly.