In an Australian woman’s high-profile murder trial, the jury has accused a deadly mushroom lunch for relatives, who has retired to decide her fate.
50 -year -old Erin Patterson has requested not to be convicted for three and three murder allegations of murder at Beef Wellington Lunch at his Regional Victorian House in July 2023.
The prosecution has claimed that Ms. Patterson deliberately put the hat of poisonous death mushroom in the cooked food at home, before lying to the police and disposal of evidence.
But Raksha argues that Ms. Patterson accidentally included poisonous fungi in the dish and only lied as she got nervous after hurting those she loved.
Ms. Patterson’s in -laws, Don and Gayle Patterson, both 70, Gayle’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, all fell ill and died a few days after lunch at Leoanatha.
Heather’s husband, local pastor Ian Wilkinson, was recovered after weeks in an inspired coma. The accused’s husband, Simon Patterson, was also invited for lunch, but was taken out a day earlier.
On Monday, Justice Christopher Bile gave his last instructions to the 14-member jury, briefly informed the evidence from the prosecution and the only Raksha Witness, Ms. Patterson.
After about two months and more than 50 witnesses, the last 12 gamblers were fixed by a ballot, which was fixed by a ballot before retiring for the group’s ideas.
In her closing arguments, prosecutor Nanet Rogers SC said that Ms. Patterson has “told so many lies that she is difficult to track”.
The prosecution alleged that Ms. Patterson lied to her relatives about the diagnosis of cancer so that she could be forbidden to participate in a fatal lunch, poisoned her and then faced a disease to cover her tracks.
Ms. Patterson lied more with the police and medical staff about forging for wild mushrooms, as well as her decision to dump food dehydration used to prepare food, there was evidence of her crime, arguing.
Nanet Rogers said, “She has told a lie on a lie because she knew that the truth would implicate her.”
“When she knew her lies were exposed, she came with a careful story to fit with evidence – almost.”
There was no “special purpose” for the alleged crime, Dr. Rogers told the court, but the jury still had “no difficulty” in dismissing the argument “. It was all a terrible accident”.
However, Raksha argued that lack of motives was significant. Ms. Patterson had no reason to kill her guests, she said.
During Ms. Patterson’s evidence, she told the jury that she was very close to her in -laws and never intended to harm her.
As she was preparing lunch, Ms. Patterson claimed that she had added mushrooms to a container in her pantry that she now realized that it stored and forced mushrooms could include both.
She also told the court that she was suffering from Bulimiya for years, and had thrown herself after a beef Wellington meal – some his defense team says why she did not get sick as others, who ate it.
The lie was about cancer because she was embarrassed about the plan to get weight loss surgery, Ms. Patterson said, and she did not tell the authorities about her mushroom hobbies because she feared that she could guilty her for making her relatives sick.
“He is not on the test to lie,” defense lawyer Colin Mandy SC, “This is not a court of moral decision”.
He accused the prosecution of trying to force the “puzzle pieces” of evidence together, “pulling the interpretations, ignoring alternative clarifications because they do not fully align with the story”.
In his last instructions, Justice Bile told the members of the jury that he alone is “judges of facts in this case”.
He said that he should not blame Ms. Patterson only for lying, because “all kinds of reasons that a person can behave in a way that makes the person guilty”.
He said that “any appropriate person will feel very sympathetic” for Patterson and Wilkinson families, gamblers should not allow themselves to flow with emotions.
The jury is now indexed, which means that when they do intentionally, they will stay in the supervised house, where they will not have any contact with the outside world until they reached a decision.
