Mushroom murder detective details cook's cancer claims

Erin Patterson told her former in-laws she had a biopsy done on a lump and needed an MRI weeks before the accused triple murderer served them a poisonous lunch, a jury has been told.

When Gail and Don Patterson checked up on how those medical tests went, on July 7, 2023, Patterson replied by text message: "There's a bit to digest with everything that's come out of it all."

"I might talk more about it with you both when I see you in person. Love Erin," the message sent to Gail's phone said.

The case's lead investigator, Detective Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall, returned to the witness stand today to detail evidence police gathered in the months before and after the July 29, 2023 lunch.

He is the prosecution's final witness in the trial, which is now in week five.

Eppingstall said he obtained medical evidence on Patterson from 2023 and there was no record that she ever received an MRI or biopsy, or that she had been diagnosed with cancer.

"There is no record of the accused ever having been diagnosed with cancer?" prosecutor Jane Warren asked.

"Correct," Eppingstall told the Supreme Court trial in regional Victoria.

Prosecutors previously told the jury Patterson had used a false cancer claim as a reason to get four members of her estranged husband's family to come to her home, in Leongatha, for the fatal lunch.

Patterson allegedly asked her guests for help in delivering medical news to her two children.

Eppingstall said he knew "from early on in the investigation" that Patterson told the lunch guests about a purported cancer diagnosis.

He obtained Patterson's records from medical centres in Leongatha, Korumburra and Mount Waverley, with particular focus on January to August of 2023.

Patterson attended a Mount Waverley GP for rib soreness after a fall, in June 2023, and had a chest X-ray that was clear, he said, and had two appointments in Korumburra to update a script in July.

The detective also read out messages found on Gail Patterson's phone.

"Hi Erin. Just wondering how you got on at your appointment today? Love Gail and Don," a message from Gail's phone on June 28, 2023, said.

"The appointment went ok thanks for asking I had a needle biopsy taken of the lump, and I'm returning for an MRI next week and we'll know more after the results of those two things," Erin Patterson texted Gail the following day.

Gail responded via text: "That's a test of patience isn't it?! Praying you'll know god's peace."

On July 6, Gail sent another message asking how Patterson got on with her medical tests, to which Patterson responded that she might talk about it with Don and Gail "when I see you in person".

The jury was shown dozens of pages of call charge records for Patterson's multiple mobile phones and sim cards.

Eppingstall said, during a police search one week after the deadly lunch, Patterson had placed a sim card from a tablet device into a Samsung mobile phone and then handed the phone to police.

He said police discovered in call records that Patterson had another phone, known as Phone A, which police had not found during the August 5 search.

The detective said officers obtained a further search warrant and on November 2 searched Patterson's home again for Phone A, but could not find that device.

"It's never been located," Eppingstall told the jury.

Patterson, 50, is on trial for the murders of Don and Gail Patterson, 77, and Heather Wilkinson, 66, who died after eating a death cap mushroom-laced beef Wellington at her home.

She claims the toxic lunch was a terrible accident and has pleaded not guilty to all charges, including the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson – the only survivor of the meal.

The trial before Justice Christopher Beale, in Morwell, continues.