Erin Patterson Murder Trial Live: Mushroom Experts Provide Evidence on Day 11 of Suspected Triple Murder | Victoria
Key Events
Prosecutors convened the next witness – another mushroom expert
PhD Camille Truong Is a mycologist or scientist who studies fungi.
The court heard that Truong is a research scientist at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Victoria.
The garden has a 24-hour call mycologist that can be used in the Victorian Poison Information Center to help identify mushrooms.
Evidence that Dr. Thomas can draw conclusions
lawyer Sophie Stafford Then go to a chart showing the Death Cap mushrooms in the Royal Botanical Gardens of Victoria between 2020 and 2023.
The figure shows March and May, which are the largest numbers and the time to delete.
Images of May shown by Stafford are prosecuted in evidence on Wednesday. The court has heard of the Victoria Police Detectives provided the information to May.
One photo shows several mushroom caps on the tray.
“Can’t you rule out the possibility that these are death cap mushrooms?” Stafford asked.
“I can’t be sure they aren’t Death Cap Mushrooms,” May said.
May agrees that he can’t rule out that they are another mushroom species, either.
May now summarizes his evidence.
lawyer Sophie Stafford Dr. Thomas possible Passed by the coroner’s discovery and advice on the fatal poisoning in May 2024 (i.e., unrelated to the Erin Patterson charges related to the 2023 lunch).
May said the Victorian Department of Health contacted him how the government should respond to the recommendations made by the coroner.
One of the coroner’s findings is more public health news about the dangers of eating wild mushrooms.
National Defense Discussion on Death Cap Mushroom Poisoning Cases in 2024
lawyer Sophie Stafford ask PhD Thomas possible About the incident involving death cap mushroom poisoning.
She pointed out that the poisoning was the subject of the Victorian Coroner Report in May 2024.
Stafford said the now-dead woman picked mushrooms from her front garden in April 2024. Later she and her son had a dish.
The deceased found more mushrooms in her garden next month. The court heard that she prepared the same dish with mushrooms.
The next day, the woman’s son heard her get up and use the bathroom. Then, he checked his mother. Who said she kept vomiting? Her son started to feel uncomfortable on the same day.
The court heard the woman died of death cap mushroom poisoning while her son recovered.
The court is resting for 15 minutes and returning at noon.
PhD Thomas possible Said that when identifying posts about Inaturalist, he did not use the strictness in other cases.
Stafford continues to display photos of May mushrooms from the Inturalist website.
He was shown a photo of the parasol mushroom marked as fluffy.
The fluffy parasol mushrooms can be confirmed to be toxic through work at the Victorian Poison Information Center.
He also showed him a picture of the buttered Collybia mushroom. May said that despite reports on Inaturalist posts in the state, there was no growth in Victoria.
Dr. May confirmed that the Amilaria genus (or honey mushroom) of Gippsland is growing.
He said the Victorian variants of these mushrooms were bitter and unlikely to be eaten.
Dr. Thomas discusses Gippslan mushroom sightings
lawyer Sophie Stafford Ask the doctor Thomas possible About the Gippsland map on the Intatorist website, there are scattered red dots.
May said the marks were reported mushroom sightings. He agreed that some may be “research-level” observations, while others are unverified observations.
After cross-examination, Mei agreed Oudemansiella gigaspora Mushrooms have similar visual features to death caps, including smooth hats and white g.
He agreed that he didn’t know it was toxic to humans.
lawyer Sophie Stafford Taking PhD Thomas possible Screenshot of mushroom columns via the citizen science website Inaturalist.
She began showing photos of May on the website with what was marked as a Dwarf Rosewood Mushroom. May said he could not confirm that the first photo was based on the image.
Mei said the residual rose hips were not on the list of poisonous mushrooms he knew. He said he hoped the species was “quite common” in Victoria.
The next mushroom is marked Oudemansiella gigaspora. The photo shows the mushroom’s hat and stem. May said he couldn’t recognize it from the photos.
He said he had identified 30,000 photos from Inaturalist, but would never identify mushrooms that were not visible to the “bottom” or ill.
PhD Thomas possible Yesterday, he began providing evidence and told the court:
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Death Cap Mushroom Most Commonly Reported in May
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There are three known death cap mushroom sightings in Gippsland
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“Citizen Science” website Inaturalist is commonly used to report sightings
Catch up with what the mushroom experts say so far in our judicial and court reporters’ reports Nino Bucci.
Dr. Thomas May says “spore printing” and DNA tests can be used to identify death cap mushrooms
lawyer Sophie Stafford bring PhD Thomas possible Through the visual characteristics of the death cap mushroom she said
May agrees these are the characteristics he looks for when trying to identify whether the species is a death cap mushroom.
He agreed with “spore printing” and could also use DNA tests to confirm whether the mushroom is a death cap – if there is a sample.
May said he would fit his opinion with phrases such as “high probability” and “consistency” when providing advice to the Victorian Poison Information Centre.
He said he would usually be more confident in identifying the death cap when he saw mushrooms in the environment on site.
Dr. Thomas may be questioned about defense
The defense is continuing their cross-examination PhD Thomas possibleis a mycologist or scientist who is truly engaged in fungi.
Aileen Patterson’s Defense Attorney Sophie Staffordcross-examine possible.
After cross-examination, May agreed that he concluded in the article that the public has poor ability to recognize mushrooms.
He also agreed to several incidents of misidentification of mushrooms.
“So you encourage something likened to an apprentice, which takes a long time to accurately identify mushrooms in the wild,” Stafford said.
“This is correct,” May said.
What We Learned on Day 10 of Erin Patterson’s Murder Trial
As we wait for things to begin, this is what the jury heard on the 10th day of Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial:
1. Dr Laura muldoonHe was treated by Erin at Monash Medical Center, and he said the mushroom chef had a “clinical good” on July 31 two days after lunch.
2. Medical tests show Erin showed no signs of hepatotoxicity before being discharged from Monash Medical Center on August 1.
3. The juror was shown a photo of the remains of Beef Wellington. These photos show pastries wrapped in brown paste. There are also leftovers with brown paste in the photo.
4. Internationally renowned mushroom expert, Ph.D. Thomas possiblehe told the court that he posted a post about the death cap mushroom he found on his walk to the “Citizen Science” website Inaturalist. The post includes several photos, latitude and longitude, and geographical coordinates, but does not have specific streets, he said.
We expect the evidence today to begin after 10:30 am.
The defense is expected to continue interrogating Dr. Mushroom Expert Thomas possiblehe began providing evidence on Tuesday.
Patterson, 50, encountered three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder in connection with a beef Wellington lunch at his house in Leongatha, Victoria on July 29, 2023.
She was accused of murdering her in-laws, University Teacher and Gail Pattersonthe aunt of her estranged husband, Heather Wilkinson. Attempted murder is related to Heather’s husband Ian.
She pleaded not guilty to the charges. Prosecutors accused Patterson of intentionally poisoning her lunch guests with “murder intentions,” but her lawyers said the poisoning was a tragic accident.
