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Estranged husband gives evidence
Simon Patterson describes Erin Patterson as “very intelligent”:
I guess some of the things that attracted me to her in the first place was definitely her intelligence. She’s quite witty and can be quite funny.
He says during the pair’s marriage, she performed home duties and also undertook studies including legal and science courses.
Nanette Rogers asks if it was rare for Patterson to invite guests over to the family home.
Simon replies:
Very rare
He says that after the pair’s separation wider family gatherings involving his siblings and parents were not held.
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After this, Patterson pushed for the pair to equally split the costs of their children’s school fees.
Simon says he had been advised by the “child support people” not to do this because these fees would be covered in his payments to Patterson.
“I was sure she was very upset about that,” he says.
Patterson received a “substantial” inheritance of about $2m when her grandmother passed away in 2006, Simon says.
“They dribbled it out really slowly, the executors,” he says.
Simon Patterson tells court he and Erin Patterson remained friends after separation
Under examination by Nanette Rogers, Simon Patterson agrees he indicated to Erin Patterson that he wanted to reconcile the marriage.
The pair separated numerous times until late 2015, the court hears. Simon says:
When we lived together, it was always her leaving me.
He agrees the relationship remained friendly after the separation in 2015 and they managed the care of their children well.
Simon appears to become emotional and requests tissues as he says: “It’s good to be friends with the person you’re married to.”
He says he is “struggling to answer the question”.
Split in 2015 was a ‘permanent separation’, Simon Patterson tells court
Simon is detailing to the court the early years of the couple’s marriage.
In 2007, the pair travelled to Western Australia where they lived for two years. Their first child was born in 2009.
During this time, they separated for about six months, Simon says. They returned to Victoria in 2013. Their second child was born in 2014.
Simon says they bought a house in Korumburra. They lived there until 2015, when the couple separated. Patterson then decided to buy herself a “separate house and move into it”, also in Korumburra, Simon says. She moved into the house alone.
Under examination by Rogers, Simon agrees the split in 2015 was a “permanent separation”:
It was strained, there was tension in it.
Estranged husband gives evidence
Simon Patterson describes Erin Patterson as “very intelligent”:
I guess some of the things that attracted me to her in the first place was definitely her intelligence. She’s quite witty and can be quite funny.
He says during the pair’s marriage, she performed home duties and also undertook studies including legal and science courses.
Nanette Rogers asks if it was rare for Patterson to invite guests over to the family home.
Simon replies:
Very rare
He says that after the pair’s separation wider family gatherings involving his siblings and parents were not held.
The jurors are being shown a diagram of the Patterson and Wilkinson families.
It shows that Simon’s aunt, Heather Wilkinson, married Ian Wilkinson.
Here’s a diagram showing the key players in the trial:
Estranged husband arrives
Patterson’s estranged husband, Simon, will begin giving evidence today as the prosecution’s first witness.
The pair had an amicable relationship despite their separation in 2015 until November 2022, according to the prosecution.
Until November 2022, Simon had maintained hope the couple would reconcile, the court heard.
Jurors arrive
The jurors have entered the court for day three of Erin Patterson’s murder trial.
The proceedings will begin shortly.
Day two recap
Here’s a recap of what we heard on day two of Erin Patterson’s trial.
The prosecution has told jurors that Patterson had invited her estranged husband, Simon, and his relatives to her house in July 2023 to discuss “medical issues” she had and how to break the news to her two children.
Nanette Rogers SC, the prosecutor, said Patterson had told them she had cancer, but the prosecution allege she did not have cancer, and concocted the story about medical issues to ensure that the children were not present for the lunch.
The defence told the court it was not in dispute that Patterson had never been diagnosed with cancer. Patterson’s lawyer, Colin Mandy SC, also said she had lied to police about never foraging for mushrooms but denied ever having deliberately sought out death cap mushrooms.
The defence’s case is that the three deaths were a tragedy and a terrible accident. Mandy said the main issue in the case was that Patterson did not deliberately serve poisoned food to her guests.
Good morning
Hello and welcome to Guardian Australia’s live coverage of the Erin Patterson trial, which is expected to restart at 10.30am this morning.
Patterson is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson by feeding them a beef wellington dish allegedly laced with death cap mushrooms in July 2023. The lunch took place in the regional Victorian town of Leongatha, in Australia’s south-east.
Patterson is also accused of attempting to murder Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, who recovered from the lunch after becoming ill.
She has pleaded not guilty to murdering or attempting to murder the relatives of her estranged husband, Simon Patterson.
The trial is expected to run for five to six weeks. The supreme court trial is being held in Morwell in Victoria’s Gippsland region.
