Accused mushroom chef Erin Patterson will appear in court on Monday after three people died following an alleged poisonous lunch at her home.
Ms Patterson, 49, is scheduled to appear at the Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court via video link from the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre at 10am on Monday.
It is the mother-of-three’s first public appearance in five months and comes nine months after Victoria Police arrested her on November 2.
Ms Patterson was arrested at her home in Leongatha, eastern Victoria, and charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.
Her former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, all died within days of eating an allegedly poisonous beef wellington lunch at Patterson’s home on July 29.
Erin Patterson, 49, is expected to appear in Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court via video-link from the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre at 10am on Monday
Ms Patterson’s former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, died after the lunch on July 29
Ms Wilkinson’s husband, a local pastor, miraculously recovered from the lunch after spending two months in hospital.
She was also charged with five counts of attempted murder, one for Mr Wilkinson and four Molly for sale her ex-husband Simon Patterson.
Victoria Police will allege Ms Patterson made three attempts on her husband’s life in November 2021, May 2022 and September 2022.
The fourth count relates to the July 29 lunch, which her ex-husband pulled out at the last minute.
At Ms Patterson’s first court appearance, police requested a 20-week adjournment to analyse electronic devices seized at her home.
Police were told to present their brief of evidence by March 25, and the case was scheduled to return to court by May 3.
Ms Patterson will return to court on Monday, two weeks earlier than expected.
Criminal defence lawyer Celine Ky from Silk Lawyers said witnesses could be cross-examined in the magistrates’ court on Monday.
Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, (left) died after the lunch but Ian Wilkinson (right) survived
Criminal defence lawyer Celine Ky from Silk lawyers (right) said witnesses could be cross-examined in the magistrates’ court on Monday
‘A magistrate will ultimately make a ruling in the committal stage as to if there is enough evidence for the matter to go to trial,’ she said.
‘If they find that there is enough evidence for the matter to go to trial, then Miss Patterson will be asked how she intends to plead and then the matter will be uplifted in this situation to the Supreme Court.’
It comes after it was revealed Ms Patterson’s internet search history and deleted social media accounts will reportedly form a vital part of the prosecutor’s case.
Detectives are particularly interested in her Facebook usage, according to a report in the Herald Sun.
The paper was told Ms Patterson allegedly created profiles under different names.
Ms Patterson (pictured before her arrest) was also charged with five counts of attempted murder, one for Mr Wilkinson and four for her ex-husband Simon Patterson
Daily Mail Australia previously revealed that Ms Patterson once allegedly boasted on Facebook that she was ‘very good at details’, while deriding the writing ability of some people in her local community.
She branded contributors to Korumburra newsletter The Burra Flyer ‘illiterate motherf**kers’ during a rant to an old friend.
She and her then husband Simon had put together the 48-page booklet of advertorials and promotions of the regional Victorian community for years after taking it over from Simon’s parents.
Police are also looking at her internet history, with specialist teams able to unearth deleted searches.
‘It’s not easy but it’s doable on most occasions,’ a police source told the paper.
‘She might be involved in conversations or narratives where she has talked about this stuff on online forums… it could be the tiniest thing.’