Ms Patterson’s estranged husband takes the stand in triple murder trial

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Simon Patterson has appeared as a witness in his estranged wife Erin Patterson’s supreme court triple-murder trial. Ms Patterson pleads not guilty to the murder of three people and the attempted murder of one other, after a family lunch at her home.

Transcript

00:00Simon Patterson was the first witness to appear in this trial.

00:06He was questioned at length, first by the prosecution and then by the defence.

00:11He described his relationship as he was asked about his relationship with Erin Patterson,

00:16saying they met in the early 2000s when they were working at Monash Council.

00:21They married in 2007 and he says they are still married.

00:25He described a life where they moved to WA, they travelled around the Top End with their newborn baby

00:32and it was during that trip that they had one of the first of their long separations.

00:38He says they sought marriage counselling after that trip

00:42and what followed was a number of separations, sometimes for weeks or sometimes for months

00:48and they more permanently separated in 2015.

00:52He says, however, that they remained in good terms, that they communicated often by text message and other ways,

00:59not just about the children, but about arrangements for the children,

01:03but also about politics and things that were in the news.

01:06And he says they were on good terms.

01:09He says that they even travelled together as a family interstate and overseas for a number of trips.

01:17But he said the relationship changed in October 2022.

01:21This was when he told the court that Erin Patterson discovered that he had said for the first time on his tax return that they were separated.

01:30She told him that this would affect their family tax benefit and that she would need to claim child support.

01:38He says she was upset and their relationship changed after that.

01:42It was a very emotional day for Simon Patterson.

01:45He became emotional at several junctions, including when he talked about visiting his parents,

01:51Don and Gail Patterson, in hospital as they were gravely ill and being treated for mushroom poisoning.

01:57He says they were in separate beds in the same hospital room, that his father Don was in a worse condition than his mother Gail,

02:06that Don was grey and appeared to be in obvious pain.

02:10He also said that he didn't know Erin to dehydrate food while they were living together.

02:16Sasha, what then did Simon Patterson tell the court about how this Beef Wellington lunch came about?

02:23Well, he said he told the court that he was initially invited to the lunch, along with his parents, Don and Gail Patterson,

02:32and his aunt and uncle, Heather and Ian Wilkinson.

02:36He says he initially said that he would go, but later communicated to Erin not long before the lunch

02:43that he didn't feel comfortable going and he wouldn't be attending.

02:48He said that she was quite upset and said she was disappointed that he wouldn't be attending,

02:53that she'd spent a long time preparing the meal, that she'd spent a small fortune on steaks

02:59and wanted it to be a special meal.

03:02What might happen next?

03:05Well, the defence will continue, is expected to continue to cross-examine Simon Patterson tomorrow morning.

03:14Tomorrow's day is a slightly shorter day. The court will resume at 10.30 and will finish up at about one o'clock.

03:22There are going to be more witnesses in the weeks ahead and we expect the trial to run for another up to five weeks.

03:29VO

03:30VO

03:31VO

03:32VO

03:33VO

03:34VO

03:35VO

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