Jury begins fifth day of deliberations in Erin Patterson mushroom triple-murder trial

ABC reporter, Alexandra Alvaro is standing by for a verdict outside the Latrobe Valley Law Courts.

Transcript

00:00It's impossible to know where the jury is at in the decision-making process, but what

00:06we do know is that its discussions are centred around whether Ms Paterson deliberately served

00:11a poisoned meal with murderous intention.

00:14The prosecution argues she sought out death cat mushrooms, knowingly dehydrated them and

00:20to put them in the Beef Wellington meal she fed her relatives, the parents, aunt and uncle

00:25of her estranged husband, Simon Paterson.

00:28The defence, on the other hand, says the deaths were a tragic accident and that while Ms

00:32Paterson foraged for mushrooms, she didn't seek out death caps or mean to harm anyone.

00:38If jurors don't return a verdict today, they'll be deliberating on Saturday.

00:43And if they don't return a verdict on Saturday, they'll take a day off on Sunday and return

00:47on Monday for a second week.

00:50During deliberations, the jury can ask questions of Justice Christopher Beale if they're stuck

00:55on a particular point.

00:56The court would reconvene for the question to be answered.

01:00The case has attracted a huge amount of publicity.

01:04Documentary makers, news crews and podcasters are all waiting to be notified that the 12-member

01:10jury has come to a decision.