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Erin Patterson’s puzzle of lies · The Front

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: From the Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.
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  Speaker 1: It's Tuesday, September nine, twenty twenty five. The Chinese government
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: is fired up over a meeting between Foreign Minister Penny Wong,
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  Speaker 1: Defense Minister Richard Miles and their Japanese counterparts. Beijing has
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  Speaker 1: accused Australia of stirring up tensions with the meeting, which
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  Speaker 1: took place just two days after President she presided over
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  Speaker 1: a military parade commemorating China's victory over Japan in World
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  Speaker 1: War II. Convicted, sentenced now, Aaron Patterson will appeal after
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  Speaker 1: receiving a thirty three year minimum sentence for murdering three
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  Speaker 1: elderly people and attempting to kill a fourth. The Australian
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  Speaker 1: is revealing Patterson will seek to regain her freedom. On Monday,
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  Speaker 1: Justice Christopher Beale found Patterson also intended to murder her
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  Speaker 1: estranged husband, Simon Patterson at the Lee and Gatha lunch,
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  Speaker 1: but he didn't show up today. How the judge fit
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  Speaker 1: together Patterson's puzzle of lies and what happens now? An
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  Speaker 1: old lady begging for water, her husband's lips turning black
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  Speaker 1: children tormented in the playground, and two men, Simon Patterson
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  Speaker 1: and Ian Wilkinson, who escaped a mass murder, and the
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  Speaker 1: cause of it all a remorseless liar, a violent offender
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  Speaker 1: without pity, who intended to slaughter five people but only
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  Speaker 1: managed to kill three. Just as Christopher Beale looked down
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  Speaker 1: from the bench at Aaron Patterson in the Victorian Supreme
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  Speaker 1: Court doc on Monday and for the first time made
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  Speaker 1: sense of all the pieces of this monstrous puzzle.
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  Speaker 2: Many of your adult victims struggled not only with the
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  Speaker 2: loss of their loved ones and the terrible way they died,
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  Speaker 2: but with the distress even guilt at their own seeming
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  Speaker 2: inability to ease the suffering of those close to them.
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  Speaker 2: They keenly feel their limitations, and in particular the impossibility
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  Speaker 2: of shielding the youngest from the incessant discussion of the
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  Speaker 2: case in the media, online, in public spaces, even in
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  Speaker 2: the school yard.
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  Speaker 1: These are the words of Bill, who's allowed us to
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  Speaker 1: broadcast this recording. Bill sentenced Patterson to a minimum of
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  Speaker 1: thirty three years imprisonment for the murders, life sentences for
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  Speaker 1: killing her parents in law Doningale, Patterson and Gail's sister
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  Speaker 1: Heather Wilkinson, as well as twenty five years for the
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  Speaker 1: attempted murder of Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson.
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  Speaker 2: All sentences are to be served concurrently. The total effective
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  Speaker 2: sentence is life imprisonment and I fix a non parole
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  Speaker 2: period of thirty three years.
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  Speaker 1: We'll never know exactly why the jury, who are the
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  Speaker 1: judges of the facts, convicted Patterson. The jury just delivered
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  Speaker 1: one word four times guilty and then disappeared back into
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  Speaker 1: their lives. But now we know how Justice Biale, the
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  Speaker 1: judge of the law, fits together the facts. The judge
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  Speaker 1: found Patterson's first lie was that, contrary to the defense claims,
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  Speaker 1: she was intimately familiar with the Eenaturalist website, where she
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  Speaker 1: actively looked for sightings of deathcap mushrooms and then went
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  Speaker 1: and foraged them. Bale believes Ian Wilkinson the only survivor
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  Speaker 1: who said Patterson served the food on four large gray
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  Speaker 1: plates for the guests and one small orange tan plate
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  Speaker 1: for herself.
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  Speaker 2: I found that you did this to ensure that you
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  Speaker 2: did not mistakenly consume a poisoned meal.
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  Speaker 1: Patterson lied about that she invented a medical condition in
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  Speaker 1: order to lure Simon and his family to the lunch.
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  Speaker 2: I am satisfied that by the sixteenth of July twenty three,
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  Speaker 2: when you unusually invited Simon, his parents, and his aunt
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  Speaker 2: and uncle to a lunch without the children to discuss
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  Speaker 2: your nonexistent medical issues, you did so with the intention
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  Speaker 2: of killing them all.
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  Speaker 1: Bale said the intense public interest in Patterson's crimes meant
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  Speaker 1: she could be targeted by other prisoners during her incarceration,
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  Speaker 1: so against the Crown's wishes, he said, a non parole
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  Speaker 1: period as an act of clemency. That means she'll be
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  Speaker 1: in her eighties before she can apply for early release.
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  Speaker 2: You maintain your innocence. In other words, there is no
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  Speaker 2: evidence of remorse. You showed no pity for your victims.
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  Speaker 2: Instead of informing those treating the Pattersons and Wilkinsons that
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  Speaker 2: you had used forage mushrooms, which you could have done
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  Speaker 2: without having to admit that you had deliberately poisoned their meals,
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  Speaker 2: you repeatedly denied foraging, insisting that the mushrooms for the
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  Speaker 2: beef Wellingtons were sourced solely from war Worth and an
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  Speaker 2: Asian grocery. We will never know whether revealing the use
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  Speaker 2: of foraged mushrooms would have made a difference. I am
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  Speaker 2: satisfied that your vague story about the Asian grocery was
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  Speaker 2: a lie. When you realized that the lie would not
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  Speaker 2: work because death cap mushrooms cannot be cultivated commercially, and
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  Speaker 2: there were no other reports of people falling ill from
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  Speaker 2: mushrooms purchased at Asian groceries, you changed.
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  Speaker 1: Tech as police closed. In searching Patterson's home in early
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  Speaker 1: August twenty twenty three, Bill said she disposed of her
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  Speaker 1: main phone and misled officers by handing over what he
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  Speaker 1: called a dummy phone. With that neat phrase, the judge
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  Speaker 1: squashed Patterson's elaborate series of lies about why her various
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  Speaker 1: Samsung handsets and SIM cards had swapped and changed and
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  Speaker 1: appeared and reappeared over the time of her offending. Patterson
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  Speaker 1: told Detective Leading Senior Constable Simon Eppingstall in her record
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  Speaker 1: of interview that she fed leftovers from the lunch to
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  Speaker 1: her children for dinner the next day. This is the
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  Speaker 1: audio of her police interview.
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  Speaker 3: Well, what are those leftovers that you directed them to
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  Speaker 3: the lunch?
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  Speaker 2: Okay, so you helped them getting that?
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  Speaker 4: So good to be because my kids they come up too.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, but.
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  Speaker 4: Tell us stuck that was left over. I went straight
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  Speaker 4: in the bin.
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  Speaker 1: Bill said that was untrue, and that the symptoms Patterson
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  Speaker 1: exhibited in the days following the lunch were also fake.
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  Speaker 2: You falsely made out that you had fed your children
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  Speaker 2: leftover beef Wellington's with the pastry and mushrooms scraped off.
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  Speaker 2: You feigned illness, You're disposed of the dehydrator soon after
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  Speaker 2: you were released from a hospital. You maintained the vague
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  Speaker 2: story about sourcing dried mushrooms at an Asian grocery and
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  Speaker 2: had the gall to tell police in your recorded police
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  Speaker 2: interview that you had been very very helpful to the
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  Speaker 2: health department in its investigation of the incident.
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  Speaker 4: So you understand where we Yeah, I do functually understand
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  Speaker 4: to that, Like, I've never been in a situation like
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  Speaker 4: this before, and I've been very very helpful of the
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  Speaker 4: Health Department through the lake because I wanted to help
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  Speaker 4: that sign of things as much as possible, because I
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  Speaker 4: do want to know what happened, So I've given them
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  Speaker 4: as much information as.
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  Speaker 1: At the center of all the conversations about Patterson is
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  Speaker 1: one huge question why the judge didn't explicitly outline a reason,
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  Speaker 1: although his summary began with one crucial moment in late
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, when she came into dispute with Simon
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  Speaker 1: Patterson about child support payments. When he listed himself as
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  Speaker 1: separated on his tax return, she called him a gas
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  Speaker 1: lighting deadbeat and his parents a lost cause. This family,
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  Speaker 1: I swear to fucking God, told her online friends. The
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  Speaker 1: source of Patterson's cold rage was money and control, and
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  Speaker 1: her primary intended victim was her husband, who was pulling
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  Speaker 1: away from her grasp. Patterson wasn't allowed to speak on Monday,
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  Speaker 1: the judge did all the talking.
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  Speaker 2: Not only did you cut short three lives and cause
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  Speaker 2: lasting damage to Ian Wilkinson's health, thereby devastating the extended
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  Speaker 2: Patterson and Wilkinson families, you inflicted untold suffering on your
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  Speaker 2: own children, whom you robbed of their beloved grandparents. Your
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  Speaker 2: lunch guests undoubtedly belonged to that company of people among
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  Speaker 2: us who do good.
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  Speaker 1: Before releasing Patterson back to the Dame Phyllis Frost Center,
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  Speaker 1: Beale offered some advice.
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  Speaker 2: At your plea hearing. Ian Wilkinson memorably read his victim
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  Speaker 2: impact statement to the court, amongst other things. He humbly
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: expressed his great admiration and love for his wife, Heather,
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  Speaker 2: and his concern for others, even you. He offered you
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  Speaker 2: forgiveness for what you did to him. That offer of
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  Speaker 2: forgiveness presents you with an opportunity. You would do well
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  Speaker 2: to embrace it in the manner he suggests.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: Outside court, pastor Ian Wilkinson addressed the media for the
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  Speaker 1: first and possibly the last time.
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  Speaker 3: We're thankful that when things go wrong there are good
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  Speaker 3: people and services and systems available to help us recover.
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  Speaker 3: I'd like to encourage all those involved to keep turning
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  Speaker 3: up and serving others. Our lives and the life of
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  Speaker 3: our community depends on the kindness of others. That's all
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  Speaker 3: I wish to say for now. Please respect our privacy
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  Speaker 3: as we continue to grieve and heal. Thank you for listening.
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  Speaker 3: I hope you all have a great day.
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  Speaker 1: Coming up. So what now for Aaron Patterson? I spoke
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  Speaker 1: to The Australian's Legal Affairs editor Elie Dudley about this
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  Speaker 1: end of the road. Maybe for Aaron Patterson the.
• 10:45
  Speaker 5: Sentencing was always going to be about, not about whether
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  Speaker 5: she was going to spend life in prison. That was
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  Speaker 5: already sort of a given. The prosecutors had said that
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  Speaker 5: she deserves life in prison, and even the defense lawyers.
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  Speaker 5: Aaron's lawyers had said that she deserves life in prison.
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  Speaker 5: The question was whether or not she was ever going
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  Speaker 5: to be released from prison seeing the sun again. So
• 11:03
  Speaker 5: she was granted that thirty three year non parole period today.
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  Speaker 5: So if she does ever leave prison, she'll be eighty
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  Speaker 5: one years old. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Colin Mandy sc Aaron Patterson's defense barrister has really done
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  Speaker 1: a sterling job throughout this trial in having material excluded
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  Speaker 1: that was prejudicial to her, and in sentence city submissions
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  Speaker 1: he did it again. He elicited a lot of evidence,
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  Speaker 1: particularly from a senior official of Victoria's Corrections department, about
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  Speaker 1: just how tough Aaron Patterson is doing it in jail.
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  Speaker 1: That she is in a cell by herself, where she
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  Speaker 1: has just a tiny concrete yard. She can communicate with
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  Speaker 1: one other prisoner who's her next door neighbor, but that
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  Speaker 1: person has a terrorism offense and has also been convicted
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  Speaker 1: of assaulting other people in prison, So she's alone. She's
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  Speaker 1: doing this time tough. And that's the central part of
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  Speaker 1: what the judge found is a reason for what he
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  Speaker 1: described as clemency. That she's essentially going to serve the
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  Speaker 1: rest of this sentence in solitary confinement.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, and he said that that solitary confinement should a
• 12:00
  Speaker 5: weighty consideration. But he said that the non parole period
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  Speaker 5: should not be read as a detraction from how serious
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  Speaker 5: the offending was of Aaron Patterson. So this non parole period, Claire,
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  Speaker 5: what would Aaron have to do in order to see
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  Speaker 5: sunlight again?
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  Speaker 1: Well, demonstrate remorse, for a start, which is something she
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  Speaker 1: has never done. He said too, that that because she's
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  Speaker 1: a violent offender, and it was quite stark hearing that
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  Speaker 1: phrase applied to her. The main reason for her incarceration
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  Speaker 1: is protection of the general public. Something that Christopher Beale
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  Speaker 1: said was that she intended to kill Simon Patterson as well.
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  Speaker 1: That was a remarkable moment, wasn't it. Yeah.
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  Speaker 5: He tracked us through those text messages that you'll remember
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  Speaker 5: from the trial, the text messages where Simon said to her,
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  Speaker 5: I just feel too uncomfortable to attend, and she said, well,
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  Speaker 5: I've spent a small fortune on beef, please come to
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  Speaker 5: this lunch. And then on top of that, we also
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  Speaker 5: know about the attempted murder charges that were laid against
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  Speaker 5: Aaron Patterson in relation to Simon Patterson.
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  Speaker 1: Aaron Patterson is now intending to appeal, which means she'll
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: need to set out grounds for White. She believes her
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  Speaker 1: case deserves another look that could take years. In the meantime,
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  Speaker 1: she's back in prison alongside some of the country's most
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  Speaker 1: dangerous offenders.
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  Speaker 5: There are still a whole heap of unanswered questions, and
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  Speaker 5: we got answers to some of those questions today. We
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  Speaker 5: heard from Justice Bielee that he believed Ian Wilkinson's version
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  Speaker 5: of events that Aaron Patterson did serve beef Wellington's on
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  Speaker 5: different colored plates for her guests versus the tinier tan
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  Speaker 5: colored plate that she served her own meal on. He
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  Speaker 5: accepted Ian Wilkinson's version of events in relation to Aaron
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  Speaker 5: Patterson telling her guests that she had been diagnosed with cancer.
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  Speaker 5: When Aaron Patterson was giving evidence during trial, she said
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  Speaker 5: that she never said that she had a diagnosis of cancer.
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  Speaker 5: She said she might have alluded to it or said
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  Speaker 5: that she was unwell when she wasn't.
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  Speaker 1: You can read all our coverage of this story right
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  Speaker 1: now at The Australian Dot com dot a yu