Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Donna Demaio: Australia Correspondent on the Erin Patterson trial and verdict

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Donna Demaio: Australia Correspondent on the Erin Patterson trial and verdict · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Oh Well talked about it. The mushroom trial in Australia,
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  Speaker 1: mushroom cook Aaron Patterson has been found guilty on all
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: charges in her murder trial. The jury took a week
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  Speaker 1: to come to a decision, but found her ultimately guilty
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  Speaker 1: of the murder of her in laws, Gail and Donald
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  Speaker 1: Patterson and Heather Wilkinson. The dinner's guest's blood was coursing
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  Speaker 1: with amatoxin, are deadly poison produced by the death cap
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  Speaker 1: mushrooms nine to sprout under oak trees of Victoria. So Don, Gale,
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  Speaker 1: and Heather died of organ failure, all within a week.
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  Speaker 1: Now for more on this, we've got Donna Tomay on
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  Speaker 1: the LAN. Good morning to your.
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  Speaker 2: Donna, Good morning to you.
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  Speaker 1: People said that jury took quite a long time, a
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  Speaker 1: whole week. What was that.
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  Speaker 2: About, Well, there a lot to take as long as
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  Speaker 2: they want. So it was about a week of deliberations
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  Speaker 2: for the jury, seven men and five women, and they
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: ultimately found the fifty year old guilty of murdering the
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  Speaker 2: in laws that you just mentioned here, Donal and Gale
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  Speaker 2: Patterson and Heather Wilkinson. Heather was Gail's sister, younger sister
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  Speaker 2: so Don Gale, aged seventy head a sixty six years
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  Speaker 2: old and had his husband in Wilkinson was the sole
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  Speaker 2: survivor of that that lunch. He was not in court
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  Speaker 2: on the day of the verdict when it was delivered yesterday.
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  Speaker 2: We know that Simon Patterson, the estranged husband of Aaron,
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  Speaker 2: was invited to that lunch, you might recall, but he
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  Speaker 2: canceled the night before because he said he had felt
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  Speaker 2: uncomfortable yes about about attending. So there you go. Take
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  Speaker 2: take that with interest. But you know, each day, for
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  Speaker 2: more than two months, every seat at that tiny courthouse
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  Speaker 2: more wells La Trow Valley law courts in regional Touria
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  Speaker 2: were filled. And we heard that some people were so
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  Speaker 2: fascinated by this case that, you know, the general public
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  Speaker 2: were telling stories that you know, so they gave up
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  Speaker 2: work and they would get there super early to sit
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  Speaker 2: in on in court and watch this unfold, watch this
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  Speaker 2: trial unfold.
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  Speaker 1: Look it's the same here. Don't worry. Everybody's fascinated here,
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  Speaker 1: and of course the passions are high. So the people
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  Speaker 1: that thought she was guilty thought she was guilty and
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  Speaker 1: thought it would only take everybody twenty minutes to come
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  Speaker 1: up with the decision. That's why one week was quite interesting.
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  Speaker 1: What can we expect for sentencing, Well.
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  Speaker 2: The sentencing data is yet to be determined. But ultimately
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  Speaker 2: Aaron Patterson's legal team can appeal. There's a lodge appeal
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  Speaker 2: can be lodged, and I should say she has twenty
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  Speaker 2: eight days to begin the process of lodging an appeal
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  Speaker 2: according to the Supreme Court of Australia, So her legal
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  Speaker 2: team can consider that either to appeal the guilty verdict itself,
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  Speaker 2: the sentence which we don't know what it is yet,
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  Speaker 2: or both. Now the grounds for appeal you might be interested.
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  Speaker 2: The most common ground is that the verdict was unsatisfactory
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  Speaker 2: or unreasonable and the Court of appeal might find that
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  Speaker 2: it just wasn't sufficient to justify a conviction. So interesting
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  Speaker 2: that you might note also that no motion was ever
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  Speaker 2: provided to the court. I found that fascinating. But the
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  Speaker 2: prosecutors described Erin Paterson as a duplicitous liar who prepared
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  Speaker 2: a meal with murderous intent. He showed no emotion when
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  Speaker 2: the guilty verdict was handed down. By the way, that
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  Speaker 2: was a.
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  Speaker 1: Very good sentence to prisitus liar who showed murderous Intent
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  Speaker 1: Donna Tomorrow. For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge,
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: listen live to News Talk sat BE from five am weekdays,
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  Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio