BbcThe only surviving guest of the deadly ollington lunch at the heart of a high -level Australian courtyard case said he and his wife had been “very happy” to invite the meeting.
Ian Wilkinson fell seriously ill after the meal, which led to the death of his wife and two other parents.
Erin Patterson – who is accused of the murder of three parents and the attempted murder of another, pleaded not guilty and that his defense team said that she “panicked” after being involuntarily purged poison with family members she loved.
Three people died in hospital in the days that followed the meal.
The victims understood the former in-laws of Ms. Patterson, Don Patterson, 70, and Gail Patterson, 70, as well as Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66.
Mr. Wilkinson, local pastor and Heather’s husband, survived the hospital treatment after weeks.
‘I ate the whole meal’
He said to the packaged courtroom that Ms. Patterson had placed “all the food”, which included potatoes, green beans and Wellington beef.
“Everyone had an individual service, it looked a lot like a pasty,” he said. “It was a pastry and when we cut it, there was steak and mushrooms. It was completely wrapped in pastry.”
Mr. Wilkinson also said that Gail and Heather had picked up four gray plates with food and put them on the table, while Ms. Patterson ate a “orange bronze” color plate.
“Erin picked up the strange plate and brought it to the table. She took her to her place at the table.”
We showed him a photo of the dining room table on an iPad and he marked where each of the five people of lunch was seated.
He said that he and Heather “ate the whole meal”, while Don ate his meal with half of the Wellington beef that Gail did not finish.
“There was talk of husbands to help their wives.”
He said that Ms. Patterson ate “definitively” but could not say “with certainty” how much she ate.
There was a cake for dessert as well as the fruit tray, but Mr. Wilkinson told court that little had been eaten because everyone was full of the main dish.
‘She seemed to be a normal person for me’
Asked about his relationship with Ms. Patterson, he said: “I would say that our relationship was friendly, friendly. He did not have much depth. We were more like knowledge. We do not see much of each other.”
“She just seemed to me a normal person,” he added. “When we met, things were friendly. We never had arguments or disputes. She just seemed to be an ordinary person.”
“Heather would have seen Erin more than me, spoke to him more than me but we did not consider that the relationship was close,” he said.
The invitation was made in Heather Wilkinson at the church, a week or two earlier, said Wilkinson.
“We were very happy to be invited. It seemed that our relationship was perhaps going to improve,” he said.
“We were very happy to accept.”
The court was shown a copy of Ms. Wilkinson’s newspaper where she wrote “Erin for lunch” with a pencil.
Written in blue ink: “12:00” – That Mr. Wilkinson said that it was the moment when they were to be picked up by Don and Gail Patterson. Another word “fruit” in the newspaper referred to a fruit tray they took at lunch, he said.
‘A tragic accident’
Ms. Patterson, wearing a light pink stripe shirt, was without emotion while Mr. Wilkinson was beginning.
Last week, his lawyer said there was no intention of injuring anyone and that deaths were the result of a tragic accident – although many facts were not disputed and it is admitted that she has lied to the police several times.
On Monday, the jury heard members of a Facebook group True Crime of which Ms. Patterson was part.
One of the witnesses, Christine Hunt, was asked about Erin Patterson’s relationship with her distant husband Simon.
She told court that the words “controlling” and “coercive” had been used by Ms. Patterson.
Another member of the same group. Daniela Barkley, told Court that Effer Patterson had been “enthusiastic” to buy a dehydrator, and the jury was shown several images shared with the group, which showed mushrooms drying on the metal racks of the aircraft.
In an SMS shown in court, Ms. Patterson said: “I hid mushrooms powder in everything” – including recipes such as brownies so that her children cannot say they ate them.
The court also learned that in July 2023, she asked for advice from the group on cooking a Wellington beef, the dish that was served to the four guests at this deadly lunch later the same month.
