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The trial of accused triple murderer Erin Patterson will be speeded up after she pleaded not guilty to eight charges.
The 49-year-old appeared in Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court via video link from jail today with her hair tied back, wearing a blue sweater and glasses.
She is accused of murdering her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66.
All three died in hospital days after consuming an allegedly deadly mushroom dish at Patterson’s home in Leongatha, South Gippsland, on July 29, 2023.
She is also charged with the attempted murder of her ex-husband Simon over lunch and in three cases dating back to 2021, and the attempted murder of Wilkinson’s husband Ian, 68.
Mr Wilkinson spent almost two months in hospital in Austin, including in a coma.
Patterson was charged with the attempted murder of her ex-husband at Wilsons Promontory on September 6, 2022, the court heard today.
She was also charged with attempting to kill him in Hauqua, southwest of Mt Buller, between May 25 and 27, 2022, and in Korumburra between November 16 and 17, 2021.
Patterson pleaded not guilty to all eight charges today, including three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.
The 49-year-old told magistrate Tim Walsh “not guilty, your honor” as he read each of the charges.
She chose not to commit, had her trial expedited to appear in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Patterson was remanded in custody with her case set for a High Court hearing on May 23.
In April, her barrister Colin Mundy SC said his client wanted surrender at Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court and would wait in custody if it did not happen until next year.
The defense attorney said Patterson wanted the arrest to take place near her home.
Today, Walsh clarified that the commitment would have been so delayed because of Mandy’s availability – not because the court could not deal with a “very important matter” until early or mid-2025.
In his view, the case required senior counsel and was not one that could be transferred to another counsel at short notice because there was an “extremely voluminous brief”, the magistrate said.
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