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Simon describes Patterson as “very intelligent”:
“I guess some of the things that attracted me to her in the first place was definitely her intelligence. She’s quite witty and can be quite funny.”
He says during the pair’s marriage, she performed home duties and also undertook studies including legal and science courses.
Rogers asks if it was rare for Patterson to invite guests over to the family home.
Simon replies: “very rare”.
He says after the pair’s separation, wider family gatherings involving his siblings and parents were not held.
The jurors are being shown a diagram of the Patterson and Wilkinson families.
It shows that Simon’s aunt, Heather Wilkinson, married Ian Wilkinson.
Here’s a diagram showing the key players in the trial:
Estranged husband to give evidence
Patterson’s estranged husband, Simon, will begin giving evidence today as the prosecution’s first witness.
The pair had an amicable relationship despite their separation in 2015 until November 2022, according to the prosecution.
Until November 2022, Simon had maintained hope the couple would reconcile, the court heard.
Jurors arrive
The jurors have entered the court for day three of Erin Patterson’s murder trial.
The proceedings will begin shortly.
Day two recap
Here’s a recap of what we heard on day two of Erin Patterson’s trial.
The prosecution has told jurors that Patterson had invited her estranged husband, Simon, and his relatives to her house in July 2023 to discuss “medical issues” she had and how to break the news to her two children.
Nanette Rogers SC, the prosecutor, said Patterson had told them she had cancer, but the prosecution allege she did not have cancer, and concocted the story about medical issues to ensure that the children were not present for the lunch.
The defence told the court it was not in dispute that Patterson had never been diagnosed with cancer. Patterson’s lawyer, Colin Mandy SC, also said she had lied to police about never foraging for mushrooms but denied ever having deliberately sought out death cap mushrooms.
The defence’s case is that the three deaths were a tragedy and a terrible accident. Mandy said the main issue in the case was that Patterson did not deliberately serve poisoned food to her guests.
Good morning
Hello and welcome to Guardian Australia’s live coverage of the Erin Patterson trial, which is expected to restart at 10.30am this morning.
Patterson is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson by feeding them a beef wellington dish allegedly laced with death cap mushrooms in July 2023. The lunch took place in the regional Victorian town of Leongatha, in Australia’s south-east.
Patterson is also accused of attempting to murder Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, who recovered from the lunch after becoming ill.
She has pleaded not guilty to murdering or attempting to murder the relatives of her estranged husband, Simon Patterson.
The trial is expected to run for five to six weeks. The supreme court trial is being held in Morwell in Victoria’s Gippsland region.
