Erin Patterson appeal live: mushroom murderer challenges convictions over fatal beef wellington lunch
Drago says Beale said it only showed the possibility she visited the locations on the dates raised in the trial.She says the cell tower evidence was “dangerous” and “unfair”. During the trial, fungi expert Dr Thomas May told the court that he uploaded a post on iNaturalist on 21 May 2023 identifying death cap mushrooms in Outtrim. Christine McKenzie, a retired pharmacist and former poisons information specialist at the Victorian Poisons Information Centre, told the court she discovered death cap mushrooms in Loch, and posted them on iNaturalist on 18 April 2023.ShareUpdated at 22.02 EDT
- ▪Drago says Beale said it only showed the possibility she visited the locations on the dates raised in the trial.She says the cell tower evidence was “dangerous” and “unfair”.
- ▪During the trial, fungi expert Dr Thomas May told the court that he uploaded a post on iNaturalist on 21 May 2023 identifying death cap mushrooms in Outtrim.
- ▪Christine McKenzie, a retired pharmacist and former poisons information specialist at the Victorian Poisons Information Centre, told the court she discovered death cap mushrooms in Loch, and posted them on iNaturalist on 18 April 2023.Share
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| Original publisher | World news | The Guardian |
| Canonical URL | https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2026/aug/19/erin-patterson-appeal-live-mushroom-murders-court-australia-victoria-ntwnfb |
| Publication time | Wed, 19 Aug 2026 02:34:41 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-08-19T02:27:02.605Z |
| Last seen | 2026-08-19T02:27:02.605Z |
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21.36 EDT‘Dangerous’ and ‘unfair’ phone tower evidence should not have been permitted, court hearsPatterson’s barrister, Veronika Drago, says the mobile phone tower evidence and the death cap mushroom sightings posted to the citizen science website iNaturalist should not have been permitted in the trial.She says “objective evidence” about cell towers was turned into “subjective evidence” by expert witness Dr Matthew Sorell.Sorrell, a digital forensics science expert, analysed Patterson’s mobile phone records for police and testified at the trial.Drago says the judge, Justice Christopher Beale, ruled that the cell tower evidence did not prove that Patterson visited Outtrim and Loch – where sightings of the lethal death cap mushrooms were posted online to the platform iNaturalist.
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