Lana Lam
Live reporter

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers now asks Ms Patterson if she foraged for wild mushrooms between 28 April - the day she purchased the food dehydrator - and the day of the lunch, 29 July.

"Yes, I did do that," she replies saying they came from her own property, from the botanic gardens at Korumburra, and from a nearby rail trail.

Ms Patterson is then asked if she lied about adding wild mushrooms into the beef Wellington, to which she says no.

She has previously said wild mushrooms may have been stored in the same container as ones she had bought, and unintentionally ended up in the dish that way.

The prosecutor moves on to the lie Ms Patterson told about foraging for mushrooms – she denied ever having done that, in a police interview on 5 August.

"I suggest this was a deliberate lie by you. It wasn’t a mistaken lie," Dr Rogers says.

"It was a lie, yes," Ms Patterson responds.

Simon Atkinson
reporting from Morwell

The trial has heard Ms Patterson estranged husband Simon Patterson declined to come to the lunch at the last minute.

Now he has come up in the cross examination for the first time.

“I suggest that you had been dehydrating death cap mushrooms... for the purpose of putting in the beef Wellington you served up to the guests at the lunch,” says Nanette Rogers.

”And further that you intended to serve one of those beef Wellingtons to Simon Patterson.”

"If he had come I would have given him a beef Wellington too," Ms Patterson says. “But not one with death cap mushrooms in it, intentionally."

Katy Watson
reporting from Morwell

On that same photo showing mushrooms on a set of kitchen scales - which the prosecution proposes were death caps - Dr Rogers says: "I suggest that you were weighing these mushrooms so that you could calculate the weight required for... a fatal dose."

Ms Patterson disagrees.

James Chater
Live reporter

Before the break, the prosecution was asking about photos of mushrooms on Ms Patterson’s phone, with prosecutor Nanette Rogers suggesting one showed death cap mushrooms she had foraged.

Dr Rogers launches back into questioning, suggesting that Ms Patterson saw a post on iNaturalist - a website for logging plant and animal sightings - about death cap mushrooms on 18 April 2023.

Ms Patterson disagrees.

The prosecution then suggests that she went to the town where they were spotted, called Loch, ten days later.

Ms Patterson hesitates, saying she doesn't know if she went to the town that day, then denying she went there to find death cap mushrooms.

How much time is left in this trial? Judge Christopher Beale has just set out a rough timeline for the 14-member jury – who were expecting the trial to last around six weeks.

But this is already week six, and he warns them there's still a way to go.

"I’m not going to put a figure on how much time is left to run in this trial but let me just summarise for you," he says.

He says Ms Patterson will most likely be in the witness box until early next week, followed by a few days of legal discussion and the possibility of "more evidence".

The prosecution and defence will give their closing addresses and then Justice Beale said he'll deliver final directions which "takes quite a bit of time".

Then the jury will deliberate and he says he can't put an exact date on this.

"How long is a piece of string," he says, reminding the jury they should "take all the time you need".

He jokes that next week is a shorter one as there's a public holiday on Monday - "some good news", with the jury erupting in laughter at the comment.

And with that he sends them out for a break and a cup of tea, to more laughter.

James Chater
Live reporter

Just as we were getting to some more pointed questions from the prosecutor about photos on Ms Patterson's phone, showing mushrooms on a set of kitchen scales, the judge suggests a brief break for morning tea.

The prosecution had suggested the picture taken by Ms Patterson showed death cap mushrooms foraged on or after 28 April 2023.

Ms Patterson responded saying, "No that's not correct."

Simon Atkinson
reporting from Morwell

The prosecution turns to Erin Patterson’s online posts about hiding mushrooms in food to feed to her kids.

"I suggest you were testing if you could hide mushrooms in people’s food within them noticing. Correct">"I was trying to get extra vegetables into my kids' bodies."

Katy Watson
reporting from Morwell

The cross-examination of Erin Patterson has been fast from the start and that exchange over her use of death cap mushrooms in the dehydrator was dramatic.

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers fired a long list of questions at the defendant and Ms Patterson batted them all away with a firm "no", denying that she ever knowingly prepared death cap mushrooms.

Erin Patterson, who was emotional a few minutes ago, answered clearly during that exchange – consistently rejecting an intention to kill her relatives.

James Chater
Live reporter

"You had been using it to dehydrate mushrooms. And not just any old mushrooms - death cap mushrooms correct">"No."

The first line of questioning centres on discussions Erin Patterson had about buying a food dehydrator.

Dr Rogers recounts evidence from a friend of Ms Patterson who said the accused was “a bit excited”.

Patterson is then shown the invoice for the appliance, bought on 28 April – which is almost exactly three months before the lunch.

“You took it home… and subsequently used it">Now we are seeing once again the CCTV footage of Ms Patterson at the local tip on August 2. We see her red car pulling in and Ms Patterson walking out with a large box - the dehydrator.

Simon Atkinson
reporting from Morwell

And the defence is done.

Seconds after - no pause for breath - prosecutor Nanette Rogers is on her feet and out of the starting blocks, beginning her cross examination.

She picks up where Mr Mandy left off, jumping straight to lies Ms Patterson told police.

Lana Lam
Live reporter

Ms Patterson is now asked by her defence lawyer if she intended to kill or cause serious injury to Donald Patterson - her father-in-law - by serving the beef Wellington meal?

"No, I didn't," she replies.

Did you intend to harm him in any way?

"No," Ms Patterson says.

Colin Mandy SC then in quick succession asks the same two questions about Gail Patterson, Heather Wilkinson and Ian Wilkinson.

To each question, Ms Patterson answers "no" before breaking down in tears.

Tiffanie Turnbull
Live editor

Ms Patterson also told police she'd never foraged mushrooms - a lie told for the same reason as the others, she explains: she was scared of being blamed.

Mr Mandy is now running through a series of questions, rapid fire.

All of the beef Wellingtons were the same, Ms Patterson answers him. She did not lie about buying dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer, she says to another query.

"Did you pretend to be sick following the lunch">"No."

Simon Atkinson
Reporting from Morwell

Erin Patterson is asked by her barrister, Colin Mandy, why in the days after the lunch she repeatedly lied to police about owning a food dehydrator.

She says by this point she was concerned the meals she had prepared was responsible for making people sick.

“It was this stupid knee-jerk reaction to dig deeper and keep lying. I was just scared, but I shouldn’t have done it.”

Court has started for the day, and Ms Patterson's barrister Colin Mandy has jumped straight back into questioning her.

He's asking her about her use of her phone while police searched her house on 5 August 2023, days after the fatal lunch she'd hosted.

The case is being heard in Latrobe Valley Law Courts - a fairly small building on the main road through the town of Morwell in regional Victoria.

It is about a 45-minute drive from the Leongatha home, where the lunch took place.

Both towns are about a two hours from Melbourne.

The judge, barristers and some of the court staff are travelling here each week and staying nearby (accommodation had been hard to find!). Court finishes at lunchtime on Fridays - in part to allow out-of-towners to get home for the weekend.

Jurors however have been drawn from the local area.

As well as delaying caffeine intake for our poor reporters, the power outage in Morwell has delayed the start of proceedings a little this morning.

We're expecting the court to reconvene very shortly though.

Erin Patterson's triple murder trial started on 29 April and is into its sixth week now.

Let's take a quick look at the key legal players in a case that has captured huge global attention.

The Judge

Justice Christopher Beale is presiding over the trial

For the prosecution

Representing the crown's case is prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC

For the defence

Erin Patterson's defence is being led by Colin Mandy SC

Simon Atkinson
reporting from Morwell

Good morning form chilly Morwell where the big news in town so far today has been a power cut.

Traffic lights were out, the local supermarket was plunged into darkness and the local cafes were unable to make their flat whites - leaving lawyers and journalists a little cranky.

But it’s back on now, court is operating and Erin Patterson will be in the witness box any minute to face some more questions form her barrister before the prosecution can opt to cross-examine her.