Overview

• Senior health investigator Sally Ann Atkinson told the court Patterson repeatedly changed details about when and where she acquired the dried mushrooms and whether she had used them in an earlier dish.
• Monash Council officers searched 14 Asian grocers in Oakleigh, Clayton and Mount Waverley without finding mushrooms matching Patterson’s small, unlabelled packet.
• Detective Sergeant Luke Farrell described Patterson’s “who died?” response when officers informed her two lunch guests had passed away and presented spattered cookbook pages during the August 2023 home search.
• Forensic expert Shamen Fox-Henry was challenged on his training and procedures in using Magnet Axiom and a write blocker to extract data from Patterson’s computer and mobile devices.
• The defense argues Patterson panicked under intense scrutiny over the illness outbreak, while the prosecution points to inconsistencies in her narratives as evidence of deliberate intent.