Overview

• The prosecution’s lead detective testified that a SIM card was moved from Patterson’s primary phone into another device during a police search on August 5, 2023, and the original “Phone A” has not been recovered.
• Digital forensics evidence showed Patterson’s computer accessed death cap mushroom sighting websites and phone location logs placed her near known mushroom foraging sites in Gippsland.
• Woolworths rewards and bank records revealed purchases of sliced mushrooms, pastry and beef eye fillet steak in the days before the July 29, 2023, beef Wellington lunch.
• Text messages with her mother-in-law discussed needle biopsies and MRI appointments that were not corroborated by any Medicare or hospital records.
• Under cross-examination, defence lawyers challenged inconsistencies in bank record timeframes, extraction of Simon Patterson’s phone messages and aspects of the detective’s medical evidence.