Footage of Erin Patterson’s Police Interview Released After Court Ruling

In a significant legal development, footage from Erin Patterson’s police interview has been released following a court ruling in Australia. The 21-minute recording, obtained from the Victorian Supreme Court, was shown to jurors during her trial and has now been made public. Patterson was found guilty earlier this year of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, as well as Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, by poisoning them with a beef wellington lunch in July 2023. Her husband, Ian Wilkinson, survived after weeks in the hospital.

The video, captured on August 5, 2023, shows Patterson wearing a brown jumper and sitting slightly hunched over a table during the interview. She was informed by Detective Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall that Heather and Gail had died the day before, while Don had undergone a liver transplant but remained in critical condition. Eppingstall asked Patterson to explain why she had not fallen ill, adding that the police were trying to understand what had caused the severe illness in her in-laws.

Patterson stated she had never been in a situation like this before and had been “very, very helpful” with the Department of Health investigation. She also explained that her in-laws were her only family and the only support she had left. “They’ve always been really good to me, and I want to maintain those relationships with them in spite of what’s happened with [my husband] Simon,” she said.

During the trial, Justice Christopher Beale noted that some “irrelevant material” had been cut from the interview, a standard practice in criminal cases. Patterson’s legal team had opposed the public release of the footage, arguing it could be sensationalized by the media and deter others from cooperating with police interviews. However, Justice Beale ruled that the interview should be released, citing the legal principle that justice should be seen to be done in public.

In the interview, Patterson also mentioned that she wanted her children’s grandparents to be part of their lives and believed her husband “hated that I still had a relationship with his parents.” She insisted that “nothing that’s ever happened between us, nothing he’s ever done to me will change the fact that they’re good, decent people that have never done anything wrong by me, ever.”

Patterson admitted during the trial that she had lied in the interview and to others in the days following the poisonings, including denying that she had foraged for mushrooms or owned a dehydrator. Prosecutors argued that these lies were part of a “sustained cover-up” for murder, while Patterson’s legal team maintained that her actions were driven by panic and fear of being wrongly blamed for the deaths.

Patterson was found guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder on July 7 after an 11-week trial. She is expected to return to court on August 25 for a two-day pre-sentence hearing.