What the jury heard on day 35
Here’s a recap of what the jury heard today:
Patterson’s defence lawyer, Colin Mandy SC, outlined the prosecution’s top four “convoluted” and “absurd” propositions. Mandy said these were Patterson committing murder without a motive, lying about cancer to entice her lunch guests over, expecting her lunch guests to take her medical issues claim to their graves and thinking she could pass off the lethal meal as a “strange case of gastro”.
Patterson’s estranged husband, Simon, accusing her of using a dehydrator to poison his parents on 1 August 2023 – three days after the lunch – was a “turning point” for the accused, Mandy said. He said this was when his client began to panic and lie.
Mandy refuted the prosecution’s phone argument. He said Patterson would have either disposed of or reset her original mobile – Phone A – if she had planned the “cold, calculated murders” claimed by the prosecution, but instead she continued using it after the lunch.
Mandy pointed to Patterson’s medical tests results from two days after the lunch as evidence she became unwell from the beef wellington meal. He pointed to her low potassium, elevated hemoglobin level and elevated fibrinogen, which he said did not rely on self-reports.
Justice Christopher Beale told the jury he would begin instructing them on Tuesday, before they begin their deliberations.
Updated
Trial to resume on Tuesday
Justice Christopher Beale tells the jury it’s “more important than ever” they have a good weekend.
He says he wants them to return to court next week feeling “refreshed”. Beale will begin instructing the jurors on Tuesday, before they begin deliberating. He has indicated it could take two days for him to deliver his charge to the jury.
The trial will resume from 10.30am on Tuesday.
Updated
