Some survivor Ian Wilkinson testifies

The only surviving guest of Beef Wellington’s deadly lunch in the heart of a controversial Australian court says that he and his wife had “very happy” to get an invitation for the meeting.

Ian Wilkinson remained seriously ill after the meal, which led to the death of his wife and two other family members.

Erin Patterson – who is accused of the murder of three family members and the attempted murder of another, has not argued and her defense team says that she was “in panic” after she had unintentionally served poison to relatives she loved.

Three people died in the hospital in the days after meals.

The victims include the former parents -in -law of Mrs. Patterson, Don Patterson, 70, and Gail Patterterson, 70, as well as Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66.

Mr. Wilkinson, a local pastor and Heather’s husband, survived after weeks of treatment in the hospital.

He told the wrapped courtroom that Mrs. Patterterson had gilded “all the food”, including potato puree, green beans and beef Wellington.

“Every person had a person who served, it looked very much like a pie,” he said. “It was a pastry chef and when we cut it in, there were steak and mushrooms. It was completely encapsulated.”

Mr. Wilkinson also said that Gail and Heather grabbed four gray plates with the food and put them on the table, while Mrs. Patterson ate an “Orange Tan” colored plate.

“In the strange plate and wore it to the table. She took it to her place at the table.”

He was shown a photo of the dining table on an iPad and he marked where each of the five people were during lunch.

He said that both he and Heather ate “the entire meal”, while Don ate his meal together with half of the beef Wellington that did not end.

“There was talk about men who helped their wives.”

Asked about his relationship with Mrs. Patterterson, he said: “I would say that our relationship was friendly, friendly. It didn’t have much depth. We were more like acquaintances. We didn’t see much of each other.”

“She just seemed like a normal person for me,” he added. “When we met things, they were friendly. We never had arguments or disputes. She just seemed like a normal person.”

“Heather would have seen more than I have seen, more to her than me, but we didn’t think the relationship was close,” he said.

The invitation was made to Heather Wilkinson in the church, a week or two earlier, Mr. Wilkinson remembered.

“We were very happy to be invited. It seemed that our relationship might improve,” he said.

“We were very happy to accept.”

The court was shown a copy of Mrs. Wilkinson’s diary where she had written “in it for lunch” with a pencil.

Written in Blue Ink: “12:00” – of which Mr. Wilkinson said it was the time that they would be picked up by Don and Gail Patterson. Another word “fruit” in the diary referred to a fruit dish that they took at lunch, he said.

Mrs. Patterson, with a light pink striped shirt was emotionless when Mr. Wilkinson started his evidence.

Last week her lawyer said there was no intention to hurt someone and the dead were. The result of a tragic accident – although many of the facts are not in dispute and it is accepted that she lied before the police several times.

On Monday, the jury of members of a real crime facebook group heard Mrs Patterson a part.

One of the witnesses, Christine Hunt, was asked about the relationship of Erin Patterterson with her alienated husband Simon.

She told the court that the words “check” and “coercion” were used by Mrs. Patterterson.

Another member of the same group. Daniela Barkley, the court said that it had been “excited” in Patterson about buying a dehydrator, and the jury was shown various images that were shared with the group, who showed that mushrooms dry on the metal racks of the device.

In a text message to the court, Mrs. Patterterson said: “I hid in everything in powder -shaped mushrooms” – including recipes such as brownies, so that her children could not see them eating them.

The court also heard that in July 2023 she had asked the group for advice on cooking a beef Wellington, the court that was later served to the four guests the same month during that deadly lunch.