Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder over a fatal 2023 beef wellington lunch. Follow live
The jury has entered the court room in Morwell
Erin Patterson is continuing to give evidence in her triple murder trial.
Patterson entered the witness box to begin testifying in her triple murder trial. Members of the Patterson and Wilkinson families, including Ian Wilkinson, were in the court.
The accused said in the months prior to the July 2023 lunch she felt her relationship with the Patterson family, particularly her in-laws Don and Gail, had “a bit more distance”. She said from the start of 2023 her relationship with her estranged husband, Simon, was “functional” and the pair communicated mainly about logistical matters.
Patterson had a “never-ending battle of low self-esteem” for most of her adult life, she told the court. She said around the time of the lunch she was planning to have gastric bypass surgery for weight loss.
Defence lawyer Colin Mandy SC asked his client about the tension in her relationship with Simon, which involved multiple separations between 2009 and 2015. She said the pair “just couldn’t communicate well” when they had a disagreement. “We would just feel hurt,” she said.
The prosecution closed its case on Monday afternoon before Patterson entered the witness box.