Tiffanie Turnbull
BBC News, Sydney

We're pausing our live coverage here.

Katy Watson and Simon Atkinson have been reporting for us from the courthouse in Morwell, with Lana Lam, Ottilie Mitchell, Helen Sullivan and Stuart Lau also following the case from Sydney and Singapore.

Erin Patterson is expected to continue her evidence tomorrow, from about 10:30 local time (01:30 BST), us again then!

The question so many are asking, but unfortunately one we can't answer.

The trial was initially estimated to run for six weeks but we're now into that sixth week, and it is looking more likely that the case may drag on beyond that.

The prosecution case has called more than 50 witnesses and has taken up almost all of that time so far, with the defence starting their turn when Erin Patterson entered the witness box yesterday afternoon.

Her team will also have the opportunity to call other witnesses if they wish. The prosecution can opt to cross-examine any of them.

Once that's finished, there'll be closing arguments from each side before the judge gives final instructions to the jury.

They'll then retire to deliberate, before returning a verdict.

Court is done for the day – here is what we learned as Ms Patterson gave evidence:

• The 50-year-old began her evidence by detailing various medical scares – before itting she never had ovarian cancer, a claim prosecutors allege was used to bring the lunch guests to her house.
• She told the jury that she had a huge mistrust of the health system after hospital visits with her children, which was the reason she discharged herself from hospital after the fateful meal. The trial earlier heard doctors told Ms Patterson they were concerned that she had also been poisoned by the mushrooms.
• Ms Patterson also told the court her relationship with Simon Patterson had initially remained friendly but turned tense amid conflict over finances from October 2022 onwards.
• She became emotional when talking about Don and Gail Patterson, her in-laws who died within days of being served a beef wellington containing death cap mushrooms, repeatedly telling the court how much she cared for them despite messages entered into evidence where she vented about them.
• The jury also heard about her interest in mushroom recipes – she detailed her love for fungi, especially exotic mushrooms which have "more flavour"; recounted her foraging experience; and explained her purchase of a food dehydrator.

• Ms Patterson told the court she accepted death cap mushrooms were in the meal she cooked, and said the "vast majority" came from a supermarket in town, but some also came from an "Asian grocer in Melbourne".
• She detailed shopping at such stores in the past, and said that "sometimes the bags would say 'wild mushroom mix'" or would otherwise not specify exactly what they contained.
• Ms Patterson will continue giving evidence on Wednesday.

Lana Lam
Live reporter

Mr Mandy also asked Ms Patterson how she stored mushrooms that she had dried.

"Do you have a memory of putting wild mushrooms that you dehydrated in May or June of 2023 into a container which already contained other dried mushrooms">"Yes I did do that," Ms Patterson replies.

Lana Lam
Live reporter

Ms Patterson has been describing her foraging experience for the jury, saying that she "mainly picked field mushrooms".

In April 2023, while foraging for mushrooms on her property, Ms Patterson says she found field mushrooms and other varieties.

“There was another type that were not field mushrooms but I couldn’t quite figure out what they were so I didn’t pick any of those," she says, adding she wouldn't pick the ones that were "red on top with the white dots".

In May and June, she recalls picking "slippery jacks" and "honey mushrooms".

Asked if she was sure they were the names for those mushrooms, Ms Patterson replies that she is "very confident".

Helen Sullivan
Senior Journalist

Ms Patterson is asked where the mushrooms in the beef wellington meal at the centre of the case came from.

She says that while the "vast majority" came from a Woolworths supermarket in Leongatha, some came from an "Asian grocer in Melbourne".

Ms Patterson does not recall the specific purchase of the mushrooms from the grocer in Melbourne, she says. Her barrister Colin Mandy asked whether she had purchased mushrooms from those shops before, and what kind she purchased.

"There was shiitake, porcini, I think enoki was one of them," she says. She adds that "sometimes the bags would say 'wild mushroom mix'," or would otherwise not specify exactly what they contained.

Katy Watson
Australia correspondent

Ms Patterson is now being asked about why she purchased a food dehydrator in April 2023.

"I liked eating wild mushrooms but it’s a very small season. You can’t keep them too long in the fridge so it’s one way of preserving them," she says.

"But it wasn’t just for mushrooms, I could use it to preserve a whole range of things."

Her barrister is now referencing a series of images he's tendered to the court which show dehydrated mushrooms on the shelves of the appliances.

She tells the court she had foraged wild mushrooms from several places, including the Korumburra Botanic Gardens, a rail trail in Leongatha near her house, and on her own block.

Simon Atkinson
reporting from Morwell

The jury has returned so we're rolling again.

Erin Patterson is back in the stand, and is asked if she accepted death cap mushrooms were in the beef wellington she served in July 2023.

"Yes I do."

As the clock winds towards 16:15 local time (the end of the day in court), here’s a summary of the evidence Erin Patterson has given so far:

• The 50-year-old started off by telling the court of various medical scares – and itted she never had ovarian cancer, despite allegedly asking the lunch guests to her house to discuss the diagnosis.
• She told the jury that she had a huge mistrust of the health system after incidents involving her children. That mistrust was the reason she discharged herself from hospital after the fateful meal, she said, despite doctors' concern that she had also been poisoned by the mushrooms.
• She told the court about her relationship with estranged husband Simon Patterson, saying they had initially remained friends after separating in 2015 and dealt with financial matters without animosity.
• But she detailed tension which emerged in their relationship after October 2022, when he listed himself as single in his tax return. After that, financial issues became more prominent.
• She became emotional when talking about Don and Gail Patterson, her in-laws who died within days of being served a beef wellington containing death cap mushrooms, repeatedly telling the court how much she cared for them.
• The jury also heard about her interest in mushroom recipes – she’d bought a dehydrator to prepare recipes including curries and pasta dishes. Exotic mushrooms, she said, had "more flavour".

Ms Patterson earlier told the court about her dynamic with the Patterson family, and in particular, her in-laws.

She said she and husband Simon Patterson had separated in 2015 - she didn't want to, but felt there was "no choice" as the couple struggled to work out disagreements in a healthy way.

"In the immediate aftermath it was difficult...but that only lasted a couple of weeks...we went back to being really good friends."

The 50-year-old fought back tears as she told the court how her relationship with Don and Gail Patterson endured despite her separation from their son.

"It never changed, I was just their daughter-in-law. They just continued to love me."

Katy Watson
Australia correspondent

Throughout Ms Patterson's time in the witness box, the 14 jurors looked on, taking in the detail in what is now the sixth week of the trial.

In case you missed it earlier: two rows of Simon Patterson’s family are also watching this evidence intently, showing little emotion as Ms Patterson details the run-up to that fateful lunch.

Image source, EPA

Katy Watson
reporting from Morwell

If you're just ing us, Erin Patterson has been answering questions from her barrister for close to three hours now and she has responded clearly and loudly to them all.

But when asked about her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, she started sounding emotional. She told the jury how much they meant to her, how much they ed her after the birth of her children – the reason she and then-husband Simon Patterson moved back to Victoria from Western Australia was to have the of her mother-in-law.

When she was asked about a series of messages, laden with expletives, that she had sent to friends referring to the Patterson family, she became more tearful. Wiping her eyes with tissues, she said she felt ashamed about those messages and about the family seeing them. They didn’t deserve it, she said.

Her voice also faltered when talking about her self-image. She told the jury that she never had a healthy relationship with her body as she was asked about episodes of binge-eating.

Ms Patterson began giving evidence yesterday afternoon, largely facing questions over her personal life in the years before the fatal lunch in 2023.

She told the court she had been a "fundamental atheist" but converted to Christianity due to the influence of her husband, Simon Patterson.

She also spoke about the "very traumatic" birth of her son and her marriage troubles - she and her husband struggled with how to work out disagreements, she said.

By 2023, they were separated, and Ms Patterson told the court she felt distant from her in-laws and suspected that her husband did not want her "too involved" with the family anymore.

Ms Patterson also spoke about her long battle with low self-esteem throughout most of her adult life.

All of these themes have been returned to in her testimony today, as the questioning inches closer to the central allegations.

There's a little delay in the jury's return as the court discusses some legal matters, but this should be over soon.

Stay with us!

Katy Watson
Reporting from Morwell

It's not often that such a small courthouse hosts a case as closely watched as this.

The Latrobe Valley Law Courts are a small and unimposing modern building on the main road of Morwell in regional Victoria, and space inside courtroom 5 is very limited.

Because of the huge interest in this trial, seating has to be closely managed. Only six journalists are allowed into the court each day – everyone else has to watch from an overflow room here or in Melbourne. There's a little more space reserved for of the public, but not much.

The BBC was given one of those coveted six spots for today – long before we knew Erin Patterson would be speaking – so I’m watching her testimony first-hand.

Image source, Getty Images

While we wait for the jury to come back from their lunch break, here's a reminder of the allegations at the centre of the case.

The jury is being asked to weigh up evidence and decide whether Erin Patterson is guilty of four charges - three of murder, and one of attempted murder.

The case centres around a beef wellington lunch she served at her home in Leongatha in July 2023.

Three people died in hospital in the days after the lunch, including Ms Patterson's former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, as well as Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66. Heather's husband, 71-year-old Baptist pastor Ian Wilkinson, survived after weeks of treatment in hospital. Simon Patterson, the accused's estranged husband, was also invited but pulled out at the last minute.

Prosecutors say Ms Patterson intentionally served up the meal containing mushrooms. She has pleaded not guilty - her defence says it accepts deadly death cap mushrooms were in the food but that it was an accident and Ms Patterson "didn't intend to cause anyone any harm".

Image source, Supplied

Three people died in hospital in the days after the lunch - Ms Patterson's former in-laws, Don Patterson, 70, and Gail Patterson, 70, as well as Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66.

Heather's husband, 71-year-old Baptist pastor Ian Wilkinson, survived after weeks of treatment in hospital.

Image source, Supplied

Lana Lam
Live digital reporter

Erin Patterson, the woman accused of killing three relatives and seriously injuring another with a deadly mushroom lunch in 2023, has spent the morning giving evidence in court.

Here's what we learnt:

• The family's move in early 2013 from Western Australia to Victoria, was, in part, so that they could be closer to Ms Patterson's in-laws
• Ms Patterson's separation with her husband Simon Patterson was "difficult" in 2015 but then, she said, "We went back to being really good friends" and her in-laws "continued to love" her
• She itted that she has never been diagnosed with cancer, but mentioned her family's history of ovarian cancer – prosecutors argue she gathered her family to the fateful lunch under the false pretence of being diagnosed with the disease
• She detailed her mistrust for the health system after her concerns about her children's health were dismissed but later found to be true
• She broke down in tears and apologised when talking about messages she sent to a private Facebook group where she complained about her husband and in-laws, saying "I wish I had never said that"
• Her struggles with body image were discussed, with Ms Patterson saying she's "never had a good relationship with food"
• She shared her long-standing love of mushrooms with her friends in Facebook posts and told the court she often posted about her use of a dehydrator

Various witnesses have given evidence for the prosecution over the past few weeks. Here is some of what the court has heard so far:

• 'Rare' meal: Erin Patterson's estranged husband, Simon, told the court it was "very rare" for her to hold social gatherings at home. Simon had also been invited to the fatal meal but decided not to attend the day before
• Individual beef wellingtons: Talking about the lunch, the sole surviving guest from the beef wellington meal, Ian Wilkinson, said Ms Patterson had plated "all of the food" and that every person "had an individual serve... very much like a pasty". He told the court Ms Patterson had eaten from a different plate to everyone else
• Online comments: Evidence was also heard from of a true crime Facebook group that Ms Patterson was part of. One member, Christine Hunt, told the court that the words "controlling" and "coercive" had been used by Ms Patterson to describe her husband Simon. The couple had separated permanently in 2015
• Mushroom dehydrator: Another member of the same group, Daniela Barkley, said Ms Patterson had been "excited" about buying a dehydrator, and the jury was shown several images shared with the group, which showed mushrooms drying on the metal racks of the appliance
• Computer and phone data: A forensic analyst told the court a web page showing a local death cap mushroom sighting had been viewed on Patterson's computer in 2022, and prosecutors said her mobile location data indicated she visited areas where the toxic fungi had been reported in the months before the lunch

And with that, it's lunch time.

The court will take a break for about an hour, but stay with us as we wrap up what we've heard so far today.