The skies were clear and the sun was out on Monday afternoon in the regional Victorian town of Morwell.
For a week, those involved with the trial and many more watching around the world had been on edge, waiting, as the jury in Erin Patterson’s triple-murder trial deliberated.
Suddenly, the news rippled across the court precinct: the jury would return its verdict at 2:15pm.
A trial that had been played out to audiences across the globe had reached a crescendo.
Detective Leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall walked past a large media pack as he left the courts after the verdict. (ABC News: Joseph Dunstan)
Adrenaline coursing, those at court craned heads and listened intently as the jury’s foreperson delivered the crucial verdicts: guilty on all four counts.
In a matter of minutes, a tension built over weeks of legal arguments and disputed versions of what happened the day Patterson hosted her in-laws for lunch was resolved.
The jury had given the community its answer: the 50-year-old mother of two was a murderer, who had spent weeks planning how to conceal a deadly toxin in a meal served to her trusting in-laws.
A jury found Erin Patterson guilty of the attempted murder of Ian Willkinson and the murders of his wife Heather, and Don and Gail Patterson. (Supplied)
She had murdered her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, who had checked in on her and prayed for her good health in the weeks before the meal.
She had murdered her father-in-law Don Patterson, depriving him of the opportunity to spend more time with his grandson sharing their passion for flying.
She had murdered Heather Wilkinson, who had offered love and support after the birth of Simon and Erin’s daughter.
And she had attempted to murder Ian Wilkinson, the spiritual leader of her family’s church community.
Unprecedented interest in court case
Immediately after the verdicts, the courtyard outside the courtroom was abuzz.
A thick media scrum hovered at the courtroom doors, swarming around those linked to the case as they left the building.
The responses from key parties was minimal: there was no comment from her barrister Colin Mandy SC, and police spoke only briefly to acknowledge the work of detectives and the families who had endured two years of investigations and legal proceedings.
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“We will continue to support [the families] in every way possible following this decision,” a Victoria Police spokesperson said.
So far, the Wilkinson and Patterson families have made no comment.
The stratospheric interest in the case has been unprecedented in recent history, according to the Victorian Supreme Court.
More than 250 journalists and outlets were on the court’s media management list for the trial, including more than a dozen media outlets across the UK, US and New Zealand.
There were slips along the way for media covering the trial too.
Perhaps the most high-profile was carried out by Australia radio hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson, whose on-air banter during the trial attracted the ire of Justice Christopher Beale.
Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O’s highly prejudicial on-air banter did not impress Justice Christopher Beale. (Facebook: The Kyle and Jackie O Show)
In the June 16 radio segment, the pair discussed the case in highly prejudicial terms, including Sandilands, who issued a call to “lock that bitch up”‘.
That afternoon, while the jury was out of the room, Justice Beale told the court he had read a transcript of the segment.
“I encourage all commentators to engage their brains before they open their mouths, as they may otherwise land themselves and their organisations in hot water,” he said.
Justice Beale referred the matter to the Office of Public Prosecutions for possible contempt of court charges. The office is yet to reveal whether it will lay charges against the pair.
Jurors’ two months of service comes to a close
The verdict also marks the end of an extraordinary journey for the 12 jurors who sat through the lengthy trial to deliver the verdict.
They were among 15,000 people identified in the Latrobe Valley district in February to help cover five Supreme and County court sittings between late April and August 1.
That list was further whittled down through availability to 112 people who presented for potential empanelment in the case on April 29.
For a week, those involved in the trial — and many watching around the world — waited as the jury in the triple-murder trial deliberated. (ABC News)
Justice Christopher Beale gave them the opportunity to read through a list of 137 names, including witnesses, places and lawyers involved in the case.
“As potential jurors, you have to consider whether you can bring an impartial, open mind to the consideration of the evidence that will be led in this case and can decide the case solely on that evidence,” he said.
“If you can’t do that, or if you think you may struggle to do that, if you have doubts about your capacity to do that, you must ask to be excused.”
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A further 27 people were excused and a panel of 15 people was drawn from the remaining 85.
They ranged in age from their 20s to their 70s.
Finally, 12 of them formed the panel that deliberated and reached a verdict on Monday, to thanks from Justice Beale.
“The way you’ve conducted yourself throughout this trial has caught my attention and you’ve remained in good spirits even though the trial went much longer than you were led to believe and even though this was a major intrusion in all your lives,” the judge said.
As they return to normal life, the jurors are given access to free and confidential counselling.
Honourable lives of murder victims in focus
While the ripples of the verdict continue to be felt, back in Morwell things quickly turned back to normal.
On Tuesday afternoon, the courtyard outside the courtrooms was empty — cold wind whipping leaves across a space that just 24 hours earlier had been a frenzy of activity.
Workers emptying the bin in the middle of the courtyard saw the detritus left behind, including a pile of coffee cups.
In the coming weeks, Patterson’s sentencing process will begin — and the possibility of an appeal against her convictions still hangs in the air.
Don and Gail Patterson, who died in August 2023. (Supplied)
But as news of the verdicts settles, the unfailing dignity and sense of humanity that drove her victims remains in focus in their home town of Korumburra.
After an inspection of the evidence, the jury found those honourable values exemplified in life by Don, Gail and Heather were utterly absent in their killer.