Erin Patterson’s eyes were “fixed” on the jury as they delivered their verdict today, finding her guilty on all charges in the mushroom murder trial.
9News court reporter Penelope Liersch was in the room as the verdicts were read and said Patterson initially reacted by staring “straight ahead”.
“She was blinking a lot. That continued to sort of build as we heard the first verdict, the second, the third, the fourth,” Liersch said on the live 9News coverage of the verdict.
“And during those later verdicts, her eyes were really fixed on this 12-person jury who have decided her fate.
“She continued to watch them as they walked out of the room and then just stared straight ahead, blinking, looking at her the whole time.”
Patterson also looked towards members of the media after the verdicts were delivered, “really eyeballing” some individuals.
“I can’t say she was crying, but she was certainly blinking quite a lot,” Liersch said.
“She appeared to be breathing quite deeply and trying to sort of keep her emotions in check as this happened.”
News broke that the jury had reached a verdict around just before 1.45pm AEST.
Liersch said Patterson was brought into the courtroom “flanked by two security personnel” to hear the verdicts.
She said Patterson spoke with her defence team briefly, then spoke with a female friend who had been in attendance throughout the trial to support her.
”As that friend went to sit down, I saw the friend wiping away tears and Erin Patterson said to her, ‘See you soon,'” Liersch said.
“That’s obviously not what has happened with these particular verdicts being handed down.”
The jury delivered its verdicts just after 2.15pm.
Patterson was found guilty of the murder of her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson and Gail’s sister Heather, and the attempted murder of Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson.
The courtroom was packed with media and members of the public when the verdicts were delivered.
“There were about four homicide detectives in there, including lead informant [Detective Leading Senior Constable] Stephen Eppingstall, who we’ve heard from a lot throughout this trial,” Liersch said.
No members of the Patterson or Wilkinson family were in court.
“There was that female friend, the supporter of Erin Patterson, but we did not see any other family members there,” Liersch added.
