A psychologist tells Woman’s Day that Simon Patterson is likely not attending Erin Patterson‘s pre-sentence hearing to “protect” his family.
“Victims sometimes decide to opt out for a variety of reasons,” clinical psychologist Sally-Anne McCormack tells Woman’s Day exclusively.
“Sometimes it’s fear of the person, despite the fact they’re currently in prison, and it might be especially true if they have already offered testimony that has been deemed as ‘inadmissible’.”
As Woman’s Day prepares to head to Melbourne’s Supreme Court this week to sit courtside at the two-day pre-sentence hearing, it’s being reported that Simon is unlikely to be there and face the woman who was found guilty of murdering his parents, Don and Gail Patterson, his aunt Heather Wilkinson and of attempting to murder Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson during a deathly lunch at her Leongatha home on July 29, 2023.
Simon has previously told the court he feels he is also one of Patterson’s victims.
Pre-trial evidence that has been released since Patterson was convicted of the crime in July, reveals Simon’s claim that she allegedly tried to poison him three times during camping trips they took together. He claims she cooked him three poisonous meals – penne bolognese, chicken korma and a vegetable curry wrap – between November 2021 and September 2022. Simon became so ill after the first meal that he ended up in Leongatha hospital overnight with vomiting, diarrhea, and was put on a drip.
During the second incident he ended up in a coma and a part of his bowel was removed. He ended up living with Patterson afterwards, who was caring for him.
As Simon testified during the trial, Sally-Anne says him not delivering a victim impact statement could be a form of self-preservation to protect himself from the stress of having to relive the stress of the trial and grieving his loved ones.
“If Simon has already expressed “grief”, then it is likely that this has not been resolved, and he would likely have the need to protect himself and his children from the process that he is unable to influence.”
Patterson has always denied she tried to poison him, but Simon revealed in the pretrial hearing that was the reason he pulled out of the fatal lunch that day, because he believed she might try to poison him again. He didn’t believe that she would target his parents or his aunt and uncle.
The attempted murder charges were dropped a week before her triple-murder trial began, but they’ve left a lasting trauma on Simon who told Justice Beale that the legal process had been “very difficult”.
“I’m sitting here, half thinking about the things I’m allowed to talk about and… I don’t actually understand why … it seems bizarre to me, but it is what it is,” he said.
Simon didn’t attend a lot of the trial and wasn’t in the courtroom when the verdict was handed down.
On Monday, the convicted triple murderer will be brought to the Supreme Court in Melbourne from Dame Phyllis Frost Centre and will face Justice Christopher Beale and likely a packed courtroom of people, desperately waiting to see how she faces the victims of her heinous crime.
The hearing must take place before Victoria Supreme Court Justice Christoper Beale can sentence Patterson, 50, which normally happens a few months after the pre-sentence hearing and is expected to happen before the end of the year.
The prosecution will argue for the harshest sentence possible, while the defence will often submit psychiatric reports and delve into family history, although there are no whispers yet as to whether this will happen.
“The hearing will be interesting – she may show empathy, distress and sadness, or if there are psychopathic traits, she could appear detached, dismissive or even irritated about the attention that the victims are getting,” Sally-Anne says.
While Sally-Anne has not met Patterson, she says there are many unknowns that make up the possible mindset of a killer.
“There are other possibilities as to her lack of emotion during the court case – she may have been overwhelmed, she may have had psychopathic or sociopathic traits, she may have been totally detached from the process, she may be in denial,” Sally-Anne tells.
“There could be a range of things going on for her at this time.”
As for who is likely to read out a victim statement, Ian, who survived the deathly lunch, will have the chance to confront Patterson, if he chooses, or he may ask for someone to read out the statement on his behalf, if it’s too painful.
It’s also expected that Heather and Ian’s four children, along with Don and Gail’s four children could read out a statement.
Earlier this month, Justice Beale asked prosecutor Jane Warren how many victim impact statements are likely to be read, to which she replied, “All I can say is a lot”.
It’s likely that the defense will argue that Patterson should get a life imprisonment with a non-parole period or a minimum sentence that she must serve before she can apply for release. But Patterson can appeal her sentence within 28 days – and it’s likely that she might given that she claims the deaths were a “terrible accident” and that she accidentally added the death cap mushrooms to the beef wellington.
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