Erin Patterson has been found guilty of murdering three in-laws and attempting to murder a fourth by serving them a meal laced with death cap mushrooms. The verdict follows ten-week trial that some observers have described as "emotionally charged".

Morwell

Erin Patterson has been convicted of murdering three members of her estranged husband's family and attempting to murder a fourth by serving them Beef Wellington containing death cap mushrooms. The jury found that Patterson deliberately poisoned her in-laws after hearing eight weeks of evidence from over 50 witnesses, including testimony that she lied about having cancer to lure the victims to her home.

Evidence presented included Patterson's actions before and after the incident, such as disposing of a food dehydrator, inconsistent statements to authorities, and digital records linking her to information about death cap mushrooms. Despite her claims that the incident was a tragic accident, the jury was not convinced, resulting in a guilty verdict.

Erin Patterson found guilty of murdering in-laws with mushroom meal

It was a trial that captured global attention. Three people dead, one left fighting for life after consuming death cap mushrooms hidden in a Beef Wellington dish. Erin Patterson claimed it was all a tragic accident. Today a jury found it was murder. I'm devastated. I love them. She insisted she never intended to poison her estranged husband's family, but after weighing up eight weeks of evidence from more than 50 witnesses, the jury unanimously decided she deliberately murdered her three in-laws and tried to murder a fourth. And I'd also like to acknowledge the investigators that have worked on this investigation since July 2023 right through to today. In July 2023, Patterson pretended to have cancer, a lie the prosecution says was her way of luring the four guests to her Leangatha home for lunch. She served individual Beef Wellingtons laced with lethal death cap mushrooms on four identical plates. Her own portion was served on a different coloured plate because it didn't contain the toxic fungi. Don and Gayle Patterson and Heather and Ian Wilkinson fell violently ill later that evening. Despite the desperate efforts of doctors, Don, Gayle and Heather all died within a week. Ian spent almost two months in hospital clinging to life. He survived and became the prosecution's star witness. On the witness stand, he revealed Patterson had been reluctant to show them her pantry and refused Heather and Gayle's offer of help to plate up the meal. He said Patterson told the group she had cancer and asked for advice on how to break the news to her two children. They then prayed for her and her treatment options. Patterson's murderous plot continued in the days after the poisonous meal when she feigned illness to cover up what she'd done. CCTV taken from a service station the day after the lunch showed her enter and exit the bathroom in nine seconds despite claiming to be suffering gastro symptoms. She took herself to hospital but was reluctant to receive treatment and tests showed no evidence she ever suffered death cap mushroom poisoning. The day after being discharged, she dumped her food dehydrator at the local tip. Then she lied to police claiming she never owned one and had never foraged for mushrooms. Patterson told health authorities she bought the mushrooms from an Asian grocer in Melbourne but she couldn't remember the name of the store and changed her story over the course of their conversations. All the evidence the prosecution needed was on her electronic devices. More than a year before the lunch, a computer in her home was used to visit the iNaturalist website which listed the location of death cap mushrooms in Melbourne's southeast. Within days of two other posts appearing on the website, her phone records showed possible visits to two Gippsland towns where death cap mushrooms were growing. While police were searching her Leongatha home, her usual mobile phone went offline and has never been recovered. The phone she handed over to police, which the prosecution labelled her dummy phone, was factory reset four times after the lunch. The prosecution said Patterson pretended to be a loving daughter-in-law but in reality she resented her in-laws after her relationship with her estranged husband soured. Patterson had vented her frustration to Facebook friends describing her ex-simon as a deadbeat father and his parents as a lost cause after the pair argued over finances and child support payments. She also told them how excited she was to buy a food dehydrator, hide mushrooms in various recipes and asked for tips on how to cook a beef wellington. Patterson took the witness stand in her own defence, giving evidence for eight days, telling the jury her version of the story. The 50-year-old said she lied to her in-laws about having cancer to cover up planned weight loss surgery. She insisted she also fell ill from the beef wellington meal, just not to the same extent as her relatives, claiming she made herself throw up after binge eating cake left over from the lunch. She told the jury she panicked after her estranged husband accused her of poisoning his parents and realised she may have mixed up foraged mushrooms with some she'd purchased. Patterson said she dumped her food dehydrator because she was worried it contained the remnants of death cap mushrooms and she feared child protection would take her children away. She admitted she shouldn't have lied to homicide detectives and was adamant she never meant to poison anyone, but ultimately the jury wasn't convinced her relatives deaths were a terrible accident. I think it's very important that we remember that we've had three people. Three people have died and we've had a person that nearly died and was seriously injured. Patterson may have tried to make the lunch seem like a wholesome family occasion. I ask that we acknowledge those people and not forget them. But in the end it was cold calculated murder. Abbey Dinnam 10 News.

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