Australian Woman On Trial For Killing Three Former In-Laws With Toxic Mushrooms

An Australian woman is on trial over allegations that she fatally poisoned three relatives and attempted to murder a fourth by serving them a meal laced with toxic mushrooms.

Erin Patterson, 50, from the state of Victoria, has been charged with the murders of her former parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, both aged 70, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66, who died in July 2023.

She also faces a charge of attempted murder in connection with Reverend Ian Wilkinson, Heather’s husband, who survived but became critically ill after the same meal.

According to prosecutors, Patterson invited the four victims to lunch at her home in Leongatha, where she served beef Wellington, mashed potatoes, and green beans.

The court heard that the dish was allegedly contaminated with death cap mushrooms (Amanita phalloides), a highly toxic species known to cause severe liver damage and death.

Prosecutors further claim that Patterson lured the guests by falsely telling them she had cancer.

Patterson, who maintains her innocence, has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, father of her two children, was also invited to the lunch but declined to attend.

During opening arguments on Wednesday, prosecutor Nanette Rogers said that Erin Patterson allegedly fabricated a cancer diagnosis and invited her relatives to lunch under the pretext of discussing how to inform her two children about the illness. Rogers:

The accused said that it was important that the children were not present for the lunch.

It is the prosecution’s case that the accused deliberately poisoned (the victims) with murderous intent.

The prosecution will not be suggesting that there was a particular motive to do what she did.

Defence lawyer Colin Mandy told the court that the deaths were a “terrible accident” and that Erin Patterson had no intention of harming her lunch guests. Said Mandy:

The defence case is that Erin Patterson did not deliberately serve poisoned food to her guests.

The court heard that the guests were each served individual portions of beef Wellington on four large grey dinner plates, while Erin Patterson ate from a smaller, tan-coloured plate.

All four guests became ill later that day and were hospitalised the following day. Don and Gail Patterson, along with Heather Wilkinson, later died, while Reverend Ian Wilkinson spent several weeks in hospital but survived.

The court was told that Patterson herself went to hospital two days after the lunch but initially discharged herself against medical advice.

Although she displayed mild symptoms, prosecutors said subsequent tests showed no evidence of toxins consistent with death cap mushroom poisoning.

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers also told the court that Patterson resisted doctors’ efforts to test her two children, whom she claimed had eaten leftovers from the lunch, saying she did not want to frighten them. The prosecution lawyer said:

She was reluctant to have the children medically assessed because she knew that, like her, they had not eaten any poisoned food.

Rogers told the court that although the defendant initially denied owning a food dehydrator, police later traced one belonging to her at a nearby rubbish dump. The appliance was found to contain traces of death cap mushrooms.

Mandy acknowledged that Patterson had lied on several occasions during the investigation, but said she did so out of panic in response to the intense public and media attention the case had attracted.

More: Sky News

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