Explained: Australian Woman Accused Of Poisoning In-Laws With Toxic Mushrooms

The Victorian Supreme Court is hearing the high-profile "mushroom murder" trial involving an Australian woman accused of killing her estranged husband's parents and aunt by serving them a meal laced with poisonous mushrooms. 

In July 2023, 50-year-old Erin Patterson hosted a lunch for her former mother-in-law, Gail Patterson, and father-in-law, Don Patterson, both 70, Ms Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66, and Heather's husband, Reverend Ian Wilkinson.

She allegedly served them a homemade Beef Wellington pastry dish at her home in Leongatha in Melbourne. The dish reportedly contained death cap mushrooms, said to be among the most toxic mushrooms in the world.

Gail, Donald, and Heather died after consuming the meal, while Mr Wilkinson survived. Ms Patterson has been charged with the murder of the three relatives and the attempted murder of Mr Wilkinson. 

What Survivor Reverend Ian Wilkinson Said About The Incident

Recalling the deadly lunch, Mr Wilkinson said Ms Patterson invited all four, along with her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, for lunch on July 29, 2023. Simon decided to give it a miss.

Heather and Gail offered to assist with plating up the meal, but Ms Patterson turned them down, Mr Wilkinson told the court.

He said a portion of mashed potatoes, green beans, and a single beef Wellington were served on each plate. While all four guests were served their meals on large, grey dinner plates, Ms Patterson had it on a smaller, tan-coloured plate, he said.

Mr Wilkinson said he and his wife ate all of their food and Don ate his own and also half of his wife's portion.

He told the court that after lunch, Ms Patterson made up the story, alleging that she had cancer and planned this lunch to ask for advice on how to break the news to her children, who were not at home.

Was Erin Patterson Suffering From Cancer?

No, Erin Patterson lied about her illness. She told the court that she did this to gain sympathy from her husband's relatives, as she felt they were growing apart during her separation from her husband.

During the trial, she said, "I didn't want their care of me to stop, so I kept it going. I shouldn't have done it. I did lie to them." She further said, "I had become a little worried that perhaps ... that there might be some distance growing between me and the Patterson family."

When asked why she lied about her illness, Ms Patterson said that during lunch, her father-in-law was talking to his brother, who was fighting cancer. So, at the end of the meal, she told the guests that she had a health issue from a year or two ago and might soon need cancer treatment. But instead, she was planning to undergo weight-loss surgery.

Ms Patterson thought if the family believed that she was suffering from a serious disease and undergoing treatment, they might offer to help take care of her children. 

Did Erin Patterson Intentionally Serve Poisonous Mushrooms?

Ms Patterson said that the mushrooms she used in the lunch were a mix of two types. One was a fresh button mushroom she bought from a supermarket, Woolworths, and the other was dried mushrooms she purchased from the Asian grocery store a few months ago. 

She mentioned that she started preparing the lunch the night before by salting the meat. On the morning of the lunch, she made a mushroom paste using the one she bought from Woolworths. While cooking the paste, she tasted it a few times and felt it was too bland. So, she decided to add some dried mushrooms which she bought earlier from a grocery store.

Initially, she thought that these dried mushrooms were bought from a store, but later admitted that some of them might have been foraged. She told the court, "Now I think that there was a possibility that there were foraged ones in there as well."

Why Did She Dispose Of The Food Dehydrator?

Ms Patterson told the court that she had a little bit of lunch and later had two-thirds of the cake. After that, she felt too full and ended up throwing up. So, when she was in the hospital, her estranged husband came to see her and blamed her for killing his parents with a food dehydrator. 

She told the court that during the Covid-19 lockdown, she started searching for mushrooms in her nearby areas. She would then dry and store them using a food dehydrator. She told the court that Simon asked her, "Is that how you poisoned my parents?"

She felt worried and decided to throw the food dehydrator at a nearby dump. She also deleted data from her phone in panic because it contained photos of mushrooms and the dehydrator. The dehydrator was later traced by police and found to contain a death cap mushroom.

The court will continue the hearing on Thursday and prosecutors will get the opportunity to cross-examine her.