Mushroom murderer Erin Patterson ‘tampered with food in PRISON making inmate sick' after being given job in jail kitchen
Published: Invalid Date,
MUSHROOM murderer Erin Patterson has been accused of tampering with prison food while working in the jail kitchen - allegedly making a fellow inmate sick.
The shocking new claim was made by a prisoner housed in the same unit at Melbourne's Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.
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It comes after Patterson was found guilty of three counts of murder and one of attempted murder over a deadly beef wellington lunch laced with toxic mushrooms.
According to Herald Sun reports, the inmate fell ill following a dispute with Patterson and allegedly blamed the notorious poisoner for the sickness.
A Corrections Victoria source confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that Patterson had been given a job in the jail kitchen, despite the nature of the accusations that landed her there in the first place.
The mum-of-two's supporters have hit back, insisting the prison poisoning claim is baseless.
Patterson has now been convicted of the murders of her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66.
She was also found guilty of the attempted murder of Heather's husband, pastor Ian Wilkinson, who only survived the deadly July 2023 lunch after undergoing a liver transplant.
The verdicts were delivered in a packed Victorian Supreme Court on Monday, following seven days of jury deliberation and 35 days of evidence and cross-examination.
Patterson, described as "emotionless" as the guilty verdicts were read out, reportedly told her best friend Alison Rose Prior "see you soon" as she was led away from the dock.
A sentencing date is yet to be scheduled, and Patterson now faces the prospects of life behind bars.
Erin Patterson arrested 'after cooking poisonous mushroom lunch which killed 3 relatives… but didn't fall ill herself'
Poisoned lunch turned fatal
Patterson pleaded not guilty to all charges, claiming the deaths were a tragic accident.
She insisted she had unknowingly used foraged death cap mushrooms when she prepared the beef wellington for her lunch guests at her Leongatha home on July 29, 2023.
But prosecutors alleged Patterson invited her estranged husband's family under false pretences, possibly even faking a cancer diagnosis to ensure they attended.
Ian Wilkinson, the only survivor of the meal, testified that Patterson served the beef wellington to guests on separate plates from her own.
Toxicologists confirmed all four guests showed symptoms consistent with ingestion of deadly cap mushrooms, a highly lethal species known to grown in the area.
Don, Gail and Heather died within a week. Ian was placed in a coma and later required a liver transplant.
Patterson initially told investigators she had bought dried mushrooms from an Asian grocery store in Melbourne — but couldn't say where.
She also denied owning a dehydrator — a claim later proven false.
The jury heard that she had lied to health officials, doctors and even police in the days following the lunch, hindering efforts to trace the source of the poisoning and save her victims' lives.
During her eight days in the witness box, Patterson admitted she had foraged mushrooms since 2020, telling jurors: 'They tasted good and I didn't get sick.'
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Alleged past attempts and eerie 'death wall'
The horror didn't stop with one deadly meal.
Police allege Patterson may have attempted to poison her ex-husband Simon Patterson on three separate occasions between 2021 and 2022.
Simon had previously written about a near-death illness that left him in a coma for 16 days and prompted doctors to urge his family to say their goodbyes — twice.
Adding to the sinister narrative, a tradesman who worked on Patterson's house claimed he discovered a chilling 'death wall' filled with threatening scribbles and eerie messages — including one that read: 'You don't [have] long to live.'
One neighbour claimed Patterson was an experienced mushroom forager, often seen picking fungi in the area.
Police later combed through her multiple Facebook accounts, where she allegedly boasted of being 'very good at details'.
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Daily Mail
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Inside the personal life of Erin Patterson as her eye-watering wealth is revealed after the mother-of-two was found guilty of mushroom poisoning
Court testimony has revealed details about Erin Patterson 's personal life before she was found guilty of murdering her three in-laws with death cap mushrooms in a beef Wellington that she served at her home for lunch. Patterson's father-in-law and mother-in-law Don and Gail Patterson and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson died after the lunch at her Leongatha home, in south-east Victoria, on July 29, 2023. Following a 10-week trial and seven days of deliberation, Patterson was found guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, as Heather's husband, Pastor Ian Wilkinson, survived the deadly meal. Details of Patterson's personal life were aired in court during the trial, including the extent of her wealth, which included $2million from her paternal grandmother's estate. Patterson was raised in a brick home on a quiet street in Glen Waverley - a middle-class suburb in Melbourne 's south-east. Her mother, Heather Scutter, was a respected lecturer at Monash University and an expert in children's literature, and her father, Eitan Scutter, held director roles in multiple Australian companies. Those who knew Patterson from her younger days described her as being a smart and witty woman. However, in her childhood, Patterson told the court she developed an eating disorder and low self-esteem - a battle which remained with her into her adult life. In her mid-20s, Patterson left her science course and pursued a degree in accounting. In 2001, she also sat for an Air Services class photo - which included all the trainee air traffic controllers for that year. She became one of the few people to make it through the training program after successfully passing the notoriously difficult air traffic controller test. Former colleagues described Erin as a solitary, odd and strange young woman who was a bit of a loner and could be abrupt, abrasive and rude. She was also the only person in the 14-person air traffic controller training group who declined every invitation to social activities and events. Accounts from former air traffic controller colleagues painted a picture of Patterson as a crafty employee who would call in sick pretending to be other workers so that she could pick up lucrative shifts. Patterson was not an air traffic controller for long before she transitioned to working in animal management for the RSPCA at Monash City Council. It was here, in 2004, where she met her ex-husband Simon Patterson who was working at the council as a civil engineer. In his testimony to the court, Mr Patterson described his former wife as 'very intelligent', 'witty' and 'quiet funny'. He added the pair got to know each other as part of a 'fairly electric' group of friends before they developed a romantic relationship. 'I guess some of the things that attracted me to her in the first place was definitely her intelligence,' Mr Patterson testified. 'She is quite witty and can be quite funny.' Patterson was involved in a drunken crash, where she was almost three times over the legal limit, the same year she met her now-estranged husband. Court records revealed she had been driving an unregistered car and fled the scene of the crash. She was also caught driving 35km/h over the 60km/h speed limit. Patterson pleaded guilty to five charges. She was fined $1,000 and had her licence cancelled and was disqualified from driving in Victoria for two and a half years. In her testimony, she told the court she was a 'fundamental atheist' and initially tried to convert Mr Patterson, who was a devout Christian. 'Things happened in reverse and I became a Christian,' Patterson told the jury. She explained she experienced a 'spiritual experience' while on a camping trip when the pair attended a service at Korumburra Baptist church where Simon's uncle, Ian Wilkinson, was a pastor. 'I'd been approaching religion as an intellectual exercise up until that point,' Patterson said. 'But I had what I would call a religious experience there and it quite overwhelmed me.' In June 2007, the Pattersons were married. The wedding was held at Don and Gail's Korumburra home and Simon's cousin, David Wilkinson, walked Patterson down the aisle. Patterson told the court her parents did not attend the wedding as they were on holiday travelling across Russia on a train. In July 2006, her paternal grandmother Ora Scutter died, leaving her significant estate to her two sons and seven grandchildren. Mr Patterson told the court his ex-wife's share of the estate ended up being about $2million, which was paid out across eight years from 2007. Soon afterwards, the pair quit their council jobs and set off on a cross-country trip, travelling around Australia. When they reached Western Australia, the pair settled down and bought a house without a mortgage. In January 2009, they welcomed their first child, after what Patterson called the 'very traumatic' birth of her son. Her experience led to a mistrust of doctors, with Patterson telling the jury she would often question whether they knew what they were doing. On the stand, Patterson said Don and Gail stayed with them after the birth of her son and described Gail as being 'really supportive, and gentle and patient'. 'I remember being really relieved that Gail was there because I felt really out of my depth,' Patterson said. The pair did not stay in the rural community for long and just a few months later packed up their home and moved to Townsville. After months of travelling, Patterson said she had had enough and wanted to fly back to Perth while Mr Patterson and their son drove back to Western Australia. This led to the couple's first separation in late 2009, with Patterson and her son living in a rental while Mr Patterson lived in a caravan nearby for six months. The couple underwent marriage counselling before reuniting when Mr Patterson moved to the wheatbelt town of York where he worked for council as a civil engineer. For a time, the couple also lived in Quinninup, in Western Australia's southwest, where Patterson opened a second-hand bookstore in the small rural town of Pemberton. Mr Patterson told the court there were other brief periods of separation while they lived in Western Australia before they moved back to Victoria in 2013. In 2014, the pair welcomed their second child, a girl, and also bought a family home in Korumburra to be close to Mr Patterson's family. The couple separated for a final time in late 2015. When asked about the separation, Patterson told the jury she believed the key issue was communication. 'Primarily what we struggled with over the entire course of our relationship … we just couldn't communicate well when we disagreed about something,' Patterson said. 'We could never communicate in a way that made each of us feel heard or understood, so we would just feel hurt and not know how to resolve it.' The pair remained close and co-operative, with Patterson explaining she kept close to her father and mother-in-law and would attend family events. 'It never changed. I was just their daughter-in-law and they just continued to love me,' Patterson said. The court heard Patterson inherited a large amount of money after her mother passed away from cancer in 2019. Eight years earlier, Patterson's father had also died from cancer, which meant her grandmother's entire estate was left to her and her sister. Her parent's beachfront retirement home in Eden sold for $900,000, with part of the money used to buy a block of land at Gibson Street in Leongatha. Patterson built a family home on the block of land, the home which became the location of the deadly lunch. She registered the home, and also a property in Glen Waverley, as shared ownership with Mr Patterson. Mr Patterson told the jury he believed Patterson put his name on the titles because she was committed to their family and that she remained hopeful for a reconciliation. The court heard from three witnesses who became acquainted with Patterson in 2020 through an online true crime Facebook group. Patterson began socially chatting with others during the Covid pandemic and well into 2023. Non-profit manager Christine Hunt told the court Patterson was known as the group's 'super-sleuth', claiming she uncovered details of true crime cases they discussed. Daniela Barkley, a stay-at-home mum, described Patterson to the jury as a 'wonderful' mother but recalled she would often air issues about her husband and his family. In a series of messages sent to the group in 2022 between December 6 and 9, Patterson complained about her 'deadbeat' partner and his 'lost cause' family. 'I'm sick of this s*** I want nothing to do with them. I thought his parents would want him to do the right thing but it seems their concern about not wanting to feel uncomfortable and not wanting to get involved in their son's personal matters are overriding that so f*** em,' one message read. Mr Patterson claimed that while they remained friendly during separation, things changed in 2022 when his relationship status on his tax return was changed to single. He told the court the status change was the result of a mix-up with his accountant. 'She discovered that my tax return for the previous year for the first time noted we were separated,' Mr Patterson said. The Trial of Erin Patterson is available now, wherever you get your podcasts. Listen here Patterson told him the move would impact the family tax benefit the couple had previously enjoyed and she was obliged to now claim child support. 'She was upset about it,' he said. Patterson also wanted child support and the school fees paid. However, Mr Patterson said he was advised by authorities to stop paying for school fees and medical bills he had been previously covering. The move upset his increasingly estranged wife and the court heard Patterson had even changed the children's school without consulting their father. In the end, the jury had to weigh up all the evidence and sift through the testimony of those who took the stand. The mother-of-two sat defiantly throughout her 10-week trial, glaring at the media, members of the public and the family of the people she murdered. The unassuming Victorian woman drew international attention after three of her husband's family died following a lunch at her Leongatha home, in south-east Victoria, on July 29, 2023. Patterson pleaded not guilty to the murders of Don and Gail Patterson - her husband's parents - and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson. Only Heather's husband, Pastor Ian Wilkinson, survived her plot - a blunder Patterson would live to regret, and will now serve time for after also being found guilty of attempting to murder him. Prosecutors argued Patterson had intentionally sourced the poisonous mushrooms with the intent to kill or seriously injure her four guests. Following seven days of deliberation, the jury returned to Latrobe Valley court on Monday and delivered a unanimous guilty verdict on all four charges. The estranged wife, devoted mother-of-two, multi-millionaire and generous in-law was deemed a callous killer. 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