Photo sums up mushroom cook's misery
Over the span of four months, the 50-year-old faced trial in the regional Victorian town of Morwell after pleading not guilty to the murders of three members of her husband's family and the attempted murder of a fourth.
Just days before 12 jurors were sent out to begin their deliberations on June 30, thick black plastic was installed around her home in Leongatha, about 45 minutes from Morwell.
The move seemingly revealed Ms Patterson's hopes of a verdict in her favour and a desire to avoid the media attention on her return home.
But on Monday, jurors returned a guilty verdict on all three counts of murder and the one count of attempted murder. Erin Patterson's house is blacked out with wrap. NewsWire / Diego Fedele. Credit: News Corp Australia It is understood supporters installed the tarp ahead of the verdict this week. NewsWire / Diego Fedele Credit: News Corp Australia
The case centred around a lunch Ms Patterson hosted on July 29, 2023, at her home in Leongatha, in Victoria's southeast, where she served beef wellingtons containing death cap mushrooms.
Prosecutors had alleged Ms Patterson deliberately sought out and included the deadly fungi intending to kill or at least seriously injure her four guests.
Her defence argued the case was a tragic accident, Ms Patterson had also fallen ill and she did not want to harm anyone.
Simon's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, died in early August 2023, from multiple organ failure linked to death cap mushroom poisoning.
Ms Wilkinson's husband Ian was gravely ill, but recovered from the poisoning.
As the trial began to wrap up, supporters of Ms Patterson got to work wrapping the fence of her Leongatha home in black plastic sheets.
The plastic appears to block anyone seeing into the verandah and car port to the home where Ms Patterson hosted the deadly lunch.
A 'legal notice', pinned to the gate, read: 'Please be advised that the owner of this property hereby gives notice to all members of the media or any person employed or contracted to any media organisation, that you are not permitted to enter any part of this property as marked by the boundary fence'.
Jurors in the trial were sequestered at a hotel for the duration of their deliberations, with their phones confiscated by court staff and access to the outside world limited. Three crosses at the entrance to the township of Korumburra. NewsWire/Ian Currie Credit: News Corp Australia
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Inside the mushroom trial: death stares, cell issues
Mushroom killer Erin Patterson spent the first few nights of her trial cold and sleepless inside a police cell. She had requested the trial be held in the small Victorian town of Morwell, where she was held underneath the local police station. Had the trial been conducted in Melbourne, she may have been afforded more comforts from inside Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, a maximum security women's prison, where she was driven back to every weekend over 11 weeks. On the first day of trial, Patterson's lawyers complained that she wasn't given a doona, nor access to a computer and writing materials in her cell. "At some stage she was given a blanket, but she spent the night cold - and awake because she was cold - and she can't operate like that," defence barrister Colin Mandy SC said on April 29. There had been "some suggestion to her that she wasn't going to get special treatment by custody officers", he said. "Someone who is in police cells for five weeks, facing a murder trial ... with a massive brief of evidence, should be afforded some accommodation," he said. "Because in some ways ... she requires special treatment so that we can do our job properly, so that she can provide us with proper instructions, so that she's not uncomfortable." This was among many parts of the trial that the jury was not privy to, as these conversations occurred while they were out of the room. But it can all now be revealed after Patterson was found guilty of murdering her estranged husband Simon's parents, Don and Gail, and his aunt Heather Wilkinson, along with the attempted murder of his uncle Ian Wilkinson. Patterson, who only had one supporter in court - her friend Ali Rose Prior, was known among media to give death stares if you locked eyes with her. Media were limited to six seats in the regional court room due to the immense interest, and because members of the public couldn't watch it remotely and had to attend in person. Those seats were directly in front of Patterson, in the court dock, and to catch a glimpse of her reaction during the trial reporters had to swivel around and face her. She would often turn her head on an angle and stare directly into the eyes of reporters, leaving a menacing impression. Photographers and camera operators outside the court were banned from photographing Patterson during the trial, with a prohibition on "any images of the accused which suggest, expressly or impliedly, that she is in custody". One of the most bizarre moments the jury didn't see was in the early weeks of trial, when Simon Patterson was giving evidence. During a break on May 1, he made a "small request" of Justice Christopher Beale. "The legal process has been very difficult," he said. "I have a lot to grieve and am grieving a lot about all this stuff here, as I'm sure you can imagine. "One thing that is really difficult is not being able to follow what happens." He asked the judge if he could make available to him all of the transcripts from the trial and the pre-trial to help him "grieve the legal process". Simon had attended court when he gave evidence with a PR adviser, Jessica O'Donnell, which led to a warning from Justice Beale after the judge was told he wanted to issue a statement to media mid-trial. "Whatever his media adviser might be telling him, it seems to me the most prudent course for him is to defer any statement to the media until after the conclusion of the trial," the judge said. With the world's attention on the trial, the Supreme Court's media team, the judge and his associates were monitoring coverage including daily podcasts, live news blogs, radio programs, blogs and television news crosses. Justice Beale issued several warnings and referred two outlets to prosecutors for potential contempt including The Kyle and Jackie O Show on June 16. He said the radio show "shock jocks" had commented on the case while on air and used it as an example to warn others on speaking about the trial. "I encourage all commentators to engage their brains before they open their mouths, as they may otherwise land themselves and their organisations in hot water," Justice Beale said. A second referral to prosecutors was made by the judge about a visiting psychologist experienced in serial killers, who spoke about the case at an event in Melbourne on May 31. Network Ten was warned by the judge about saying it had been "another day of damning evidence" in a news story put to air, and the women-focused website Mamamia was told to take down a problematic podcast episode and Facebook post.
The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
The fascination with true crime, and why so many women love it
Thousands of people queued to catch a glimpse of the unidentified body of the murder victim known only as the Pyjama Girl. She had been put on display in a bath filled with formalin at the University of Sydney in the hope her preserved body would be identified by a member of the public. It was the 1930s and the Pyjama Girl mystery was the biggest story in Australia. Everyone wanted to know: who was she and who killed her? We like to think our obsession with true crime is a modern-day phenomenon, one buoyed by the relentless flow of podcasts, newspaper headlines, television documentaries and true crime special events. But experts say all that has changed is the way in which we consume dark tales of murder and mayhem. The Mushroom trial – in which Victorian mother Erin Patterson has been found guilty of murdering three family members and attempting to murder a fourth – is the latest grisly tale and the public, both in Australia and overseas, can't get enough. Patterson pleaded not guilty to all charges and has always maintained her innocence. During the 10-week trial, there has been not one, but four, podcasts delivering daily updates of the courtroom drama taking place in Morwell, Victoria; media outlets streamed online updates all day long and television news programs led with the key moments morning, noon and night – all for the voracious appetite of the consuming public. Loading 'The mechanisms for giving us access (to true crime stories) have changed,' says forensic criminologist Xanthe Mallett. 'But if you look at Jack the Ripper, for example, you had those penny dreadfuls, or stories published in weekly parts, that were the precursors to the true crime documentaries and podcasts. 'They've always existed.'
Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
The fascination with true crime, and why so many women love it
Thousands of people queued to catch a glimpse of the unidentified body of the murder victim known only as the Pyjama Girl. She had been put on display in a bath filled with formalin at the University of Sydney in the hope her preserved body would be identified by a member of the public. It was the 1930s and the Pyjama Girl mystery was the biggest story in Australia. Everyone wanted to know: who was she and who killed her? We like to think our obsession with true crime is a modern-day phenomenon, one buoyed by the relentless flow of podcasts, newspaper headlines, television documentaries and true crime special events. But experts say all that has changed is the way in which we consume dark tales of murder and mayhem. The Mushroom trial – in which Victorian mother Erin Patterson has been found guilty of murdering three family members and attempting to murder a fourth – is the latest grisly tale and the public, both in Australia and overseas, can't get enough. Patterson pleaded not guilty to all charges and has always maintained her innocence. During the 10-week trial, there has been not one, but four, podcasts delivering daily updates of the courtroom drama taking place in Morwell, Victoria; media outlets streamed online updates all day long and television news programs led with the key moments morning, noon and night – all for the voracious appetite of the consuming public. Loading 'The mechanisms for giving us access (to true crime stories) have changed,' says forensic criminologist Xanthe Mallett. 'But if you look at Jack the Ripper, for example, you had those penny dreadfuls, or stories published in weekly parts, that were the precursors to the true crime documentaries and podcasts. 'They've always existed.'
