Australia's mushroom murder trial
Last week, in a trial followed all over Australia and across the world, Erin Patterson took the stand. She is accused of three counts of murder, and one of attempted murder, allegedly by poisoning her relatives with deadly mushrooms inside four separate dishes of beef wellington.
As the Guardian Australia justice and courts reporter Nino Bucci explains, Patterson has always denied the charges. Though she admits the lunch she prepared in July 2023 killed her in-laws – as well as her estranged husband's aunt – she maintains it was a tragic accident.
As Michael Safi hears, it is a case that has drawn worldwide attention – from daily news reports to dozens of podcast series – and one that is due to reach a verdict soon.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Dispute breaks out as dog owner is warned they are breaking a ridiculous rule after committing a very common act: 'Don't film'
A dog owner has clashed with a council worker over a little-known rule about pets in public. The dispute began when two City of Gold Coast workers told the owner that she wasn't allowed to tie her dog to a tree outside her motorhome. In footage taken by the owner's male friend and shared to TikTok, two council officers approached the vehicle and ordered the man not to video the exchange, saying he was not given 'permission'. He argued it was a 'public place' and continued to film the conversation while one of the officers, who appeared to be wearing a bodycam device, introduced herself as Helen. 'You can't have your dog tethered to this tree. You can have him tethered to your vehicle,' she said. The man filming the exchange challenged the council worker, asking what law she was referring to. Dog owners on the Gold Coast are required to keep dogs on a leash unless in a designated off-leash area. Failure to do so can result in an on-the-spot fine of $806. The dog in question appeared to be securely tied to a tree. 'It's great that you have him on a lead but people are walking past here and somebody said he was barking at them, they were afraid and he was aggressive,' Helen said. She explained a complaint had been made to the council and she, and her colleague, had been asked to investigate. 'I'm recording this conversation as we're in a public space. I'm protecting my rights,' the man said as he questioned the council workers authority regarding the complaint. Helen turned to the dog owner and asked whether she was responsible for three dogs she had seen next to the motorhome 'because this is a public place with people walking up and down'. The cameraman explained the two officers worked for the Gold Coast City Council for the benefit of the recording as Helen turned to him and asked him to be quiet. At this point, the male council worker, who had been standing away from the exchange, told Helen to 'leave it'. 'Keep [the dog] tethered to the truck and that will be fine,' Helen told the owner before walking away. 'The other two dogs when we came around the corner, they were off lead so if they're in [the motorhome] that's completely fine, but once they come outside they've got to be on lead.' Once the workers had walked away, the man behind the camera told his friend that 'when you hit them with the actual law they've got no authority'. A City of Gold Coast spokesman told Daily Mail Australia that 'ensuring a dog is under "effective control" in public is a legal requirement under the Animal Management (Cats and Dogs) Act 2008'. 'In all public places, a dog owner/keeper must be physically capable of controlling the dog, by either having the dog on a leash or securely tethered to a fixed object under continuous supervision,' he said. 'These laws are designed to protect public safety and reduce the risk of dog attacks. 'As of July 2024, failing to maintain effective control can result in an on-the-spot fine of $806, with more severe penalties for serious incidents.' Social media users appeared to side with the dog owner and accuse council of overreach. 'All local councils need to be abolished,' one wrote.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Shock details emerge about teenager, 15, accused of stabbing Universal Store co-founder Greg Josephson to death during a house party
A teenager charged over the fatal stabbing of a Universal Store co-founder had attended three different schools - including two of Brisbane 's most exclusive private boys' colleges. Greg Josephson, 58, was allegedly stabbed to death during a teen house party at his three-storey home on Oriel Road in Clayfield, an affluent inner northern Brisbane suburb, on Thursday night. Police allege an altercation took place between the father-of-three and a 15-year-old boy, who are believed to be known to each other. The 15-year-old was arrested in nearby Barlow Street soon after the discovery of the body, before he was charged with one count of murder. CCTV footage shows the moment police arrested the teenager, The Courier Mail reported, with a neighbour saying they witnessed the young man being loaded by officers into the back of a police car. Daily Mail Australia can reveal the teenager had changed several schools. Around 30 teenagers, many of whom are from private schools, had attended the house party to celebrate the end of the school term and unknowingly partied downstairs while Mr Josephson's body lay upstairs. Teenagers oblivious to the tragedy unfolding were rounded up in the backyard of the house as officers searched the grounds of the large block, with Queensland Police later stating they had found the alleged murder weapon at an undisclosed location. CCTV showed the accused boy on the same evening at a cafe in nearby Ascot walking across a patio area while wringing his hands. Neatly dressed in a button-up shirt and dark trousers, the boy proceeded to squeeze his way into a narrow rubbish area at the back of the venue. He then appeared to create a barricade by moving several bins in front of him. Police arrested the 15-year-old at about 8.15pm after he called Triple-0. He was refused bail and later taken to hospital to have a minor injury to his hand treated. His case was listed in Brisbane Children's Court on Friday and adjourned until September 2. The accused will remain in custody until then. On Saturday, forensic police continued to search the Oriel Road property, which the Josephson family had been in the process of selling to move to the Sunshine Coast. Mr Josephson co-founded the Universal Store with his brother Michael in 1999. He built up an Australia-wide network of 53 stores, and sold the business in 2018 to private equity investors in a reported $100million deal. He had also amassed a multimillion-dollar property portfolio, including the $13.9million Noosa Reef Hotel on the Sunshine Coast, and a $3.5million group of boutique cottages in Cooran, in the Noosa hinterland. The Josephson brothers come from a clothing dynasty in Brisbane, their great-grandfather having started Josephson's Clothing Factory in 1910, their grandfather creating the Can't Tear 'Em' workwear brand, and their uncle distributing Lee Cooper jeans. The house where Mr Josephson was allegedly murdered had been on the market for 43 days when he died. He and his wife Tamra, who shared children, had bought the 1930s Art Deco home in 2016, conducted a major renovation and were planning to move to Noosa to live. Queensland Police are urging anyone with information, or with CCTV or dashcam footage from the area, to come forward to assist with the investigation. Police said they had still to interview some of the young people who attended Thursday's party. 'We are still establishing the timeline of what has happened at this address,' inspector Jane Healy said. Acting assistant commissioner Rhys Wildman said police will allege a household implement was used during an altercation between the man and the teen. 'There was some sort of altercation that's resulted in this 58-year-old male tragically losing his life,' he said. 'It's not a case of carrying knives, it's unfortunately occurred in a home.'
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Heartbreaking change parents refuse to make after their six-year-old daughter Airlie Montgomery wandered off a cliff and fell to her death - and their blunt message for cruel trolls
The parents of a six-year-old girl who fell to her death after wandering off a cliff have revealed a drink bottle prepared for school still sits untouched in the fridge. Airlie Montgomery fell from a rock ledge on March 16, just 800m from her home in North Nowra, on the NSW South Coast, after she wandered out of the front yard. Her body was found at the base of the ledge known as The Grotto, a bushwalking area with clifftop views, which her father Corey Montgomery said she had visited before. The little girl's non-verbal autism meant she had 'no sense of danger' as she walked to her death last week, according to her grieving father. Her mum Katie Amess and Mr Montgomery told The Daily Telegraph they faced sickening trolls online in the wake of Airlie's death, with heartless keyboard warriors criticising them over their little girl wandering off while they weren't looking. Mr Montgomery said they carried guilt over their daughter's death. 'We don't dismiss those comments, but don't you duck out to the toilet sometimes?' Mr Montgomery said. 'Don't you come out and see your child opening the kitchen drawer about to grab a knife? 'Practicality means you can't be there every second. That's why I want to change things.' Mr Montgomery was six hours away, working at a mine site, when his daughter went missing, but at least 1,000 locals came out of their homes to help search for Airlie. Her body was found in the Shoalhaven River beneath The Grotto four hours after she went missing. 'Airlie tested us, but she also taught us,' Mr Montgomery said. 'She had us drowning at times, but her cheeky laugh could always lift our heads above water in the volatile yet mesmerising world that she lived in. 'I've seen things that no father should ever have to see, Katie's felt things that no mother should ever have to experience.' Mr Montgomery will register a charity to help parents of children with autism navigate the NDIS system so his daughter's death is not in vain. Ms Amess said she was struggling to find words to express her appreciation for the overwhelming kindness during this 'unimaginable' time after losing her daughter. 'Our hearts are in a million pieces as we mourn the loss of our precious Airlie Fairy,' she said. 'The outpouring of support we've received has been a bright light in the midst of our grief.' A GoFundMe has raised more than $36,000 to cover the cost of the funeral and provide financial support for the grieving parents to allow them time away from work to mourn their loss. In April, Airlie's parents held a purple-themed funeral for the six-year-old. Many wiped away tears as they stood before the tiny, white coffin which was adorned with purple lilies and lilacs at Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre. In a statement, parents Mr Montgomery and Ms Amess said they were the 'people who understood Airlie's own little world'. 'It's quiet now, I never thought I'd miss the chaos of our days: Incessant vying for attention, late nights and meltdowns, mess and mayhem,' they said. 'And yet, how I long for it. The normality of our lives was far from normal.' He said he often considered himself and his partner to have been alone in raising Airlie, but the community's response has left him 'awestruck'.
