Australian radio jocks facing possible prosecution over mushroom killer comment
KIIS FM radio stars Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson could face possible prosecution over the comments they made on the convicted mushroom killer Erin Patterson. On Monday, Patterson was found guilty of murdering three of her in-laws using death cap mushrooms in a beef wellington in a lunch she served them in 2023.
However, KIIS FM's Kyle and Jackie O made comments on the trial before the verdict was made. They discussed the trial during an on-air segment on June 16, with Kyle at one point saying about Patterson: "Just lock that b***h up."
"Like, what does the evidence point to? My question is, how strong is her case?" Jackie O asked her co-host, to which he responded: "'Not strong, not strong for her."
He also added: "The rest of us already know … C'mon bro … Just lock that b***h up.| During the trial, Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Christopher Beale, referenced the comments.
Justice Beale said he would refer the radio stars to the Office of Public Prosecutions, meaning the two could face prosecution for contempt of court.
"This morning the presenters of the Kyle and Jackie O radio show commented on this case during a new segment on their show," Justice Beale said.
"I have read a transcript of that commentary. 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. I will be referring this morning's matter to the Office of Public Prosecutions for contempt proceedings.
"Our media unit will continue to closely monitor all media in relation to commentary on this case, whether the commentary be shock jocks, so-called influencers, social media commentators or legacy media."
On July 29 2023 Erin Patterson, 50, invited her former parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail Patterson's sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66, over for lunch at her home in the town of Leongatha, the court heard.
The mother-of-two, from the state of Victoria in southern Australia, has been convicted at the Supreme Court trial in Victoria state after the jury returned a verdict after six days of deliberations, following a nine-week trial.
Patterson, who sat in the dock between two prison officers, showed no emotion but blinked rapidly as the verdicts were read.
She was also found guilty of the attempted murder of Mrs Wilkinson's husband Reverend Ian Wilkinson. All her guests fell ill following the lunch the town of Leongatha, which consisted of beef wellington, mashed potatoes and green beans the court was told. Prosecutors had alleged that the mother of two laced the meal with deadly death cap mushrooms, also known as Amanita phalloides.
Mrs Wilkinson and Mrs Patterson died on Friday 4 August 2023, while Mr Patterson died a day late Reverend Wilkinson spent seven weeks in hospital but survived.
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The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
The mushroom poisoning trial captivated Australia. Why Erin Patterson did it remains a mystery
The high-profile case of the so-called Death Cap Mushroom Cook is likely to remain a topic of conversation across Australia for years to come. For more than two months, the triple-murder trial has gripped the public's attention with details of how Erin Patterson murdered three of her estranged husband's relatives by deliberately serving them a lunch of poisonous mushrooms. It was no surprise that on Tuesday — the day after the guilty verdict was delivered by the court in Victoria — media websites, social media and podcasts were scrambling to offer analysis on what motivated her. Newspaper headlines described Patterson, 50, as a coercive killer with narcissistic characteristics. ' Cold, mean and vicious,' read one. Strict Australian court reporting laws prohibit anything that might sway jurors in a trial. Some news outlets had saved up thousands of words awaiting the verdicts: scrutiny of Patterson's past work history, behavior and psyche. The coverage tried to explain why the mother of two meticulously planned the fatal lunch and lured three people she said she loved to their deaths. Any certain answer, for now, remains a mystery. No motive After a nine-week Supreme Court trial in the state of Victoria, it took the jury six days to convict Patterson. She was found guilty of murdering her parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, by serving them a lunch of beef Wellington pastries laced with poisonous mushrooms. She was also convicted of attempting to murder Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, who survived the meal at Patterson's home in the rural town of Leongatha in 2023. Patterson denied poisoning them deliberately and contended that she had no reason to murder her beloved, elderly in-laws. But the jury rejected her defense that the inclusion of toxic mushrooms in the meal was a terrible accident. Prosecutors failed to offer a motive for Patterson's crimes and weren't required to do so. 'People do different things for different reasons. Sometimes the reason is obvious enough to others,' prosecutor Nanette Rogers told the jury. 'At other times, the internal motivations are only known by the person themselves.' But Rogers gave hints. At one point, the prosecutor had Patterson read aloud scathing messages she'd sent which highlighted past friction with her in-laws and tension with her estranged husband, who had been invited to the lunch but didn't go. 'You had two faces,' Rogers said. Patterson denied it. 'She had a dilemma' With guilty verdicts but no proven reason why, Australian news outlets published avid speculation Tuesday. 'What on earth was Erin Patterson's motive?' The Australian newspaper's editorial director Claire Harvey asked in a column. Harvey pointed at rifts in the killer's relationship with her estranged husband. Chris Webster was the first medical doctor to speak to Patterson after her four lunch guests had been hospitalized and testified in the trial. He told reporters Tuesday that he became convinced she deliberately poisoned her victims when she lied about buying the foraged mushrooms she had served from a major supermarket chain. 'She had a dilemma and the solution that she chose is sociopathic,' Webster told Nine Network television. Displayed no emotion The outpouring of scorn for Patterson reflects a national obsession with the case and a widespread view that she wasn't a sympathetic figure. It was an opinion Australians were legally required not to express in the media or online before the trial ended to ensure a fair hearing. But newspapers now don't have to hold back. Under the headline 'Death Cap Stare,' The Age reported how the 'killer cook' didn't flinch as she learned her fate, but stared at the jury as they delivered their verdict. Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper's front page screamed: 'COOKED,' labelling Patterson 'Evil Erin' and a 'Cold-Blooded Killer.' During the trial, Patterson chose to testify in her own defense, a tactic considered risky in the Australian justice system and one which most observers said didn't serve her well. She joked awkwardly at times and became combative with the prosecutor. Journalist John Ferguson, who won a Melbourne Press Club award for breaking the story of the fatal lunch, said Patterson often cried or came close to tears during her trial. But when she was convicted, she displayed no emotion, he noted. 'What the court got on Monday was the full Erin. Cold, mean and vicious,' Ferguson wrote in The Australian Tuesday. Drama series, documentary and books The verdicts also prompted an online frenzy among Australians, many of whom turned citizen detectives during the trial. By late Monday, posts about the verdicts on local Reddit pages had drawn thousands of comments laced with black humor, including memes, in-jokes and photographs taken at local supermarkets where pre-packaged beef Wellington meals were discounted. Fascination about the case will linger. A drama series, documentary and books are planned, all of them likely to attempt an answer to the question of what motivated Patterson. She faces life in prison, with sentencing to come at a later date. From then, Patterson's lawyers will have 28 days to appeal. —- Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE I visited the home of mushroom murderer Erin Patterson to try and find out exactly what drove her to carry out her brutal killings. These are the chilling clues I found that may finally give us the answer: GUY ADAMS
What sort of person is Erin Trudi Patterson? Why, more to the point, would this outwardly normal mother-of-two, from a small town in rural Australia, decide to brutally kill several of her nearest and supposedly dearest relatives using poisoned beef Wellington? These were the questions at the heart of the 'Mushroom Murder' trial which concluded on Monday with Patterson being found guilty of their cruel and utterly bizarre mass murder.
The Guardian
5 hours ago
- The Guardian
RecipeTin Eats cook upset her beef wellington recipe entangled in Erin Patterson murder case
Nagi Maehashi, the cook behind RecipeTin Eats, says it is 'upsetting' to have become 'entangled in a tragic situation' after Erin Patterson told her triple murder trial she used the beef wellington recipe for the fateful lunch. In a post to Instagram on Tuesday, Maehashi requested that journalists of Australia 'please stop calling and emailing and texting and DM'ing me about the Erin Patterson case'. 'It is of course upsetting to learn that one of my recipes – possibly the one I've spent more hours perfecting than any other – something I created to bring joy and happiness, is entangled in a tragic situation,' she wrote on Instagram yesterday. 'Other than that, I have nothing to say and I won't be talking to anyone. 'Thank you for respecting my privacy.' Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email During the trial, Patterson said she made multiple changes to the RecipeTin Eats recipe she said she used to prepare the fatal beef wellington lunch in May 2023. The Victorian woman told the court during the trial she had never made the dish before, and her changes were mostly due to her not being able to source a larger 'log' of steak, as specified in the recipe, and having to instead buy individual steaks. This meant she needed more mushrooms for a duxelles, and more pastry, Patterson told the court, which resulted in death cap mushrooms being added to the dish. The high profile triple murder case hinged on whether Patterson intended to add the toxic ingredient, or whether it was a tragic accident, as the defence argued. On Monday, Patterson was found guilty of murdering three relatives – Don and Gail Patterson, and Heather Wilkinson – and attempting to murder a fourth – Ian Wilkinson. She had pleaded not guilty to all charges and it was not clear yet whether she was planning to appeal. On her website, Maehashi, who was born in Japan and raised in Australia, was described as the 'voice, cook, photographer and videographer behind RecipeTin Eats'. Before launching RecipeTin Eats in May 2014, the Sydney-based chef and author spent 16 years working in the corporate finance sector. The recipe is described on Maehashi's website as 'incredibly juicy, edge-to-edge rose pink beef encased in pastry boasting a flawlessly crispy base'. It is only available in her debut cookbook, Dinner.
