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The South African
2 days ago
- The South African
Mushroom murders: Australian woman found GUILTY of triple murder
An Australian woman murdered her husband's parents and aunt by lacing their beef Wellington lunch with toxic mushrooms, a jury found on Monday at the climax of a trial watched around the world. Keen home cook Erin Patterson hosted an intimate meal in July 2023 that started with good-natured banter and earnest prayer – but ended with three guests dead. Throughout a trial lasting more than two months, Patterson maintained the beef-and-pastry dish was accidentally poisoned with death cap mushrooms, the world's most-lethal fungus. Plates containing samples of the beef Wellington meal laced with toxic mushrooms prepared by Erin Patterson © Handout / SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA/AFP But a 12-person jury on Monday found the 50-year-old guilty of triple murder, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. She was also found guilty of attempting to murder a fourth guest who survived. 'I think it's very important that we remember that we've had three people that have died,' said Detective Inspector Dean Thomas after the verdict. 'I ask that we acknowledge those people and not forget them.' The trial has drawn podcasters, film crews and true crime fans to the rural town of Morwell, a sedate hamlet in the state of Victoria better known for prize-winning roses. Newspapers from New York to New Delhi have followed every twist of what many now simply call the 'mushroom murders'. Family members of the victims declined to speak after the verdict, asking for privacy in a statement issued through police. A lone friend of Patterson appeared overcome with emotion as she left the courthouse. 'I'm saddened. But it is what it is,' she told reporters. On July 29, 2023, Patterson set the table for an intimate family meal at her tree-shaded country property. Her lunch guests that afternoon were Don and Gail Patterson, the parents of her long-estranged husband Simon. Places were also set for Simon's maternal aunt Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian, a well-known pastor at the local Baptist church. Husband Simon was urged to come but he declined because he felt 'uncomfortable'. In the background, Patterson's relationship with Simon was starting to turn sour. The pair – still legally married – had been fighting over Simon's child support contributions. Patterson forked out for expensive cuts of beef, which she slathered in a duxelles of minced mushrooms and wrapped in pastry to make individual parcels of beef Wellington. Guests said grace before tucking in – and prayed once more after eating – with Heather later gushing about the 'delicious and beautiful' meal. Death cap mushrooms are easily mistaken for other edible varieties, and reportedly possess a sweet taste that belies their potent toxicity. The guests' blood was swiftly coursing with deadly amatoxin, a poison produced by the death cap mushrooms known to sprout under the oak trees of Victoria. Don, Gail and Heather died of organ failure within a week. Detectives soon found signs that Patterson had dished up the meal with murderous intent. Patterson told her guests she had received a cancer diagnosis and needed advice on breaking the news to her children, prosecutors alleged. But medical records showed Patterson received no such diagnosis. The prosecution said this was a lie cooked up to lure the diners to her table. She also lied about owning a food dehydrator which police later found dumped in a rubbish tip. Forensic tests found the appliance contained traces of the fatal fungi. 'I agree that I lied because I was afraid I would be held responsible,' Patterson told the trial. A computer seized from her house had browsed a website pinpointing death cap mushrooms spotted a short drive from her house a year before the lunch, police said. Death caps are the most lethal mushrooms on the planet, responsible for some 90 percent of all fatalities due to consuming toxic fungi. Baptist preacher Ian Wilkinson was the only guest to survive, pulling through after weeks in hospital. He told the court how guests' meals were served on four grey plates, while Patterson ate from a smaller orange dish. But he could not explain why Patterson wanted him dead. Patterson was a devoted mother-of-two with an active interest in her tight-knit community. She was also a well-known true crime buff, joining a Facebook group to chew over details from infamous Australian murders. Friend Christine Hunt told the jury Patterson had a reputation as 'a bit of a super sleuth'. Patterson maintained through her lawyers it was nothing more than a 'terrible accident'. 'She didn't do it deliberately. She didn't do it intentionally,' defence lawyer Colin Mandy told the trial. 'She denies that she ever deliberately sought out death cap mushrooms.' Confronted with countless hours of intricate expert testimony, it took the jury a week to find Patterson guilty. The court will soon set a date for a sentencing hearing that will determine how long Patterson spends in jail. Her legal team has 28 days after sentencing to appeal both her criminal convictions and her sentence. Patterson's lawyers have not yet indicated whether they will appeal. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news. By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
Sinar Daily
15-06-2025
- Sinar Daily
Australian murder suspect says lethal lunch may have contained 'foraged' mushrooms
Erin Patterson is charged with murdering her estranged husband's parents and aunt in 2023 by spiking their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. 04 Jun 2025 01:41pm Simon Patterson leaves Latrobe Valley Magistrates' Court where Erin Patterson attended her trial in Morwell on May 2, 2025. - (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP) SYDNEY - An Australian woman accused of murdering three people by lacing their lunch with toxic mushrooms told a court on Wednesday she may have unwittingly used "foraged" fungi in the dish. Erin Patterson is charged with murdering her estranged husband's parents and aunt in 2023 by spiking their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. She is also accused of attempting to murder a fourth guest -- her husband's uncle -- who survived after a long stay in hospital. Patterson maintains the lunch was poisoned by accident, pleading not guilty to all charges in a case that continues to grip Australia. The 50-year-old choked up with emotion as she gave her account of the meal on Wednesday. She said she decided to improve the beef-and-pastry dish with dried mushrooms after deciding it tasted a "little bland". While she initially believed a kitchen container held store-bought mushrooms, she said it may have been mixed with foraged fungi. "I decided to put in the dried mushrooms I brought from the grocer," she told the court. "Now I think that there was a possibility that there were foraged ones in there as well." A handout sketch received from the Supreme Court of Victoria on April 29, 2025 shows Erin Patterson, an Australian woman accused of murdering three people with a toxic mushroom-laced beef Wellington, as she faces trial in a case that has grabbed global attention. - (Photo by Paul Tyquin / SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA / AFP) Patterson earlier told the court how she had started foraging for mushrooms during a Covid lockdown in 2020. She also told the court on Wednesday that she had misled her guests about the purpose of the family meal. While they ate, Patterson revealed she might be receiving treatment for cancer in the coming weeks. But this was a lie, Patterson said. - 'Shouldn't have lied' - "I was planning to have gastric bypass surgery, so I remember thinking I didn't want to tell anybody what I was going to have done. "I was really embarrassed about it. "So letting them believe I had some serious issue that needed treatment might mean they could help me with the logistics around the kids," she told the court. "I shouldn't have lied to them," she added. The prosecution alleges Patterson deliberately poisoned her lunch guests and took care that she did not consume the deadly mushrooms herself. Her defence says Patterson ate the same meal as the others but did not fall as sick. Patterson asked her estranged husband Simon to the family lunch at her secluded rural Victoria home in July 2023. Simon turned down the invitation because he felt too uncomfortable, the court has heard previously. The pair were long estranged but still legally married. Simon's parents Don and Gail were happy to attend, dying days after eating the home-cooked meal. Simon's aunt Heather Wilkinson also died, while her husband Ian fell seriously ill but later recovered. The trial is expected to last another week. - AFP More Like This
Sinar Daily
27-05-2025
- Sinar Daily
Guests died of organ failure after toxic mushroom lunch, Australian court hears
Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with murdering the parents and aunt of her estranged husband in 2023 by serving them a hearty lunch laced with lethal death cap mushrooms. 23 May 2025 01:55pm A handout sketch received from the Supreme Court of Victoria on April 29, 2025 shows Erin Patterson, an Australian woman accused of murdering three people with a toxic mushroom-laced beef Wellington, as she faces trial in a case that has grabbed global attention. - (Photo by Paul Tyquin / SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA / AFP) SYDNEY - Three Australians died of organ failure after eating a beef Wellington dish laced with toxic mushrooms, a medical specialist said Friday during a triple-murder trial sparked by the deaths. Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with murdering the parents and aunt of her estranged husband in 2023 by serving them a hearty lunch laced with lethal death cap mushrooms. She is also accused of attempting to murder her husband's uncle, who survived the meal after a long stay in the hospital. Patterson has pleaded not guilty to all charges in a trial that has drawn intense interest from around the world. Intensive care specialist Stephen Warrillow told the high-profile trial on Friday how doctors had scrambled to save the lunch guests. But as the toxins coursed through their bodies, causing multiple organs to shut down, there was little they could do. "It was very apparent that this was not survivable," Warrillow said, talking about one of the victims he treated. Another victim got "relentlessly worse" even after receiving a liver transplant, he said. "We had no other treatments to offer, no other therapies. He was dying," the doctor said. Warrillow was asked if the organ failure was caused by mushroom poisoning. "That's correct, yes," he told the court. Patterson was estranged from her husband Simon, who turned down the invitation to the July 2023 lunch. But his parents, Don and Gail, died days after eating the beef-and-pastry dish. Simon's aunt Heather Wilkinson also died, while her husband Ian fell seriously ill but later recovered. The court earlier heard how Erin Patterson had sent messages to a Facebook group chat in December 2022, several months prior to the lunch, saying she wanted "nothing to do" with her in-laws. Patterson and estranged husband Simon were at odds over finances and child support, the court heard, and she had sought help from his parents, who refused to intervene. "I'm sick of this shit I want nothing to do with them," Patterson wrote in one message. The prosecution alleges Patterson deliberately poisoned her lunch guests and took care that she did not consume the deadly mushrooms herself. Her defence says it was "a terrible accident" and that Patterson ate the same meal as the others but did not fall as sick. The trial is expected to last another two weeks. - AFP More Like This
Sinar Daily
08-05-2025
- Sinar Daily
Australian triple-murder suspect never asked after poisoned guests: Husband
Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with three murders -- the parents and aunt of her estranged husband -- and one attempted murder. 02 May 2025 02:34pm A handout sketch received from the Supreme Court of Victoria on April 29, 2025 shows Erin Patterson, an Australian woman accused of murdering three people with a toxic mushroom-laced beef Wellington, as she faces trial in a case that has grabbed global attention. - (Photo by Paul Tyquin / SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA / AFP) MORWELL - An Australian woman accused of murdering three people by dishing up a toxic mushroom-laced beef Wellington never asked after her dying guests' wellbeing, her husband told a court Friday. Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with three murders -- the parents and aunt of her estranged husband -- and one attempted murder. She has pleaded not guilty to all counts. Her defence says the fatal beef-and-pastry meal, laced with death cap mushrooms, was the result of "a terrible accident". On the third day of a trial that has made international headlines, the accused woman's husband, Simon Patterson, said she never asked him about his family's health as they lay in hospital. "It intrigued me that she never actually asked," he told the jury at the Latrobe Valley Law Courts in Morwell, southeast of Melbourne. Defence lawyer Colin Mandy asked the husband if he had explained to her how ill his parents were. "We didn't have that conversation, I don't think, at any time," Simon said. The night before the lunch, the husband had declined an invitation to eat a "special meal" at Patterson's home in the sedate Victoria state farm village of Leongatha. But four members of his family went: his parents, Don and Gail Patterson, his aunt, Heather Wilkinson, and her husband, local pastor Ian Wilkinson. Welcome signage to Morwell, south of Melbourne, is seen on the town's outskirts on April 30, 2025. - (Photo by MARTIN KEEP / AFP) - 'Hates' hospitals - The four guests developed diarrhoea and vomiting within 12 hours of the meal and were raced to hospital, where they were diagnosed with poisoning by death cap mushrooms. Within days, Don, Gail, and Heather were dead. Ian Wilkinson, the pastor, survived after nearly two months in hospital. Erin Patterson went to the hospital two days after her lunch, telling medical staff she was unwell but initially refusing medical help, the trial heard. She was also allegedly reluctant to let doctors see her children, saying she had scraped the mushrooms off their meals because they were fussy eaters and she did not want them to panic. Simon told the court that Erin Patterson "hates" hospitals and had struggled with issues including postnatal depression and arrhythmia -- an irregular heart beat. The children, too, had bad experiences with hospitals, creating "sensitivity" about getting them medical attention, he said. The prosecution alleges Erin Patterson deliberately poisoned her lunch guests and took care that neither she, nor her children, consumed the deadly mushrooms. While the jury might wonder about her reasons, "motive is not something that has to be proven by the prosecution", the prosecutor said at the outset of the trial. The defence lawyer, Mandy, has described the poisoning as a "tragedy and a terrible accident", saying his client ate the same meal as her guests but did not fall as sick. The trial is expected to last about six weeks. - AFP More Like This
Sinar Daily
08-05-2025
- Sinar Daily
Australian mushroom murder suspect rejected help preparing meal: Witness
The four guests developed diarrhoea and vomiting within 12 hours of the meal and were raced to hospital, where they were diagnosed with poisoning by death cap mushrooms. 06 May 2025 04:32pm A handout sketch received from the Supreme Court of Victoria on April 29, 2025 shows Erin Patterson, an Australian woman accused of murdering three people with a toxic mushroom-laced beef Wellington, as she faces trial in a case that has grabbed global attention. - (Photo by Paul Tyquin / SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA / AFP) SYDNEY - An Australian woman accused of murdering three people with a toxic mushroom-laced lunch rejected offers of help before serving the dish, the sole guest to survive the deadly meal told a court on Tuesday. Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with murdering the parents and aunt of her estranged husband with a poisonous beef Wellington in 2023. She is also charged with the attempted murder of Baptist pastor Ian Wilkinson, who recovered after a lengthy stay in hospital. Patterson has pleaded not guilty to all counts. Wilkinson was questioned as Patterson's headline-grabbing trial entered its second week on Tuesday. Patterson seemed "reluctant" for her guests to rummage around in the pantry before eating, Wilkinson said, and rejected offers to help plating up the dish. "We said grace, we began eating," Wilkinson told the jury at the Latrobe Valley Law Courts in Morwell, southeast of Melbourne. The meal consisted of "an individual serve" of beef Wellington entirely encased in pastry and filled with "steak and mushrooms", Wilkinson said. The guests' meals were served on four grey plates, while Patterson's was on a smaller orange plate, Wilkinson told the court. Patterson's estranged husband Simon was also invited to the lunch but turned down the invitation. The four guests developed diarrhoea and vomiting within 12 hours of the meal and were raced to hospital, where they were diagnosed with poisoning by death cap mushrooms. Patterson allegedly laced the beef-and-pastry dish with the poisonous mushrooms. Wilkinson said that hours after eating he and wife Heather began vomiting, but initially dismissed it as a "case of gastro". Heather -- the aunt of Patterson's estranged husband Simon -- died in the days following the lunch. - 'Things were friendly' - Patterson's parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson also died as a result of ingesting the meal. Wilkinson said he had little memory of what happened after falling ill, and spent two months recovering in hospital. Erin Patterson went to the hospital two days after her lunch, telling medical staff she was unwell but initially refusing medical help, the trial heard previously. She was also allegedly reluctant to let doctors see her children, saying she had scraped the mushrooms off their meals because they were fussy eaters and she did not want them to panic. Wilkinson told the jury on Tuesday that his interactions with Patterson had always been cordial. "When we met, things were friendly. We never had arguments or disputes. She just seemed like an ordinary person," Wilkinson said of Patterson. The prosecution alleges Patterson deliberately poisoned her lunch guests and took care that she did not consume the deadly mushrooms. Her defence lawyers said it was the result of "a terrible accident". The trial is expected to last about six weeks. - AFP More Like This
