MUSHROOM cook Erin Patterson loved the fungi so much that she secretly hid them in all sorts of dishes, a court has head.
An Australian woman is on trial, charged with four offenses – three for murder and one for attempted murder – stemming from a 2023 incident where she served a poisonous beef Wellington.
The accused, Patterson, 50, is believed to have intentionally used death cap mushrooms in the dish, leading to the deaths of her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, as well as Gail’s sister, Heather.
Patterson has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
During Monday’s session at Victoria’s Supreme Court, it was revealed that the home cook was connected with an online true-crime group and often shared her cooking experiences with mushrooms.
Several of the friends were called to give evidence at the trial about their interactions with the Leongatha mother.
One message written by Patterson and shown to the court said: “I’ve been hiding powdered mushrooms in everything.
“Mixed it into chocolate brownies yesterday, the kids had no idea.”
Another pal, Daniela Barkley, said Patterson had asked the group for advice on cooking beef Wellington and had been looking for the right meat in the fortnight leading up to the lunch.
In the lead up to the deadly lunch, Patterson shared pictures of a food dehydrator and seemed to be a fan of mushrooms.
One picture shown to the court showed chopped-up button mushrooms while another snap had mushrooms on the dehydrator’s shelves.
Pal Jenny Hay told the court: “She seemed to really like mushrooms.”
Hay said she and Patterson had spoken over the phone two days after the lunch with Patterson saying she had bought the mushrooms from an Asian grocer.
Pals told the court that Patterson had complained on several occasions about her “coercive” and “abusive” estranged husband Simon.
Earlier on Monday, Simon had denied asking his wife about the dehydrator: “Is that what you used to poison them?”
Six days after the fatal lunch, the dehydrator was found at the local tip by cops.
Patterson’s lawyers conceded she had dumped the dehydrator but said she had done so in a panic, not out of guilt trying to cover-up the crime.
The court previously heard about how a string of texts has revealed how Patterson begged Simon to join the meal in July 2023.
Patterson hinted at ill-health in the messages as said she “may not be able to host a lunch like this again for some time”.
Simon wrote: “Sorry I feel too uncomfortable about coming to lunch with you, mum, dad, Heather and Ian tomorrow but am happy to talk about your health and implications of that at another time.
“If you’d like to discuss on the phone just let me know.”
Ian Wilkinson also ate the beef Wellington, but survived the poisoning after a long battle in hospital.
Patterson had fabricated a cancer diagnosis prior to the lethal lunch.
Crown prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers said Patterson hosted the lunch on the pretence of discussing the best way to tell her two children about the illness – ensuring they would be far away from the meal.
Rogers said: “It is the prosecution case that the accused deliberately poisoned (the victims) with murderous intent.”
She added that medical tests had found no sign of cancer.
The prosecutor also revealed how the alleged killer dodged the deadly dinner herself.
Rogers said that Patterson served individual beef Wellingtons, mashed potatoes and green beans at the meal.
The guests allegedly all ate from large grey dinner plates, while she ate from a smaller, orange plate – thus avoiding the poison-laced Wellington.
