Erin Patterson
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Mushroom cook Erin Patterson has been found guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder over the deadly beef Wellington lunch in 2023 that made headlines across the globe.

After about a week of deliberations following the mammoth 10-week trial, the jury of 12 today returned a unanimous verdict on all four counts this afternoon, finding Patterson guilty of murdering in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, and also of attempting to murder Ian Wilkinson.

Erin Patterson
An exclusive image of convicted triple-murderer Erin Patterson can now be shown. (Martin Keep AFP)

Patterson had pleaded not guilty to all charges, and the 50-year-old mother blinked but appeared emotionless as four guilty verdicts were read out by the jury’s foreperson to a full courtroom of onlookers.

The case has made headlines around the world and been the focus of multiple international podcasts.

Doctors confirmed Patterson’s in-laws all suffered death cap mushroom poisoning after eating the beef Wellington at her home back in July 2023.

Accused killer Erin Patterson.
Erin Patterson has been found guilty of triple murder and attempted murder. (Anita Lester)

Patterson, who took the stand for eight days during her trial, claimed she had not intentionally poisoned her lunch guests with beef Wellington parcels.

She claimed the deaths of three members of her estranged husband Simon’s family were a terrible accident, and she may have accidentally included foraged mushrooms in the meal.

Ian Wilkinson, the sole survivor of the deadly lunch, gave evidence and attended much of the long-running trial. (Justin McManus)

Prosecutors laid out an extensive circumstantial case during the trial in Morwell, a town in regional Victoria, to prove the poisoning event was deliberate.

This included evidence from sole lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson, who said Patterson had served individual beef Wellingtons to her guests on different plates to her own.

The prosecution accused Patterson of telling a series of lies to police, including that she did not forage for mushrooms in the meal and did not own a dehydrator.

Don and Gail Patterson were murdered by Erin Patterson in July 2023. (Supplied)

She lied about it to public health investigators, who were searching to find the source of poisonous mushrooms after Patterson claimed they may be from an Asian store.

Patterson lied to doctors, nurses and toxicologists while they were trying to identify why her lunch guests were sick and save their lives in hospital.

She revealed for the first time that she enjoyed foraging for wild mushrooms when she was in the witness box, admitting she started mushrooming in 2020 during the pandemic.

Heather Wilkinson was also murdered by Patterson. (Nine)

“They tasted good and I didn’t get sick,” she told the jury about preparing and eating wild fungi for the first time.

After hearing more than two months of evidence, a jury of 14 was whittled down to 12 jurors who retired to deliberate on their verdicts one week ago, on June 30.

They returned after deliberating for seven days with a four guilty verdicts, convicting the 50-year-old woman of three murders and one attempted murder.

Patterson now faces a sentence of up to life in prison.

She will return to the court for a pre-sentence hearing later this year.

– Reported with AAP

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