THE infamous “mushroom cook” has been found guilty of murdering her in-laws at a deadly lunch.
Erin Patterson faced allegations of mixing poisonous mushrooms into a dish with the intent to kill her estranged husband’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, both aged 70, alongside Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, aged 66.
She was also accused of attempting to murder Wilkinson’s husband Ian by serving a beef wellington laced with poisonous death cap mushrooms.
Patterson pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder for the July 29, 2023, incident.
During their deliberation process, the 12 jurors were kept isolated and were unable to go back to their residences, instead being housed overnight in special lodging near the Latrobe Valley courthouses.
Patterson claimed to have purchased dehydrated mushrooms at an Asian supermarket in Melbourne, Australia.
But she couldn’t remember exactly where she had bought them from.
Despite Patterson pleading not guilty, she did accept that death cap mushrooms were in the meal she served.
But she argued she didn’t intend to harm anyone and that the mushrooms were just a tragic accident.
All of Patterson’s alleged victims were related to her estranged husband Simon and died from liver failure within a week of the fatal lunch.
Toxicologists discovered they had all been poisoned by death cap mushrooms, which grow under oak trees throughout the region of south Melbourne.
Patterson denied at first that she had foraged for wild mushrooms or that she had her own food dehydrator cops allege was used to dry them out.
But she later admitted both to foraging for mushrooms and to owning the dehydrator.
The jury was sent to reach a verdict after listening to 35 days of evidence and cross-examination.
The judge had instructed the jury: “You will deliberate Mondays to Saturdays here at the court in the privacy of the jury room.
“You will not deliberate on Sundays, but you will still be sequestered. You do not get to go home on Sundays. I’m sorry.”
The judge also provided the jury with instructions concerning Patterson’s alleged deceit, such as her claims about needing gastric bypass surgery, her supposed ovarian cancer diagnosis, and her motivations for inviting the guests over for lunch.
The prosecution had alleged that Patterson lied to her relatives about a cancer diagnosis in order to persuade them to attend the deadly lunch, before poisoning them and faked an illness to cover her tracks.
The judge added: “If you find the accused lied about something you can use that fact to decide whether or not you believe the other things she’s said.
“It’s one factor to take into account. It’s for you to decide what significance to give these alleged lies, if you find them to be lies.”
The fatal lunch
On July 29, 2023 Patterson gathered her estranged husband’s relatives together for a Saturday lunch at her home.
She served up a beef wellington – allegedly containing death cap mushrooms and her guests soon became violently ill.
Her former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66, all died within a week.
Pastor Ian Wilkinson was the only one who survived the deadly lunch.
But he was left in critical condition and spent almost two months being treated in the Austin Hospital – including time spent in a coma.
Doctors have confirmed all four of their symptoms were consistent with poisoning by death cap mushrooms, which grow wild in the area.
Patterson had also invited her husband to the lunch but he declined, reportedly texting her the night before that he felt “uncomfortable”.
In a return text minutes later, Patterson reportedly said she was “disappointed”, as she wanted to prepare a “special meal and that she may not be able to have a lunch like this for some time”.
Patterson has long denied any wrongdoing and and has always insisted she never meant to serve “my loved ones” the deadly mushrooms.
She pleaded not guilty to the murder charges in the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court in May 2024.
But this is not the first time Patterson has faced accusations of attempted murder.
On “three separate incidents” spanning across 2021 to 2022, police say that Erin attempted to kill a 48-year-old Korumburra man.
It’s understood this man is Erin’s ex-husband, Simon Patterson.
Two of the dates are unknown, however in May 2022, Simon claimed to have suffered from a mystery illness that fighting for life in hospital.
In a social media post, he wrote: “I collapsed at home, then was in an induced coma for 16 days through which I had three emergency operations mainly on my small intestine, plus an additional planned operation.
“My family were asked to come and say goodbye to me twice, as I was not expected to live.
“I was in intensive care for 21 days…”
And the case has not been short of its twists and turns.
In August 2023 a tradesman came forward to reveal that he had seen and photographed what he called a “death wall” inside Erin’s former home.
The tradesman said he was hired to paint the inside last year so it could be flogged.
But he got more than he bargained for and discovered eerie drawings scrawled in blue and red markers.
Messages were also found over the wall – with one chilling note reading: “You don’t [have] long to live”.
That same day, a neighbour of Patterson’s claimed she was an experienced forager, who regularly picked her own mushrooms in the local area.
In March 2024 cops delved into Patterson’s Facebook accounts in the hope of bolstering charges against her.
Patterson had a number of profiles online and constantly used different names to post and interact with others, according to the Herald Sun.
She also allegedly took to Facebook to declare she was “very good at details” before the fateful lunch.
