Erin Patterson, known as the “mushroom murderer,” has been accused of meddling with prison meals while assigned to work in the jail’s kitchen, allegedly causing illness to another inmate.
The shocking new claim was made by a prisoner housed in the same unit at Melbourne’s Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.
This incident follows her conviction for three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder related to a fatal beef wellington meal tainted with poisonous mushrooms.
According to Herald Sun reports, the inmate fell ill following a dispute with Patterson and allegedly blamed the notorious poisoner for the sickness.
A source from Corrections Victoria informed Daily Mail Australia that despite the reasons for her incarceration, Patterson was assigned a job in the prison kitchen.
The mum-of-two’s supporters have hit back, insisting the prison poisoning claim is baseless.
Patterson has now been convicted of the murders of her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66.
She was also found guilty of the attempted murder of Heather’s husband, pastor Ian Wilkinson, who only survived the deadly July 2023 lunch after undergoing a liver transplant.
The verdicts were delivered in a packed Victorian Supreme Court on Monday, following seven days of jury deliberation and 35 days of evidence and cross-examination.
Patterson, described as “emotionless” as the guilty verdicts were read out, reportedly told her best friend Alison Rose Prior “see you soon” as she was led away from the dock.
A sentencing date is yet to be scheduled, and Patterson now faces the prospects of life behind bars.
Poisoned lunch turned fatal
Patterson pleaded not guilty to all charges, claiming the deaths were a tragic accident.
She insisted she had unknowingly used foraged death cap mushrooms when she prepared the beef wellington for her lunch guests at her Leongatha home on July 29, 2023.
But prosecutors alleged Patterson invited her estranged husband’s family under false pretences, possibly even faking a cancer diagnosis to ensure they attended.
Ian Wilkinson, the only survivor of the meal, testified that Patterson served the beef wellington to guests on separate plates from her own.
Toxicologists confirmed all four guests showed symptoms consistent with ingestion of deadly cap mushrooms, a highly lethal species known to grown in the area.
Don, Gail and Heather died within a week. Ian was placed in a coma and later required a liver transplant.
Patterson initially told investigators she had bought dried mushrooms from an Asian grocery store in Melbourne — but couldn’t say where.
She also denied owning a dehydrator — a claim later proven false.
The jury heard that she had lied to health officials, doctors and even police in the days following the lunch, hindering efforts to trace the source of the poisoning and save her victims’ lives.
During her eight days in the witness box, Patterson admitted she had foraged mushrooms since 2020, telling jurors: “They tasted good and I didn’t get sick.”
Alleged past attempts and eerie “death wall”
The horror didn’t stop with one deadly meal.
Police allege Patterson may have attempted to poison her ex-husband Simon Patterson on three separate occasions between 2021 and 2022.
Simon had previously written about a near-death illness that left him in a coma for 16 days and prompted doctors to urge his family to say their goodbyes — twice.
Adding to the sinister narrative, a tradesman who worked on Patterson’s house claimed he discovered a chilling “death wall” filled with threatening scribbles and eerie messages — including one that read: “You don’t [have] long to live.”
One neighbour claimed Patterson was an experienced mushroom forager, often seen picking fungi in the area.
Police later combed through her multiple Facebook accounts, where she allegedly boasted of being “very good at details”.
