THE alleged poison mushroom cook’s texts to her estranged husband before the deadly dinner have been revealed.
Erin Patterson, aged 50, is currently facing serious charges—three counts of murder and one of attempted murder—following a deadly meal that took place at her residence in Leongatha, Australia.
A string of texts has revealed how Patterson begged her estranged husband 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: “Apologies, I don’t feel comfortable joining you, mom, dad, Heather, and Ian for lunch tomorrow. However, I am open to discussing your health and its implications at a later date.”
“If you’d like to discuss on the phone just let me know.”
Erin replied: “It’s quite disappointing to hear that. I’ve invested several hours this week preparing tomorrow’s lunch, which has been tiring given the challenges I’m dealing with. I also spent quite a bit on beef eye fillet to make beef Wellington because I wanted it to be a special occasion as I might not have the chance to host such lunches again anytime soon.”
“It’s important to me that you’re all there tomorrow, and that I can have the conversations that I need to have.
“I hope you’ll change your mind.
“Your parents, Heather and Ian, are coming at 12.30, and I hope to see you there.”
Simon broke down in tears as he told the court about his relationship with his estranged wife on Thursday.
He said that the pair had bought a house together in his wife’s name, but she later bought herself a house in nearby Korumburra which she moved into by herself.
Simon said it was difficult to put into words how Erin would come and go during their marriage.
He said: “She would leave each time, it’s a hard thing to word.”
“When we lived together it was always her leaving me.”
But Simon insisted that he maintained a “friendly” relationship with her for the most part.
And he added that “she seemed like a devoted mother most of the time”.
The reveal of the text exchanges comes after it was revealed that 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.
Patterson previously faced three counts of murdering her in-laws as well as a total of five counts of attempted murder following a deadly feast at her home in Leongatha, Australia.
One of the charges was for the attempted murder of her estranged husband – but this was dropped in a shocking twist to the case.
Justice Christopher Beale told the jury on Tuesday that Patterson was no longer accused of attempting to murder her husband.
He also urged the jury to forget about any previous charges, saying: “In other words… you must put them out of your mind.”
The trial officially began on Wednesday in in Morwell – around 40 miles from where the fatal mushroom lunch allegedly took place.
The ordeal is expected to last around six weeks.
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 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.
