THE sole survivor of mushroom killer Erin Patterson’s poisoned lunch has broken his silence – a day after she was found guilty of murder and attempted murder.
Patterson was on Monday convicted of killing her ex-husband’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, after serving them death cap mushrooms in a beef wellington at her home in Victoria, Australia.
The mother-of-two was also found guilty of attempting to murder
Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, a local church pastor.
Ian was in hospital for weeks fighting for his life after eating the toxic dish, but miraculously pulled through.
He gave a powerful testimony in court – and his evidence may have been crucial as the only witness to the fatal meal who was still able to speak out.
One of his revelations was that Patterson told the party that she had been diagnosed with a cancerous tumour – which turned out to be nonsense.
Now, he has shared a moving message via the noticeboard outside the Korumburra Baptist Church, where he has been a pastor for two years.
It reads: “Life can be hard, but God is faithful.
“We all greatly miss Heather, Don and Gail, whether we were friends for a short time or over 20 years.
“They were very special people who loved God and lived to bless others.
‘It’s been a long journey, and we continue to lovingly support Ian, Simon and all the Wilkinson and Patterson family members through this difficult time.
“We appreciate all the care from our local communities, special support from individuals and from the Baptist Union of Victoria, and the churches and people from all over the world who have been praying for us.”
Ian sat through almost every day of the ten-week trial, often accompanied by his daughter Ruth Dubois.
However, he was not in court to hear Monday’s verdict – choosing to spend that crucial moment with family and friends.
Detective Inspector Dean Thomas from the Victoria Police Homicide Squad said after sentencing that the Patterson and Wilkinson families had requested privacy and would not be giving any public statements.
Their lives have been dragged into the public eye since Erin was charged in November 2023, culminating in one of the most publicised trials in Australia for years – which finally delivered answers to most of the cases’s mysteries.
The prosecution got their hands on the remains of the deadly beef Wellington, a dehydrator she used, and even photos of death cap mushrooms.
However, they never managed to locate the killer’s primary phone.
Patterson gave investigators a device, dubbed Phone B, that she claimed was hers when the deaths were first looked into – but there were immediately suspicions that it was a decoy device.
CCTV footage from July 31, 2023, shows Patterson in hospital after the meal with a Samsung in a light pink case – but this was not the one police received.
That mobile, Phone A, continues to confound.
Police said Patterson had primarily used Phone A from February 2023 until August 2023, which Patterson accepted.
But she argued that she handed officers Phone B because she was in the process of switching devices so that her ex-husband couldn’t contact her
It was from this pink Samsung that Patterson organised the lunch and sent out the fatal invites.
Texts shown in court reveal that she tried desperately to get her ex-husband, Simon, to come to the lunch as well – but he refused.
After he tells Patterson that he is “too uncomfortable” to go to the lunch, she replies: “That’s really disappointing,” and seemingly attempts to guilt trip him into coming.
Something else to come out in the trial was the surprising extent of wealth that Patterson has accumulated.
She wrote: “I’ve spent many hours this week preparing lunch for tomorrow […] and spent a small fortune on beef eye filet to make beef Wellingtons.”
After being brought up in a middle-class Melbourne suburb, Patterson had recently become much richer – helped along by a $2million cash dump from her paternal grandmother’s estate.
Her father, Eitan Scutter, was a director in multiple Australian companies – and his mother was the major source of Patterson’s money.
DI Thomas said: “It’s very important that we remember we’ve had three people; three people died and we’ve had a person that nearly died and was seriously injured as a result; that has led to these charges.
“I ask that we acknowledge those people and not forget them.
“I ask also that the Patterson family and Wilkinson family have asked for privacy during this time.”
Both Ian and Patterson’s ex-husband, Simon, whose parents were both killed, have put up notices outside their houses to deflect further unwanted attention.
The sign outside Ian’s residence reads: “Warning: entry to this property by any persons employed by or working on behalf of the media is not permitted.
“Trespassers will be reported to the police.”
