Erin Patterson verdict: death cap mushroom trial finds 50 year old guilty of killing in-laws

Erin Patterson, 50, an Australian woman who was facing trial for murdering her in-laws with meat laced with poisonous mushrooms, was found guilty of all charges on Monday. The 50-year-old has also been charged with attempting to murder a fourth relative.

 

The ten-week trial concluded with a verdict delivered by a jury of 12 at the Supreme Court of Victoria. Patterson will face a life sentence in prison, with a plea hearing scheduled for a later date. Around 50 witnesses gave testimony, according to state broadcaster ABC News.

 

The prosecution, led by barrister Nanette Rogers, found that Patterson had deliberately invited her husband’s relatives to her home by lying about a cancer diagnosis. She also faked being ill to avoid suspicion after the poisoning and subsequently attempted to conceal evidence.

The murders took place in July 2023 at her home in Leongatha.

 

Patterson had served individual beef Wellington pastries containing death cap mushrooms to four of her relatives for lunch. All four were hospitalised with gastrointestinal symptoms the following day. Her parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, and Don’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, all died in hospital the following week from liver damage and multiple organ failure. Patterson was also found guilty of attempting to murder the sole survivor, Ian Wilkinson, Heather’s husband. He too was hospitalised but did not suffer the same symptoms as the others. He later testified that he had self-induced vomiting after consuming two-thirds of a cake they had brought.

 

The jury rejected Patterson’s defence—that she was unaware the meal contained poisonous fungi and that the deaths were accidental. The strained relationship between her and her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, was highlighted during the trial and considered a key motive behind the killings. Simon had also been invited to the fatal lunch but declined to attend due to the breakdown of their relationship. He had told her he “wasn’t comfortable” going.

 

Patterson’s lawyers argued that she had no reason to commit the murders, as she had recently moved to a new home, was financially stable, had custody of her children, and was preparing to begin a degree in nursing and midwifery.

 

Several aspects of the murders were disputed during the trial, including why she added additional dried, foraged mushrooms to the dish, why she sent her two children out to watch a film just before lunch, and why she disposed of a food dehydrator and later lied about it. Patterson had also lied to her husband’s relatives about having cancer, when in fact she was planning to undergo weight loss surgery but was too ashamed to admit it.

 

She also erased images from her mobile phone that showed mushrooms she had foraged. Death cap mushrooms—a species in the genus Amanita—are deadly when ingested, with symptoms typically appearing 8 to 12 hours after consumption.

 

Numerous crime writers and podcasters were present at the trial, and several television dramas and documentaries based on the case are now in production.

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