logo
Mushroom murderer Erin Patterson's decision to testify fails to convince jury

Mushroom murderer Erin Patterson's decision to testify fails to convince jury

Straits Times6 days ago
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
FILE PHOTO: A memorial plaque for Don and Gail Patterson at the Korumburra general cemetary in Korumburra, Australia, June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/File Photo
MORWELL, Australia - A month into the trial of the Australian woman accused of murdering three of her estranged husband's elderly relatives with poisonous mushrooms, her barrister Colin Mandy stood and delivered one of the case's pivotal moments.
'The defence will call Erin Patterson,' Mandy told the court.
Patterson, who was convicted on Monday of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, was the only witness for her defence in a 10-week trial that gripped Australia.
She told the court she had a loving relationship with the three people who died, including her mother and father-in-law, saying they were all she had in a frequently troubled life.
In fact, she murdered three of them and attempted to kill a fourth by slipping lethal death cap mushrooms into individual Beef Wellingtons she served at a July 2023 lunch, a jury found.
An alleged murderer testifying as a witness in their own defence is a rare strategy and normally a last resort, said Nicholas Papas, a veteran criminal barrister based in Melbourne who frequently acts in murder trials.
'The risk is that when you call your client, then suddenly people start focusing on your client,' he said.
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Singapore Eligible S'poreans to get up to $850 in GSTV cash, up to $450 in MediSave top-ups in August
Singapore Four golf courses to close by 2035, leaving Singapore with 12 courses
Singapore Fewer marriages and births in Singapore in 2024; greater stability for later cohorts
Singapore Paternity leave take-up in S'pore rises to 56% in 2023; experts hope for further boost after extension
Singapore Construction starts on Cross Island Line Phase 2; 6 MRT stations in S'pore's west ready by 2032
Singapore $1.46b nickel scam: Ng Yu Zhi opts to remain silent after judge calls for his defence
Asia Bali flights nixed after huge Indonesia volcano eruption
Life How to cope with the heat when travelling: 5 expert-backed tips
Patterson's decision also opened her up to five days of tense cross-examination by prosecutor Nanette Rogers, with whom she repeatedly clashed over minor details.
Patterson's version of events – that she had included the deadly mushrooms by accident and she had not died herself after eating the tainted meal due to an eating disorder – was rejected by the jury as unreliable.
'You're actually putting (the case) in the hands of your client, and lawyers don't tend to want to necessarily do that,' Papas said. 'We like to control the process if we can.'
TROUBLED LIFE
Patterson, 50, grew up Melbourne, the daughter of an academic. She qualified as an air traffic controller and had been accepted to study nursing at the time of her arrest, after a life marred by a tempestuous marriage and problems with her weight and low self-esteem, the court heard.
In her own testimony, she hinted at a strained relationship with her now-deceased parents, who were 'in Russia, on a train' on her wedding day in 2007, she told the court.
During a 2009 road-trip across Australia with her estranged husband Simon, she left abruptly in one of their many separations, leaving him alone with their son, then only a few months old.
She frequently wept as she spoke of her close bond with the Patterson family, including her father-in-law, Don, with whom she shared a love of learning, she said.
The judge presiding in the case, Justice Christopher Beale, instructed the jury that Patterson could only be found guilty if they rejected her testimony, which they did unanimously.
Patterson initially told police she had bought the mushrooms used in the meal from a local supermarket, before then saying she had got them from an Asian grocer in Melbourne.
A 2023 search of Asian grocers in the city found no evidence death cap mushrooms had been sold. During the trial, Patterson said she may have foraged for the mushrooms but did not ultimately know where they had come from.
She had also lied about a cancer diagnosis to her guests because she was embarrassed to admit she was actually having gastric band surgery, Patterson said in evidence.
She told the court she wanted her relatives' advice and assistance with looking after her two children while she had the surgery, and named a clinic in Melbourne that was later found never to have offered the procedure.
From the wood-panelled dock at the back of Court 4 at the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court in Morwell, where Patterson sat for most of the trial, she stared intently at the jury as they entered and exited the courtroom.
Flanked by two custody officers, she appeared alert but relaxed during the proceedings, occasionally donning a pair of black-rimmed spectacles to study evidence on a court-issued tablet.
The prosecution offered no motive for Patterson's decision to murder her in-laws. Under Australian law, it did not have to prove one to secure a conviction.
Patterson will be sentenced at a later date, at a hearing that will consider the reasons for her offending.
For now, the only person who truly knows why she poisoned the lunch is Erin Patterson herself. REUTERS
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Indonesia foils attempt to smuggle 1,200 endangered birds
Indonesia foils attempt to smuggle 1,200 endangered birds

Straits Times

time2 hours ago

  • Straits Times

Indonesia foils attempt to smuggle 1,200 endangered birds

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox KUPANG, Indonesia - Indonesian authorities have foiled a smuggling attempt of more than 1,200 endangered Javan white-eye birds after discovering them stuffed into cages, they said on July 13. The popular cage-bird is listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and a protected species by the Indonesian environment and forestry ministry. Officials found the huge cache of birds in eight cages on July 11, including 140 that died, at a port on Flores island in eastern Indonesia, Mr Joko Waluyo, an official at a provincial conservation agency, told reporters Sunday. The birds were due to be taken by ferry to Surabaya, a city in the east of Indonesia's main island Java. 'The alleged perpetrator, who has not yet been found, brought Javan white-eye birds in 8 bird cages. The number of birds that were attempted to be transported was 1,260, 140 of which were found dead,' said Mr Joko. The surviving white-eye birds were released back into the wild. 'The release aims to save all secured (birds), increase the population in nature, and raise public awareness,' he said. Under Indonesian law, poaching or trading of protected species is punishable up to 15 years in prison. Indonesia's illegal trade in wildlife along with habitat loss has driven numerous endangered species, from the Sumatran elephant to the orangutan, to the brink of extinction. AFP

Ukraine says suspected Russian FSB assassins killed in Kyiv region
Ukraine says suspected Russian FSB assassins killed in Kyiv region

Straits Times

time4 hours ago

  • Straits Times

Ukraine says suspected Russian FSB assassins killed in Kyiv region

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: FSB (Federal'naya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti) logo is seen in this illustration taken May 6, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo KYIV - Ukrainian intelligence agents on Sunday killed members of a Russian secret service cell wanted on suspicion of having shot dead a colonel in Ukraine's SBU security service last week, the SBU said. The intelligence agency said in a statement that the operation had sought the arrest of the agents of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), who it believes were behind the killing of SBU colonel Ivan Voronych in Kyiv on Thursday. "This morning a special operation was conducted, during which the members of the Russian FSB's agent cell started to resist, and therefore they were liquidated," the statement on the Telegram messaging app said. Russian authorities made no immediate public comment on Sunday's operation, which mirrored past assassinations of senior Russian military officials by Ukraine during the three-year-old war - a source of embarrassment for Moscow's vast intelligence agencies. The SBU said two people - a man and a woman - were suspected of having killed Voronych. It did not say how many suspected FSB agents had been killed on Sunday. According to the SBU, the alleged assassins were told by their handler to surveil their target and track his movements. They were eventually given the coordinates of a hiding place where they found a pistol with a suppressor, the SBU said. It said they had tried to "lay low" after Thursday's killing, but were tracked down by the SBU and police. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Govt will continue to support families, including growing group of seniors: PM Wong at PCF Family Day Singapore From Normal stream to Parliament: 3 Singapore politicians share their journeys Business 29 Jollibean workers get help from MOM, other agencies, over unpaid salaries Singapore Segregated recycling bins found to lower contamination rate as more spring up Asia Mahathir discharged from hospital after feeling fatigued during birthday gathering Singapore Medics treat 7 after blaze at HDB block lift lobby in Chai Chee Singapore Government looking at enhancing laws around vaping to tackle issue of drug-laced vapes in Singapore Singapore I lost my daughter to Kpod addiction: Father of 19-year-old shares heartbreak and lessons The agency's remit covers security and counterintelligence, but since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine it has also played a prominent role in special operations against Moscow, including assassinations and sabotage attacks. REUTERS

Violent clashes erupt between far-right groups and migrants in Spanish town
Violent clashes erupt between far-right groups and migrants in Spanish town

Straits Times

time6 hours ago

  • Straits Times

Violent clashes erupt between far-right groups and migrants in Spanish town

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox MADRID - Violent clashes erupted between far-right groups, local residents and North African migrants in a town in southeastern Spain late on Saturday following an attack on an elderly man by unknown assailants earlier in the week. Five people were hurt and one was arrested during the unrest in Torre-Pacheco, local officials told Reuters, in one of the worst such episodes in the country in recent decades. The town was quieter on Sunday, but government sources said more arrests were expected. Videos posted on social media showed men dressed in clothes bearing far-right symbols and migrants carrying Moroccan flags hurling objects at each other in Saturday night's violence, which followed several days of lower intensity unrest. Tensions flared up between local residents and migrants after the elderly man was attacked in the street on Wednesday, causing injuries from which he is recovering at home. The reasons behind the assault are unclear and no one has been arrested. The central government's representative in the area, Mariola Guevara, told Spanish public TV the attack was being investigated. She also denounced "hate speech" and "incitement to violence," as far-right groups moved into the town, and said additional Guardia Civil officers would be deployed to deal with the violence. Nearly a third of Torre-Pacheco's population is of foreign origin, according to local government data. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Govt will continue to support families, including growing group of seniors: PM Wong at PCF Family Day Singapore From Normal stream to Parliament: 3 Singapore politicians share their journeys Business 29 Jollibean workers get help from MOM, other agencies, over unpaid salaries Singapore Segregated recycling bins found to lower contamination rate as more spring up Asia Dr Mahathir resting in hospital after feeling fatigued during birthday gathering Singapore Government looking at enhancing laws around vaping to tackle issue of drug-laced vapes in Singapore Singapore Why the vape scourge in Singapore concerns everyone Singapore I lost my daughter to Kpod addiction: Father of 19-year-old shares heartbreak and lessons The area surrounding the town, which is located in the Murcia region, also hosts large numbers of migrants who work as day labourers in agriculture, one of the pillars of the regional economy. Less than two weeks ago, Murcia's government had to backtrack on a proposal to buy housing to accommodate unaccompanied migrant minors as the ruling conservative People's Party (PP) was threatened by far-right Vox, whose support the PP needs to pass laws. In 2000, violent anti-immigration protests broke out in the Almeria town of El Ejido in southern Spain after three Spanish citizens were killed by Moroccan migrants. REUTERS

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store