Mushroom cook accepts death caps were inside lunch

The Advertiser

2 days ago

Erin Patterson accepts there must have been death cap mushrooms inside a lunch she cooked for her former husband's family, after admitting to foraging during evidence.
"In terms of the meal you cooked for the lunch, which is the subject of this trial, do you accept there must have been death cap mushrooms in that meal?" defence barrister Colin Mandy SC asked Patterson.
"Yes I do," she replied, shaking her head.
The 50-year-old, charged with three counts of murder and one attempted murder, has completed a second day of evidence at the court in Morwell, Victoria's Gippsland region.
She wore a navy and white spotted top, black sandals and black pants, and spoke to a full court room about her experience in wild mushroom foraging.
Patterson has pleaded not guilty to all charges and claims the poisonings were not deliberate, and the July 2023 lunch was a terrible accident.
The meal she served at her home led to the deaths of Don and Gail Patterson, 70, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, whose husband Ian was the sole surviving guest.
Mr Wilkinson sat with his arms crossed as he watched Patterson give evidence on Tuesday about what went into the lunch.
She had lied to police about foraging for mushrooms, and about owning a food dehydrator, when she was interviewed, the jury was previously told.
Patterson told a jury of 14 she had begun wild mushroom picking when the COVID-19 pandemic threw Victorians into lockdown in 2020.
She had always enjoyed eating mushrooms because "they taste good and they're very healthy", she said.
But she said it was hard to figure out "what a mushroom is" when she began picking them, and she had used Facebook groups for mushroom lovers to identify different types.
"As far as I could see, there were ones that were potentially edible," Patterson said, about the mushrooms on her Korumburra property.
Asked by her barrister about consuming wild mushrooms, she said it was a process over several months and she got to a point where she "was confident about what I thought they were".
"I cut a bit off one of the mushrooms, fried it up with some butter, ate it and then saw what happened," Patterson said.
"They tasted good and I didn't get sick."
She and her children ate the wild mushrooms she picked and Patterson said she "chopped them up very, very small".
Mr Mandy later asked specifically about where she got the mushrooms that were inside the lunch.
She said the "vast majority" came from Woolworths and some were from "the grocer in Melbourne".
Patterson said she bought a dehydrator because she "liked eating wild mushrooms but it's a very small season".
Asked where she had foraged for wild mushrooms, Patterson listed the Botanic Gardens in Korumburra, her Leongatha and Korumburra properties and a rail trail.
"I took them home, cleaned them sliced them, if I didn't think I wanted to use them that day I dried them and put them in the pantry, just in a Tupperware container on one of the shelves," she said.
Patterson said she had also purchased mushrooms from an Asian grocer in Mount Waverley in April 2023 and she was going to use them the day she bought them but "they were very pungent".
She said she would also put Woolworths mushrooms she had dehydrated into a container in her pantry.
Asked whether she put the wild mushrooms in a container with other dried mushrooms, Patterson replied: "Yes I did."
Earlier, Patterson grabbed a tissue and wiped her eyes as she apologised for sending messages to her online friends about her estranged husband's family.
One of those messages, which Patterson sent in December 2022, said "this family, I swear to f***ing god".
"I wish I'd never said it, I feel ashamed for saying that and I wish the family did not have to hear that I said that. They didn't deserve it," she said.
Patterson will return to the witness box on Wednesday as the trial continues.
Erin Patterson accepts there must have been death cap mushrooms inside a lunch she cooked for her former husband's family, after admitting to foraging during evidence.
"In terms of the meal you cooked for the lunch, which is the subject of this trial, do you accept there must have been death cap mushrooms in that meal?" defence barrister Colin Mandy SC asked Patterson.
"Yes I do," she replied, shaking her head.
The 50-year-old, charged with three counts of murder and one attempted murder, has completed a second day of evidence at the court in Morwell, Victoria's Gippsland region.
She wore a navy and white spotted top, black sandals and black pants, and spoke to a full court room about her experience in wild mushroom foraging.
Patterson has pleaded not guilty to all charges and claims the poisonings were not deliberate, and the July 2023 lunch was a terrible accident.
The meal she served at her home led to the deaths of Don and Gail Patterson, 70, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, whose husband Ian was the sole surviving guest.
Mr Wilkinson sat with his arms crossed as he watched Patterson give evidence on Tuesday about what went into the lunch.
She had lied to police about foraging for mushrooms, and about owning a food dehydrator, when she was interviewed, the jury was previously told.
Patterson told a jury of 14 she had begun wild mushroom picking when the COVID-19 pandemic threw Victorians into lockdown in 2020.
She had always enjoyed eating mushrooms because "they taste good and they're very healthy", she said.
But she said it was hard to figure out "what a mushroom is" when she began picking them, and she had used Facebook groups for mushroom lovers to identify different types.
"As far as I could see, there were ones that were potentially edible," Patterson said, about the mushrooms on her Korumburra property.
Asked by her barrister about consuming wild mushrooms, she said it was a process over several months and she got to a point where she "was confident about what I thought they were".
"I cut a bit off one of the mushrooms, fried it up with some butter, ate it and then saw what happened," Patterson said.
"They tasted good and I didn't get sick."
She and her children ate the wild mushrooms she picked and Patterson said she "chopped them up very, very small".
Mr Mandy later asked specifically about where she got the mushrooms that were inside the lunch.
She said the "vast majority" came from Woolworths and some were from "the grocer in Melbourne".
Patterson said she bought a dehydrator because she "liked eating wild mushrooms but it's a very small season".
Asked where she had foraged for wild mushrooms, Patterson listed the Botanic Gardens in Korumburra, her Leongatha and Korumburra properties and a rail trail.
"I took them home, cleaned them sliced them, if I didn't think I wanted to use them that day I dried them and put them in the pantry, just in a Tupperware container on one of the shelves," she said.
Patterson said she had also purchased mushrooms from an Asian grocer in Mount Waverley in April 2023 and she was going to use them the day she bought them but "they were very pungent".
She said she would also put Woolworths mushrooms she had dehydrated into a container in her pantry.
Asked whether she put the wild mushrooms in a container with other dried mushrooms, Patterson replied: "Yes I did."
Earlier, Patterson grabbed a tissue and wiped her eyes as she apologised for sending messages to her online friends about her estranged husband's family.
One of those messages, which Patterson sent in December 2022, said "this family, I swear to f***ing god".
"I wish I'd never said it, I feel ashamed for saying that and I wish the family did not have to hear that I said that. They didn't deserve it," she said.
Patterson will return to the witness box on Wednesday as the trial continues.
Erin Patterson accepts there must have been death cap mushrooms inside a lunch she cooked for her former husband's family, after admitting to foraging during evidence.
"In terms of the meal you cooked for the lunch, which is the subject of this trial, do you accept there must have been death cap mushrooms in that meal?" defence barrister Colin Mandy SC asked Patterson.
"Yes I do," she replied, shaking her head.
The 50-year-old, charged with three counts of murder and one attempted murder, has completed a second day of evidence at the court in Morwell, Victoria's Gippsland region.
She wore a navy and white spotted top, black sandals and black pants, and spoke to a full court room about her experience in wild mushroom foraging.
Patterson has pleaded not guilty to all charges and claims the poisonings were not deliberate, and the July 2023 lunch was a terrible accident.
The meal she served at her home led to the deaths of Don and Gail Patterson, 70, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, whose husband Ian was the sole surviving guest.
Mr Wilkinson sat with his arms crossed as he watched Patterson give evidence on Tuesday about what went into the lunch.
She had lied to police about foraging for mushrooms, and about owning a food dehydrator, when she was interviewed, the jury was previously told.
Patterson told a jury of 14 she had begun wild mushroom picking when the COVID-19 pandemic threw Victorians into lockdown in 2020.
She had always enjoyed eating mushrooms because "they taste good and they're very healthy", she said.
But she said it was hard to figure out "what a mushroom is" when she began picking them, and she had used Facebook groups for mushroom lovers to identify different types.
"As far as I could see, there were ones that were potentially edible," Patterson said, about the mushrooms on her Korumburra property.
Asked by her barrister about consuming wild mushrooms, she said it was a process over several months and she got to a point where she "was confident about what I thought they were".
"I cut a bit off one of the mushrooms, fried it up with some butter, ate it and then saw what happened," Patterson said.
"They tasted good and I didn't get sick."
She and her children ate the wild mushrooms she picked and Patterson said she "chopped them up very, very small".
Mr Mandy later asked specifically about where she got the mushrooms that were inside the lunch.
She said the "vast majority" came from Woolworths and some were from "the grocer in Melbourne".
Patterson said she bought a dehydrator because she "liked eating wild mushrooms but it's a very small season".
Asked where she had foraged for wild mushrooms, Patterson listed the Botanic Gardens in Korumburra, her Leongatha and Korumburra properties and a rail trail.
"I took them home, cleaned them sliced them, if I didn't think I wanted to use them that day I dried them and put them in the pantry, just in a Tupperware container on one of the shelves," she said.
Patterson said she had also purchased mushrooms from an Asian grocer in Mount Waverley in April 2023 and she was going to use them the day she bought them but "they were very pungent".
She said she would also put Woolworths mushrooms she had dehydrated into a container in her pantry.
Asked whether she put the wild mushrooms in a container with other dried mushrooms, Patterson replied: "Yes I did."
Earlier, Patterson grabbed a tissue and wiped her eyes as she apologised for sending messages to her online friends about her estranged husband's family.
One of those messages, which Patterson sent in December 2022, said "this family, I swear to f***ing god".
"I wish I'd never said it, I feel ashamed for saying that and I wish the family did not have to hear that I said that. They didn't deserve it," she said.
Patterson will return to the witness box on Wednesday as the trial continues.
Erin Patterson accepts there must have been death cap mushrooms inside a lunch she cooked for her former husband's family, after admitting to foraging during evidence.
"In terms of the meal you cooked for the lunch, which is the subject of this trial, do you accept there must have been death cap mushrooms in that meal?" defence barrister Colin Mandy SC asked Patterson.
"Yes I do," she replied, shaking her head.
The 50-year-old, charged with three counts of murder and one attempted murder, has completed a second day of evidence at the court in Morwell, Victoria's Gippsland region.
She wore a navy and white spotted top, black sandals and black pants, and spoke to a full court room about her experience in wild mushroom foraging.
Patterson has pleaded not guilty to all charges and claims the poisonings were not deliberate, and the July 2023 lunch was a terrible accident.
The meal she served at her home led to the deaths of Don and Gail Patterson, 70, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, whose husband Ian was the sole surviving guest.
Mr Wilkinson sat with his arms crossed as he watched Patterson give evidence on Tuesday about what went into the lunch.
She had lied to police about foraging for mushrooms, and about owning a food dehydrator, when she was interviewed, the jury was previously told.
Patterson told a jury of 14 she had begun wild mushroom picking when the COVID-19 pandemic threw Victorians into lockdown in 2020.
She had always enjoyed eating mushrooms because "they taste good and they're very healthy", she said.
But she said it was hard to figure out "what a mushroom is" when she began picking them, and she had used Facebook groups for mushroom lovers to identify different types.
"As far as I could see, there were ones that were potentially edible," Patterson said, about the mushrooms on her Korumburra property.
Asked by her barrister about consuming wild mushrooms, she said it was a process over several months and she got to a point where she "was confident about what I thought they were".
"I cut a bit off one of the mushrooms, fried it up with some butter, ate it and then saw what happened," Patterson said.
"They tasted good and I didn't get sick."
She and her children ate the wild mushrooms she picked and Patterson said she "chopped them up very, very small".
Mr Mandy later asked specifically about where she got the mushrooms that were inside the lunch.
She said the "vast majority" came from Woolworths and some were from "the grocer in Melbourne".
Patterson said she bought a dehydrator because she "liked eating wild mushrooms but it's a very small season".
Asked where she had foraged for wild mushrooms, Patterson listed the Botanic Gardens in Korumburra, her Leongatha and Korumburra properties and a rail trail.
"I took them home, cleaned them sliced them, if I didn't think I wanted to use them that day I dried them and put them in the pantry, just in a Tupperware container on one of the shelves," she said.
Patterson said she had also purchased mushrooms from an Asian grocer in Mount Waverley in April 2023 and she was going to use them the day she bought them but "they were very pungent".
She said she would also put Woolworths mushrooms she had dehydrated into a container in her pantry.
Asked whether she put the wild mushrooms in a container with other dried mushrooms, Patterson replied: "Yes I did."
Earlier, Patterson grabbed a tissue and wiped her eyes as she apologised for sending messages to her online friends about her estranged husband's family.
One of those messages, which Patterson sent in December 2022, said "this family, I swear to f***ing god".
"I wish I'd never said it, I feel ashamed for saying that and I wish the family did not have to hear that I said that. They didn't deserve it," she said.
Patterson will return to the witness box on Wednesday as the trial continues.