Patterson says foraged mushrooms may have been in fatal lunch

1News

4 days ago

Triple murder accused Erin Patterson has told a Morwell court she looked up information about death cap mushrooms but believed they didn't grow in her area as she continued testifying in her own defence for a third day.
She also became emotional while admitting she misled her former in-laws about having medical tests, including claiming she had a biopsy and was booked for an MRI, despite none of those appointments taking place.
Patterson, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. She is accused of deliberately poisoning her former in-laws with a beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms in July 2022. Three people died. A fourth, Pastor Ian Wilkinson, survived after weeks in hospital.
'I became aware of death cap mushrooms quite early'
Under questioning from her defence lawyer, Colin Mandy SC, Patterson said she began researching mushrooms during Covid lockdowns after developing an interest in foraging.
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Erin Patterson. (Source: 1News)
'I became aware of death cap mushrooms quite early through this period,' she said. 'I looked up to see if they grew in South Gippsland and I remember finding out that they didn't, essentially.'
She also told the jury she knew of another toxic species — inocybe mushrooms — growing on her property, which she had learned were dangerous to dogs.
May have searched death cap sites
Three white Amanita phalloides (deathcap), which are one of the most poisonous of all known mushrooms. (Source: istock.com)
The jury was reminded of earlier prosecution evidence that Patterson's computer had accessed webpages discussing mushroom foraging and known locations of death caps.
"I don't specifically remember doing it that day," she told the court, "but it's possible it was me… and possible that's part of the process I went through to see if they grew in South Gippsland."
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Patterson also denied ever foraging in nearby locations such as Lock or Outtrim where mushroom experts previously testified they had logged death cap sightings on citizen science platforms. She told the court she was unaware of those posts.
Breaks down over misleading Don and Gail
In one of the day's more emotional moments, Patterson was shown messages she'd exchanged with her former in-laws — Don and Gail Patterson — about a suspected health issue.
She told them she had a lump on her arm and claimed she'd undergone a needle biopsy and was scheduled for an MRI.
But on the stand, she admitted none of that was true.
"Some weeks prior, I had been having an issue with my elbow with pain and I thought there was a lump there," she explained. "They had shown quite a lot of care about that, which felt really nice."
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She said the pain resolved itself and she felt embarrassed for raising the alarm.
"I didn't want their care of me to stop, so I just kept it going," she said, sniffing and speaking with a halting voice. "I shouldn't have done it."
Why Patterson arranged the lunch
Woman accused of killing three people with poisonous mushrooms in beef Wellington testifies in her defence. (Source: 1News)
Patterson also gave evidence about why she organised the fatal family lunch in July, 2022.
She said it was motivated by a desire to spend more time with her former in-laws and their extended family.
"Primarily, the kids and I had such a good time seeing nanna and papa… that I wanted to do it again," she said.
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She told the court that during a previous visit, Gail had commented on how nice the garden looked and Patterson believed Heather Wilkinson would like to see it too.
Patterson then said she put considerable thought into what to serve for the lunch. While shepherd's pie had worked in the past, she said it didn't feel "special enough".
Instead, she decided to attempt beef Wellington — a dish her mother used to make on important occasions — using a recipe from her RecipeTin Eats cookbook. It was her first time making it.
She told the court she bought most of the ingredients from Woolworths, including mushrooms, puff pastry and filo pastry, which were already common staples in her household.
"I bought mushrooms very regularly. At least weekly, sometimes twice weekly," she said.
How Patterson says she prepared the beef Wellington
Erin Patterson says she used this receipe to make beef Wellington (Source: 1News)
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Patterson walked the court through how she planned and prepared the beef Wellington at the centre of the case.
She said the recipe came from Dinner by food blogger Nagi Maehashi (known for RecipeTin Eats), but with several changes. The original called for a whole beef tenderloin wrapped in mustard, prosciutto, mushroom duxelles and a thin crepe, all encased in puff pastry.
But Patterson said she had to adapt.
She didn't use mustard, omitted the prosciutto because her father-in-law didn't eat pork, and replaced the crepe with filo pastry because it seemed "a little bit complicated". She also couldn't find a full beef fillet, so decided to make individual portions using a twin pack of eye fillet steaks.
She told the jury she began prepping the day before, salting the steaks on Friday to draw out moisture and reading the recipe carefully, even Googling tips so she wouldn't "stuff it up".
On the Saturday morning, she started early by cooking the mushroom duxelles. She chopped Woolworths-bought mushrooms in her Thermomix, added garlic and shallots, and cooked it down "for a very long time" to prevent the pastry from going soggy.
Patterson said she asked her Facebook friends for advice on the beef cut and mushroom quantity, sharing a photo of the eye fillet pack with the group. She said individual portions required more mushrooms and pastry than a traditional log-style Wellington.
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"You've got the mushroom and pastry on the top and bottom sides rather than the circumference," she explained. "I used a lot more."
When asked why she bought more filo pastry in the days following the lunch, Patterson said she couldn't remember.
"I'd only bought some a day before, but it looks like I must have forgotten I did that," she told the court. "But I made things with pastry all the time, so it wouldn't have mattered."
Patterson says dried mushrooms may have included foraged ones
Detective who led the investigation reveals stark new details about Patterson's actions and behaviour following the fatal lunch. (Source: 1News)
Patterson said there was a chance the dried mushrooms she added to the dish may have included foraged varieties.
She told the jury she initially used Woolworths mushrooms for the duxelles, a mushroom paste base for the beef Wellington, but said the mixture "tasted bland" while cooking.
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To enhance the flavour, she decided to mix in dried mushrooms she had stored in her pantry.
At the time, she believed they were store-bought.
"I thought they were the dried ones I'd bought from Melbourne," she said. "Now I think there's a possibility that some foraged ones were in there as well."
Patterson described briefly rinsing the mushrooms to soften them, then chopping and mixing them into the dish.
She did not say whether she tasted the filling again after adding the dried mushrooms.
Lunch served on mismatched dinner plates, court hears
Patterson also detailed the moments leading up to the meal being served.
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She said her former in-laws were inside the home and chatting while she prepared the mashed potatoes and plated the food. Gail and Heather, she said, took a look inside her pantry which she recalled feeling "proud" of, even though it was slightly messy.
Patterson said she used her regular dinnerware to serve the meal: A mix of black, white and coloured plates, including one hand-painted by her daughter.
"I don't have grey dinner plates," she told the court.
That detail appeared to contradict testimony from Pastor Ian Wilkinson, the only surviving guest, who recalled the meal being served on four grey plates and one tan-orange one.
Erin Patterson's testimony continues.