Mushroom murderer Erin Patterson ‘tampered with food in PRISON making inmate sick' after being given job in jail kitchen
The shocking new claim was made by a prisoner housed in the same unit at Melbourne's Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.
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Erin Patterson, pictured in April, has been accused of tampering with prison food, allegedly making an inmate sick
Credit: Reuters
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The convicted mushroom killer, pictured in April, had a job in the kitchen at Melbourne's Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.
Credit: EPA
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Patterson has now been found guilty of murdering her in-laws at a deadly beef wellington lunch
Credit: AFP
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Death cap mushrooms were found inside the beef Wellington Patterson cooked
Credit: Nine
It comes after
According to
A Corrections Victoria source confirmed to
The mum-of-two's supporters have hit back, insisting the prison poisoning claim is baseless.
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Read more on Erin Patterson
Patterson has now been convicted of the murders of her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66.
She was also found guilty of the attempted murder of Heather's husband, pastor Ian Wilkinson, who only survived the deadly July 2023 lunch after undergoing a liver transplant.
The verdicts were delivered in a packed Victorian Supreme Court on Monday, following seven days of jury deliberation and 35 days of evidence and cross-examination.
Patterson, described as "emotionless" as the guilty verdicts were read out, reportedly told her best friend Alison Rose Prior "see you soon" as she was led away from the dock.
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A sentencing date is yet to be scheduled, and Patterson now faces the prospects of life behind bars.
Erin Patterson arrested 'after cooking poisonous mushroom lunch which killed 3 relatives… but didn't fall ill herself'
Poisoned lunch turned fatal
Patterson pleaded not guilty to all charges, claiming the deaths were a tragic accident.
She insisted she had unknowingly used foraged death cap mushrooms when she prepared the beef wellington for her lunch guests at her Leongatha home on July 29, 2023.
But prosecutors alleged Patterson invited her estranged husband's family under false pretences, possibly even faking a cancer diagnosis to ensure they attended.
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Ian Wilkinson, the only survivor of the meal, testified that Patterson served the beef wellington to guests on separate plates from her own.
Toxicologists confirmed all four guests showed symptoms consistent with ingestion of deadly cap mushrooms, a highly lethal species known to grown in the area.
Don, Gail and Heather died within a week. Ian was placed in a coma and later required a liver transplant.
Patterson initially told investigators she had bought dried mushrooms from an Asian grocery store in Melbourne — but couldn't say where.
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She also denied owning a dehydrator — a claim later proven false.
The jury heard that she had lied to health officials, doctors and even police in the days following the lunch, hindering efforts to trace the source of the poisoning and save her victims' lives.
During her eight days in the witness box, Patterson admitted she had foraged mushrooms since 2020, telling jurors: 'They tasted good and I didn't get sick.'
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Heather Wilkinson died after the lunch while her husband Ian was left fighting for life
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Gail Patterson, Erin's former mother-in-law, died after eating the beef wellington
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Gail's husband Don Patterson was also killed by the toxic meal
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Survivor Ian Wilkinson arriving in court on Monday
Credit: Getty
Alleged past attempts and eerie 'death wall'
The horror didn't stop with one deadly meal.
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Police allege Patterson may have attempted to poison her ex-husband Simon Patterson on three separate occasions between 2021 and 2022.
Simon had previously written about a near-death illness that left him in a coma for 16 days and prompted doctors to urge his family to say their goodbyes — twice.
Adding to the sinister narrative, a tradesman who worked on Patterson's house claimed he discovered a chilling 'death wall' filled with threatening scribbles and eerie messages — including one that read: 'You don't [have] long to live.'
One neighbour claimed Patterson was an experienced mushroom forager, often seen picking fungi in the area.
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Police later combed through her multiple Facebook accounts, where she allegedly boasted of being 'very good at details'.
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A tradesman discovered eerie drawings and messages inside Patterson's home
Credit: news.com.au
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And that Murad's sister-in-law was also present when they met the warlord. All the slaves had to line up to greet him and the other emirs when they arrived at the house by car. And she claimed that slaves were even sold at these meetings, with her emir offering them to his guests. Advertisement 'If they liked us - they would buy us, it was like a market for women and kids,' she said. She said she recognised his laugh and his smile, adding: 'It was him, for sure. "Not 100%, 200%.' Much like Nada, she feels deep hurt that the perpetrators and enablers of the crimes against the Yazidis have never been held accountable. Advertisement AL-SHARAA OR AL-JOLANI? Born in Saudi Araba, al-Sharaa was a member of al-Qaeda fighting against the US in Iraq, spending five years in American jails, before being dispatched to set up the al-Nusra terror group in Syria by eventual ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. 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Advertisement 17 Duncan is now a filmmaker who documents the crimes of ISIS 17 He served alongside the Kurdish Peshmergas as a sniper to battle against ISIS From jihad to reform…who is al-Sharraa? BASHAR al-Assad was toppled by rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa - known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani at the time. The Islamist once fought for al-Qaeda and H is group was the driver behind the . And President al-Sharaa - who fought with in following the US 2003 invasion - is now in the driving seat. He was first drawn to jihadist thinking following the September 11 terror attacks in In 2006, he was imprisoned in some of the worst Iraqi prisons, becoming friends with ISIS leader Abu Bakr-Al Baghdadi. By 2011, he had moved back to Syria with six men and a stipend of £40,000 to establish al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate. He formed al-Nusra - and remained aligned with his Baghdadi until resisting an effort to merge with ISIS. Al-Jolani's then decided to split with al-Qaeda in 2016. He rebranded as the HTS, or the Organization for the Liberation of the Levant, in 2016 with the US designating it a terror organisation a year later and placing a £8million bounty on his head. HTS tried to present a more moderate image and shy away from its terrorist anti-Western Jihadist roots as less extreme organisation. The group claimed to have rooted out al-Qaeda and ISIS operatives and cells in its territory and promoted itself to the West as a viable anti-Iran partner. He told PBS in 2021 that he had no desire to wage war against Western nations and the group established a semi-technocratic government in Idlib and the area of northwest Syria it controlled. In a victory statement following Assad's demise, al-Sharaa said claimed Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities would be safe under HTS rule. But since coming to power, there have been reports of massacres and enslavement in Syria.
