Australian radio jocks facing possible prosecution over mushroom killer comment
KIIS FM radio stars Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson could face possible prosecution over the comments they made on the convicted mushroom killer Erin Patterson. On Monday, Patterson was found guilty of murdering three of her in-laws using death cap mushrooms in a beef wellington in a lunch she served them in 2023.
However, KIIS FM's Kyle and Jackie O made comments on the trial before the verdict was made. They discussed the trial during an on-air segment on June 16, with Kyle at one point saying about Patterson: "Just lock that b***h up."
"Like, what does the evidence point to? My question is, how strong is her case?" Jackie O asked her co-host, to which he responded: "'Not strong, not strong for her."
He also added: "The rest of us already know … C'mon bro … Just lock that b***h up.| During the trial, Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Christopher Beale, referenced the comments.
Justice Beale said he would refer the radio stars to the Office of Public Prosecutions, meaning the two could face prosecution for contempt of court.
"This morning the presenters of the Kyle and Jackie O radio show commented on this case during a new segment on their show," Justice Beale said.
"I have read a transcript of that commentary. I encourage all commentators to engage their brains before they open their mouths, as they may otherwise land themselves and their organisations in hot water. I will be referring this morning's matter to the Office of Public Prosecutions for contempt proceedings.
"Our media unit will continue to closely monitor all media in relation to commentary on this case, whether the commentary be shock jocks, so-called influencers, social media commentators or legacy media."
On July 29 2023 Erin Patterson, 50, invited her former parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail Patterson's sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66, over for lunch at her home in the town of Leongatha, the court heard.
The mother-of-two, from the state of Victoria in southern Australia, has been convicted at the Supreme Court trial in Victoria state after the jury returned a verdict after six days of deliberations, following a nine-week trial.
Patterson, who sat in the dock between two prison officers, showed no emotion but blinked rapidly as the verdicts were read.
She was also found guilty of the attempted murder of Mrs Wilkinson's husband Reverend Ian Wilkinson. All her guests fell ill following the lunch the town of Leongatha, which consisted of beef wellington, mashed potatoes and green beans the court was told. Prosecutors had alleged that the mother of two laced the meal with deadly death cap mushrooms, also known as Amanita phalloides.
Mrs Wilkinson and Mrs Patterson died on Friday 4 August 2023, while Mr Patterson died a day late Reverend Wilkinson spent seven weeks in hospital but survived.
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Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
The signs Erin Patterson killed the mother she loathed: CANDACE SUTTON reveals the horrifying police suspicions hanging over the mushroom murderer that couldn't be revealed... until now
When Victoria Police investigated Erin Patterson over the mushroom poisoning deaths, they considered the possibility that she might have been a serial killer, not merely a triple-murderer. Central to the suspicion was the 2019 death of her mother, with whom she had a strained relationship, and whose passing brought Erin a life-changing inheritance. Police told members of a true-crime Facebook group Patterson frequented that they feared she may have had other victims - possibly even her mum, Dr Heather Scutter. A source within that group who was interviewed by investigators also told Daily Mail that Patterson was fascinated by the notorious Ivan Milat, and serial killers in general. Patterson was found guilty of three murders and one attempted murder stemming from the fatal beef Wellington lunch in July 2023. But it was only last week that it emerged three additional charges for attempting to kill her ex-husband Simon Patterson had been dropped before trial. Simon - who pulled out of the beef Wellington lunch 'at the last minute' - had just over a year earlier almost died from a mystery gut illness after eating food Erin served. One of the three withdrawn attempted murder charges relates to that incident, after which he suspected he had been poisoned by Erin. During Victoria Police's investigation into Erin Patterson following the fatal beef Wellington lunch, there were questions about whether she was a serial killer Erin Patterson's text from in 2019 when she was reading Sins of the Brother, the definitive book about serial killer Ivan Milat Patterson revealed in texts that she watched serial killer documentaries. During their investigation, Victoria Police speculated that she might have killed others as well Erin Patterson had sent deeply disparaging messages to Facebook friends about her mother Dr Heather Scutter (above), describing her as 'cold' and 'robotic'. Dr Scutter died in January 2019 After the incident in May 2022, Simon collapsed at home, was placed in an induced coma and required three emergency operations on his small intestine. 'My family were asked to come and say goodbye to me twice, as I was not expected to live,' he wrote on social media. Posting about it afterwards, Simon thanked Erin and his children for their support following his 21 days in intensive care and surgeries which left him with a large abdominal scar. Victorian prosecutors subsequently charged Erin with trying to kill her husband three times, before formally withdrawing the charges at the commencement of her trial in late April. These withdrawn charges were made public when the Supreme Court of Victoria lifted a suppression order last Friday. Daily Mail now understands that police concerns about Erin's previous potentially lethal actions also extended to the possibility that she killed her own mother. Patterson's own texts and Facebook messages with online friends she met through a true crime discussion group frankly reveal her difficult relationship with her parents, but in particular with her mother. Erin's mother, Dr Heather Scutter, was a Monash University lecturer in 19th century adult literature and a renowned children's literature academic who died in 2019. Erin Patterson claimed her mother drank herself to death in her oceanfront house (above), but a neighbour said Dr Scutter had cancer, for which she travelled to Melbourne for treatment. The neighbour also said Erin came to stay with her the Christmas before her January 2019 death It was Heather Wilkinson (left, with husband Ian who survived) who observed that Erin's lunch had been dished on an orange plate while the four victims all ate off grey plates Don and Gail Patterson died in hospital after eating the poisoned meal Erin and her sister, Ceinwen, had grown up with their mother and father, government worker Eitan Scutter, in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverley. When Erin and Simon Patterson married in 2007, neither parent attended the wedding - with the bride stating they were 'in Russia, on a train', according to the ABC. Dr Scutter and husband Eitan moved from Victoria to Eden, on the NSW South Coast, in 2009. Eitan Scutter died, reportedly from cancer, in 2011 and his ashes were scattered in the waters on Aslings Beach below the Scutters' clifftop home. In texts to friends as part of a true crime discussion group, Erin appeared to disrespect her father and strongly resent her mother. She called her dad 'a doormat', her mum a 'cold alcoholic', and described her childhood as 'like being brought up in a Russian orphanage where they don't touch babies'. 'I spent my childhood reading in my room. Mum was a massive drinker,' she wrote in one message. She said her father 'wanted to be warm and loving to us but Mum wouldn't let him because it would spoil us so he did what he was told'. Erin was excited when her mother died in January 2019 because she would inherit the money that would finally allow her to build her 'forever home' Erin Patterson's text describing building the Leongatha house as her life's dream and a 'silver lining' to her mother's January 2019 death Just 30 minutes after her guests left Erin Patterson's home, unaware that they had consumed the deadly amatoxin, the killer host dumped items at the tip, including a garbage bag and cardboard believed to conceal the plates on which she had served up the toxic meal In other messages she wrote: 'Mum was actually a really hard person to love and made my life tough growing up, but you still feel the loss in spite of the difficulties.' Though Erin claimed her mother 'drank herself to death', a neighbour told the Mail that Dr Scutter - whom she described as 'a lovely woman, as was her husband' - had been diagnosed with cancer. She said Dr Scutter periodically travelled to and from Melbourne over the years for treatment. The neighbour said that Dr Scutter's daughter Erin came to stay with her mother sometime before Christmas 2018. Dr Scutter died on January 28, 2019. Her heirs applied for probate in March, and the estate was distributed in May of that year. One year before her marriage to Simon Patterson, Erin had inherited about $2million from her wealthy paternal grandmother's estate, the ABC reported. The late Don Patterson (pictured in 2013 with one of Erin's children) was a doting grandfather who, if he hadn't died from death cap poisoning, might have lived many more years Erin Patterson's texts - as she was packing up her mother's house after inheriting half of it - included disparaging remarks about her mum, her upbringing, and even her father Erin Patterson in Melbourne in mid-April, shortly before her murder trial The inheritance came to her gradually over eight years, and it was this money that Erin reportedly lent to Simon's relatives as housing loans. It was after her mother's death that Erin expressed delight to her online friends that she would finally have the money to build her own house after being a renter for years. In May 2019, when she was clearing out her mother's house, she spoke disparagingly of both her parents. At the same time, she was euphoric about buying the land in Leongatha, in Victoria's Gippsland region, on which she planned to build the house where she would later murder Simon Patterson's family. 'I bought this today,' she posted next to a photo of the block of land and a link. 'Literally so excited I can't breathe!!!' In another bizarre post, Erin pictured a box of diazepam tablets prescribed in her mother's name and wrote, 'OMG I was going through a bag of my mum's stuff and I found this! Full except for one!!' after which she added three shock-horror emojis. It is believed Dr Heather Scutter's remains were cremated and her death was not deemed suspicious or worth investigating at the time. Meanwhile, the Victorian DPP is unlikely to revive the probe into the allegations of attempted murder against Simon Patterson, following Erin's sweep of guilty verdicts. In 2020, Erin Patterson found prescription Diazepam tablets among her mother's belongings when clearing out her house, and sent a photo of the medication to a friend (pictured) Erin Patterson had the Leongatha death house shrouded in black plastic ahead of her trial In further texts with Facebook friends, Erin Patterson discussed the infamous 'backpacker killer' Ivan Milat, saying she had read the definitive book on him. 'I read the best book on his crimes. Called Sins of the Brother. Convinced me that one of his brothers helped him with some of the murders,' Erin wrote. She added that while she hated horror movies, 'I'll watch serial killer docos'. Criminal psychologist Xanthe Mallett's assessed Patterson as a narcissistic psychopath who was not as clever as she believed herself to be. She said Patterson's simmering rage for her estranged husband Simon had led her to kill, and that instead of remorse, she would feel entitled to have carried out the crimes, 'thinking she's done nothing wrong'. Remains of the poisoned meals that Patterson served up at the fateful lunch. It has now been revealed that half an hour after her guests left, she dumped evidence at the local tip This is the Leongatha dining room where Erin Patterson fed her guests their individual poisoned meals with deadly and deliberate precision Dr Mallett said Patterson was cunning, manipulative and a good liar, but, despite her narcissism, she was not the smartest person in the room, as she thought she was. When Erin Patterson became a stay-at-home mother, as her two young children were growing up, she took over the running of the local newsletter her ageing parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson had previously edited in their neighbouring home town of Korumburra. Patterson became the editor of The Burra Flyer in March 2018, praising her in-laws as 'extraordinarily generous', thanking them for their support, and thanking the contributors. However, in reality Erin thought she was above them all and looked down on contributors. One online forum which came to know Erin for her complaints about her then husband and for her passion for true crime, claimed she branded the locals 'illiterate motherf**kers' during a rant. Erin Patterson, who had several social media accounts including one with the avatar of a witch on a broomstick, disparaged Mr Patterson's family in a Facebook group chat, her murder trial heard. She said about the Pattersons, 'This family, I swear to f**ing God,' and stated she wanted 'nothing to do' with them. Erin Patterson disparaged the family of her estranged husband Simon Patterson (pictured at Morwell court during her trial) just as she had done her own parents years before Simon Patterson joked about his wife's aversion to being photographed in a 2013 Facebook post, saying that a photo of Erin's lower legs was the 'closest you get to a selfie'. The now-convicted killer testified about her poor body image Mushrooms, believed to be death caps, dehydrating on scales in Erin Patterson's Leongatha home in a photograph detectives seized from one of the murderer's devices Messages tendered in the Victorian Supreme Court written by the user Erin ErinErin, which was one of three Facebook names used by Patterson, also included her saying she was 'sick of this sh*t' and, of Don and Gail Patterson, 'f*** em'. In poignant recollections following the end of the trial, Dr Chris Webster, who treated the Wilkinsons, remembered Heather's gentle gratitude as she was wheeled off to die. The last words Heather said to Webster before the ambulance took off were: 'Thank you for looking after me', Nine newspapers reported. 'I knew that she was going off to her death,' Webster said. 'Heather was one of the gentlest souls, [the] kindest person. 'Her liver is falling apart inside her body, and the thing that she makes sure she does before she leaves the hospital in an ambulance: thank the doctor.' Dr Webster told the Herald Sun: 'The look on her face, the sincerity of her gratitude and the door closing on her, it was a bit like the final scene in the Godfather. That will haunt me forever'. Dr Chris Webster, who treated Heather Wilkinson as she lay dying, described her last moments before she was taken away: 'I knew she was going off to her death. It will haunt me forever' Erin Patterson checks herself out of hospital after pretending to be ill from the same lunch that had sent her four guests off to the ICU, eventually killing three of them In contrast, Dr Webster said that as Heather and Ian lay in cubicles being treated as they suffered, Erin Patterson had displayed none of the usual care and concern one would show towards a family member. After a brief appearance at the hospital, Patterson had checked herself out and Dr Webster had phoned the police because of his concern. At the murder trial he saw the killer's true colours as he testified against her, later saying that when he had asked her where the mushrooms came from, and she said 'Woolworths', he knew in an instant she was a scheming liar. 'I looked over and searing daggers shot out of her eyes and went into my brain,' he said, of facing Patterson in the dock as he testified. 'There was a lot of anger and hostility in her.'
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
The shockingly grim thought every woman I know had after the latest Erin Patterson revelations. I fear I'll be cancelled for daring to say it, writes AMANDA GOFF
I will start by stating the obvious: Erin Patterson is evil beyond comprehension. She is a convicted triple-murderer, found guilty of lacing a beef Wellington with death cap mushrooms and serving it up to her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, along with Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, killing all three.
The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
Judge ruled Erin Patterson would have to face separate trial for attempting to kill estranged husband to avoid prejudice
Triple murderer Erin Patterson would have been unfairly prejudiced if a jury heard allegations she tried to kill her estranged husband in the years before the fatal poison mushroom lunch. Victorian supreme court justice Christopher Beale made the decision on 14 March, ruling Patterson would have to face a separate trial for the three alleged attempted murder charges. Prosecutors ultimately dropped the charges in relation to Simon Patterson just before the triple-murder trial started in Morwell. Patterson was on 7 July found guilty of killing Simon's parents, Don and Gail, 70, and his aunt Heather Wilkinson, 66, along with the attempted murder of Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson. Erin Patterson denies the allegations relating to her former partner, Simon Patterson. Sign up: AU Breaking News email Justice Beale's redacted pre-trial rulings were released to media on Monday evening after Patterson lost her bid to keep the evidence a secret to preserve her appeal rights. The details around the alleged attempted murders of Simon Patterson were revealed for the first time on Friday. Prosecutors had alleged Patterson tried to poison Simon several times between 2021 and 2022. The first was a penne pasta Patterson cooked him before leaving for a camping trip in November 2021, which led to a five-day hospital stay for Simon. He also ended up in a coma after a camping trip in late May 2022 where he allegedly ate a chicken korma curry Patterson had made him. Simon had to undergo surgery to remove a large portion of his bowel after eating the curry, he told the supreme court during pre-trial hearings. It was also alleged he fell ill in September 2022 after eating a wrap Patterson prepared for him while camping together at Wilsons Promontory. The prosecution claimed the allegations could be used as coincidence evidence to show the similarities between what allegedly happened to Simon and the mushroom lunch victims. But Beale ruled the charges should be heard in a separate trial to prevent jurors from 'misusing or overvaluing' the evidence in relation to Simon. He determined if a jury found Patterson had deliberately poisoned her four lunch guests in July 2023, there was a risk they would wrongly assess the charges relating to Simon. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'I am not persuaded that its probative value substantially outweighs the significant danger or risk of unfair prejudice to the accused,' Beale said in his written reasons. The judge also made pre-trial rulings in relation to documents on poisoning found on devices police seized from Patterson's home. Beale ruled the documents failed the relevance test because the evidence could only go as high as Patterson possibly accessed the file. The judge also stopped the jury from seeing a Facebook post Patterson made to a poisons page, where she claimed her cat had chewed on a mushroom and was vomiting. Justice Beale noted the post was made 18 months before the first allegation in relation to Simon. 'In my view, even if the evidence of this post shows an interest in poisons, it is temporally remote,' the judge said in his reasons. Patterson will face a two-day pre-sentence hearing later in August, during which she will listen to statements from the Pattersons and Wilkinsons. She will have 28 days to appeal after she is sentenced.
