Mum accused of killing three people with poisonous mushrooms breaks down in court - what you need to know

Sky News

04-06-2025

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An Australian woman accused of murdering her estranged husband's parents and an aunt by serving them a beef wellington laced with poisonous mushrooms has given evidence in court.
Mother-of-two Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with the 2023 murders of her former parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail Patterson's sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66, along with the attempted murder of Reverend Ian Wilkinson, Heather's husband.
Patterson denies all the charges, claiming the deaths were a "terrible accident".
The prosecution alleges she served guests the meal knowing it contained deadly death cap mushrooms, also known as Amanita phalloides.
Patterson has appeared in the witness box at the Supreme Court of Victoria. Her estranged husband, as well as the sole survivor of the alleged poisoning, Reverend Wilkinson, also previously took to the stand.
Here's what we know so far.
An unexpected invitation
Patterson invited the four alleged victims for lunch at her home in Leongatha, a small town in Melbourne, on 29 July 2023, along with her estranged husband Simon Patterson.
Mr Patterson told the court that although he and Erin Patterson had separated amicably in 2015, their relationship had deteriorated by late 2022.
He said he had listed them as financially separated on a tax return, which triggered a series of child support payments that meant he would no longer pay their two children's private school fees directly, he told the court.
Speaking to the court through tears, Mr Patterson said: "I was sure she was very upset about that."
Their soured relationship meant he repeatedly declined invitations to his estranged wife's home for lunch - including on the day in question.
He told the court he did not feel comfortable attending.
Text messages between Patterson and her husband read out in court revealed she found his decision not to come "really disappointing" as she had spent time and money preparing the "special meal".
Reverend Wilkinson told the court that Patterson asked his wife Heather if the couple were free for the lunch.
"There was no reason given for the lunch, and I remember talking to Heather wondering why the sudden invitation," Mr Wilkinson told the court, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
But he said the pair were "very happy to be invited".
Patterson's daughter, according to ABC, told the court that her mum organised a trip to the cinema for her and her brother in advance of the lunch.
Sole survivor gives details about the lunch
Reverend Wilkinson told the court Heather and Gail offered to help plate up the food, but Patterson rejected the offer and prepared the plates alone.
Each plate had a serving of mashed potatoes, green beans and an individual beef wellington.
Patterson said the mushrooms were a mixture of button mushrooms purchased at a supermarket, and dried mushrooms purchased at an Asian grocery store in Melbourne several months ago, which were in a hand-labelled packet.
Reverend Wilkinson said the four guests were given large grey dinner plates, while Patterson ate from a smaller, tan-coloured plate.
What makes death cap mushrooms so lethal?
The death cap is one of the most toxic mushrooms on the planet and is involved in the majority of fatal mushroom poisonings worldwide.
The species contains three main groups of toxins: amatoxins, phallotoxins, and virotoxins.
From these, amatoxins are primarily responsible for the toxic effects in humans.
The alpha-amanitin amatoxin has been found to cause protein deficit and ultimately cell death, although other mechanisms are thought to be involved.
The liver is the main organ that fails due to the poison, but other organs are also affected, most notably the kidneys.
The effects usually begin after a short latent period and include gastrointestinal disorders followed by jaundice, seizures, coma, and, eventually, death.
He said he remembered his wife pointing this out after they became ill.
The reverend said he and his wife ate their full servings, while Don ate his own and half of his wife's.
Reverend Wilkinson said that after the meal, Patterson fabricated a cancer diagnosis, suggesting the lunch was put together so that she could ask them the best way to tell her children about the illness.
The prosecution said she did this to justify the children's absence.
The defence does not dispute that Patterson lied about having cancer.
When asked why she lied about her health, Patterson told the court it was partly to elicit sympathy from her husband's relatives, as she felt they were growing apart.
"I didn't want their care of me to stop, so I kept it going. I shouldn't have done it," she said, adding: "I did lie to them."
'I was scared'
Whilst on the stand at the beginning of June, Patterson said she might have accidentally included foraged mushrooms in the fatal lunch.
"Now I think there was a possibility there were foraged ones in there," she said in questioning by her lawyer, Colin Mandy.
She said she began foraging for mushrooms around the towns of Korumburra and Leongatha during the COVID lockdowns in 2020. After picking the mushrooms, she said she would use a food dehydrator to dry and preserve them to have them available later in the year.
Prosecutors earlier claimed the defendant denied ever owning a food dehydrator, but police traced one owned by her to a nearby dump that was later found to contain death cap mushrooms.
Two mobile phones she owned were also reset to factory status three times.
Patterson told the court she disposed of the dehydrator before a visit from child protection, who were investigating her living arrangements. She said the phones were wiped because she panicked during the police investigation.
"I was scared of the conversation that might flow about the meal and the dehydrator," she said.
"I was scared they would blame me for it, for making everyone sick. I was scared that they would remove the children."
Patterson talks through tears
Lawyer Mr Mandy also questioned Patterson about a series of expletive-laden messages she sent to friends about the Patterson family.
"I wish I'd never said it. I feel ashamed for saying it and I wish that the family didn't have to hear that I said that," Patterson told the court about the messages.
Talking through tears, she added: "I was really frustrated with Simon, but it wasn't Don and Gail's fault."
The court previously heard the relationship between Patterson and her estranged husband deteriorated shortly before the alleged murders due to a disagreement over child support.
It is not known how long Patterson will give evidence for or whether she will be cross-examined by the prosecution.
Patterson's children 'ate leftovers after guests went to hospital'
All four alleged victims had fallen ill and were experiencing severe vomiting and diarrhoea by midnight on the day of the lunch.
Police previously said the symptoms of all four of those who became ill were consistent with poisoning from death cap mushrooms, which are responsible for 90% of all toxic mushroom-related fatalities.
Patterson says she also became ill hours after eating the meal.
Her daughter, according to the ABC, told the court she remembers Patterson telling her she had diarrhoea that night.
Patterson claims she and her children ate leftovers from the beef wellington on the same day. Her daughter told the court she remembered this, and that her mum didn't eat much because she was still feeling unwell.
The mum said she scraped the mushrooms off the plates in advance because she knew her children didn't like them.
Patterson went to hospital two days after the lunch, where she initially discharged herself against medical advice, the court was told.
A nurse at the hospital where she was treated told the court she "didn't look unwell like Ian and Heather", who were at the same hospital.
Gail and Heather died on Friday 4 August 2023, while Don died a day later.
Reverend Wilkinson spent seven weeks in hospital but survived.
Days after the deaths, police opened a homicide investigation and confirmed Patterson was a suspect. She was charged on 2 November 2023.