logo
Australian woman on trial for mushroom murder of in-laws says she was trying to fix a ‘bland' lunch

Australian woman on trial for mushroom murder of in-laws says she was trying to fix a ‘bland' lunch

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Before Erin Patterson's in-laws and their relatives arrived at her home for lunch, she bought pricey ingredients, consulted friends about recipes and sent her children out to a movie.
Then, the Australian woman served them a dish containing poisonous death cap mushrooms — a meal that was fatal for three of her four guests.
Whether that was Patterson's plan is at the heart of a triple murder trial that has gripped Australia for nearly six weeks.
Prosecutors in the Supreme Court case in the state of Victoria say the accused lured her guests to lunch with a lie about having cancer, before deliberately feeding them toxic fungi.
But her lawyers say the tainted beef Wellington she served was a tragic accident caused by a mushroom storage mishap. She denies murdering her estranged husband's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and their relative, Heather Wilkinson.
The mother of two also denies attempting to murder Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson, who survived the meal. In a rare step for a defendant charged with murder, Patterson chose to speak in her own defense at her trial this week.
On Wednesday, she spoke publicly for the first time about the fateful lunch in July 2023 and offered her explanations on how she planned the meal and didn't become sick herself.
Adding more mushrooms to a 'bland' meal
No one disputes that Patterson, 50, served death cap mushrooms to her guests for lunch in the rural town of Leongatha, but she says she did it unknowingly.
Patterson said Wednesday she splurged on expensive ingredients and researched ideas to find 'something special' to serve. She deviated from her chosen recipe to improve the 'bland' flavor, she said.
She believed she was adding dried fungi bought from an Asian supermarket from a container in her pantry, she told the court.
'Now I think that there was a possibility that there were foraged ones in there as well,' she told her lawyer, Colin Mandy. Patterson had foraged wild mushrooms for years, she told the court Tuesday, and had put some in her pantry weeks before the deaths.
The accused says she 'shouldn't have lied' about cancer
Patterson, who formally separated from her husband Simon Patterson in 2015, said she felt 'hurt' when Simon told her the night before the lunch that he 'wasn't comfortable' attending.
She earlier told his relatives that she'd arranged the meal to discuss her health. Patterson admitted this week that she never had cancer — but after a health scare, she told her in-laws she did.
In reality, Patterson said she intended to have weight loss surgery. But she was too embarrassed to tell anybody and planned to pretend to her in-laws that she was undergoing cancer treatment instead, she said.
'I was ashamed of the fact that I didn't have control over my body or what I ate,' a tearful Patterson said Wednesday. 'I didn't want to tell anybody, but I shouldn't have lied to them.'
Patterson says she threw up her mushroom meal
The accused said she believes she was spared the worst effects of the poisoned meal because she self-induced vomiting shortly after her lunch guests left. She had binged on most of a cake and then made herself throw up — a problem she said she had struggled with for decades.
Patterson also said she believes she had eaten enough of the meal to cause her subsequent diarrhea. She then sought hospital treatment but unlike her lunch guests, she quickly recovered.
At the hospital where her guests' health was deteriorating, her estranged husband asked her about the dehydrator she used to dry her foraged mushrooms, she said.
'Is that how you poisoned my parents?' she said Simon Patterson asked her.
Growing afraid she would be blamed for the poisoning and that her children would be taken from her, Patterson said she later disposed of her dehydrator. She told investigators she'd never owned one and hadn't foraged for mushrooms before.
While still at the hospital, she insisted she'd bought all the mushrooms at stores even though she said she knew it was possible that foraged mushrooms had accidentally found their way into the meal.
She was too frightened to tell anyone, Patterson said.
Also later, Patterson said she remotely wiped her cell phone while it sat in an evidence locker to remove pictures of mushrooms she'd foraged.
Prosecutors argued in opening their case in April that she poisoned her husband's family on purpose, although they didn't suggest a motive. She carefully avoided poisoning herself and faked being ill, they said.
The trial continues on Thursday with Patterson's cross-examination by the prosecutors. If convicted, she faces life in prison for murder and 25 years for attempted murder.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Israel deports Greta Thunberg after Gaza-bound ship she was on was seized
Israel deports Greta Thunberg after Gaza-bound ship she was on was seized

Toronto Star

time22 minutes ago

  • Toronto Star

Israel deports Greta Thunberg after Gaza-bound ship she was on was seized

JERUSALEM (AP) — Activist Greta Thunberg was deported from Israel on Tuesday, the country's Foreign Ministry said, a day after the Gaza-bound ship she was on was seized by the Israeli military. Thunberg left on a flight to France and was then headed to her home country of Sweden, Israel's Foreign Ministry said in a post on X. It posted a photo of Thunberg, who shuns air travel, seated on a plane. Thunberg was one of 12 passengers on the Madleen, a ship carrying aid to Gaza that was meant to protest Israel's ongoing war there and shed light on the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group behind the journey. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Israeli naval forces seized the boat without incident early Monday about 200 kilometers (125 miles) off of Gaza's coast, according to the coalition, which along with rights groups, said Israel's actions were a violation of international law. Israel rejects that charge because it says such ships intend to breach what it says is a lawful naval blockade of Gaza. The boat, accompanied by Israel's navy, arrived in the Israeli port of Ashdod Monday evening, according to Israel's Foreign Ministry. Adalah, a legal rights group in Israel representing the activists, said Thunberg, two other activists and a journalist had agreed to be deported and leave Israel. The other eight activists refused deportation, were being held in detention and their case was set to be heard by Israeli authorities, Adalah said. The activists were expected to be brought before a court later Tuesday, the group added. Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for Israel's Interior Ministry, said the activists who were being deported Tuesday had waived their right to appear before a judge. Those who did not will face one and will be held for 96 hours before being deported. Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, was also among the volunteers on board. She has been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians. It was not immediately clear whether she was being immediately deported or detained. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Tuesday that one of the detained French activists signed an expulsion order and will leave Israel on Tuesday for France. The other five refused. He said all the activists received consular visits. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW On Monday, Adalah, the rights group, said that Israel had 'no legal authority' to take over the ship, because the group said it was in international waters and it was headed not to Israel but to the 'territorial waters of the state of Palestine.' Amnesty International said Israel was flouting international law with the naval raid and called on Israel to release the activists immediately and unconditionally. 'The arrest of the unarmed activists, who operated in a civilian manner to provide humanitarian aid, amounts to a serious breach of international law,' Adalah said in a statement. Israel viewed the ship as a publicity stunt, calling it the 'selfie yacht.' Israeli officials said that the flotilla was bringing 'meager' aid with what amounted to less than a truckload of goods. ___ Associated Press writers Angela Charlton in Paris and Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at

Russian drone and missile attack, one of the biggest in the war, kills 2 and wounds 13 in Ukraine
Russian drone and missile attack, one of the biggest in the war, kills 2 and wounds 13 in Ukraine

Toronto Star

timean hour ago

  • Toronto Star

Russian drone and missile attack, one of the biggest in the war, kills 2 and wounds 13 in Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia sent waves of drones and missiles in an attack on two Ukrainian cities early Tuesday that killed two people and wounded at least thirteen others, Ukrainian officials said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an online statement called the attack 'one of the biggest' in the war that has raged for over three years, saying Moscow's forces fired over 315 drones, mostly Shaheds, and seven missiles at Ukraine overnight.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store