Children of ‘beef wellington killer' were taken to hospital after eating leftovers
The children of an Australian woman accused of killing her in-laws with a poisoned beef wellington were admitted to hospital after eating the deadly leftovers, a court has heard.
Erin Patterson is charged with murdering her estranged husband's parents and aunt in 2023 by spiking their meal with lethal death cap mushrooms.
She is also accused of attempting to murder Ian Wilkinson, her husband's uncle, who spent seven weeks in hospital.
On Wednesday, her trial heard that her nine-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son had eaten the leftovers of the beef wellington the following day.
Ms Patterson claimed that she had removed the mushrooms from the dish, but doctors were worried the toxins may have also contaminated the meat.
She told the court she was initially reluctant to take them to hospital.
'It wasn't that I didn't want them to be treated,' she said.
'But more the drastic step of putting them in hospital, I wanted to understand that was really necessary.'
Ms Patterson maintains the lunch was poisoned by accident, pleading not guilty to all charges.
She said she decided to improve the beef and pastry dish with dried mushrooms after deciding it tasted a 'little bland'.
While she initially believed a kitchen container held store-bought mushrooms, she said it may have been mixed with foraged fungi.
'I decided to put in the dried mushrooms I brought from the grocer,' she told the court.
'Now I think that there was a possibility that there were foraged ones in there as well.'
She also told the court that she had misled her guests about the purpose of the family meal.
While they ate, Patterson revealed she might be receiving treatment for cancer in the coming weeks.
But this was a lie, Patterson said.
'I was planning to have gastric bypass surgery, so I remember thinking I didn't want to tell anybody what I was going to have done. I was really embarrassed about it.
'So letting them believe I had some serious issue that needed treatment might mean they could help me with the logistics around the kids,' she told the court.
'I shouldn't have lied to them,' she added.
The prosecution alleges Patterson deliberately poisoned her lunch guests and took care that she did not consume the deadly mushrooms herself.
Her defence says Patterson ate the same meal as the others but did not fall as sick.
Estranged husband rejected lunch invitation
Ms Patterson asked her estranged husband Simon to the family lunch at her secluded rural Victoria home in July 2023, but he turned down the invitation because he felt too uncomfortable, the court heard previously. The pair were long estranged but still legally married.
His parents, Don and Gail, were happy to attend. They died days after eating the home-cooked meal.
His aunt, Heather Wilkinson, also died, while her husband Ian fell seriously ill but later recovered.
Ms Patterson earlier told the court how she had started foraging for mushrooms during a Covid lockdown in 2020, using a dehydrator to preserve them.
She told the court her estranged husband asked her if she had 'poisoned' his parents using the appliance.
'I said of course not,' Ms Patterson told the court.
Police later found the dehydrator at a nearby rubbish dump.
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