‘Large sentence' looms for triple-murderer mushroom cook
The 50-year-old mother of two was found guilty on Monday of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, following a lengthy and closely watched trial.
Her estranged husband's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and his aunt, Heather Wilkinson, 66, died in hospital days after eating a beef Wellington meal laced with deadly death cap mushrooms at a family lunch in July 2023.
Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, was the sole survivor, left to recover from the poisoning that shocked the nation.
There was a shout of 'murderer' as Patterson was driven out of the court precinct to prison in Melbourne on Monday evening.
The jury's guilty verdicts came seven days after they were sent away to deliberate and 11 weeks into the trial in the Victorian town of Morwell.
Brianna Chesser, a clinical forensic psychologist and criminal lawyer, said she was not surprised by the outcome.
She argued Patterson's testimony across eight days on the witness stand, as well as circumstantial evidence, likely proved critical to convincing the jury beyond reasonable doubt.
'Whenever you have any lies in a trial it is quite a difficult thing to overcome from a defence perspective,' the Associate Professor in Criminology and Justice at RMIT University told AAP.
'What came out regarding the mushrooms was almost insurmountable.
'When you've got particular searches on your phone and a dehydrator that you had and didn't have, it really speaks to the unusualness of the circumstances.'
The story had captivated the world because of the method, as well as the now-convicted murderer being a woman when the vast majority of homicides were perpetrated by men, Dr Chesser said.
Patterson faces a sentence of life in prison for the three murders and one attempted murder and is expected to return to court for a pre-sentence hearing later in 2025.
Options for appeal were usually restricted to points of law, a 'massive' error in fact or new evidence, Dr Chesser said.
'It's going to be quite a large sentence,' she said.
'We've heard during the cross-examination and examination in chief that there are some mental health concerns for Ms Patterson.
'That may well act a mitigating factor in any sort of sentence.
'We're also dealing with someone who's a middle-aged woman who has never offended before in their life and we've got four of the most serious crimes in Victoria being committed.'
Within hours of the verdict, the Supreme Court released dozens of pieces of evidence that helped prosecutors secure the convictions.
They included photos showing remnants of beef Wellington leftovers as they were tested by toxicologists, after police found them inside a bin at Patterson's home. Mushroom lunch leftovers taken from Erin Patterson's home. Supplied Credit: Supplied The mushrooms inside were finely chopped. Supplied by the Court Credit: Supplied
A video of Patterson discharging herself from Leongatha Hospital minutes after she had arrived was also released, while images of her at the hospital revealed a pink phone police say they never recovered.
Prosecutors said this was Patterson's primary phone in 2023 and claimed she had used it to find death cap mushrooms online.
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Daily Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Daily Telegraph
Mushroom cook Erin Patterson broke down during murder trial
Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. For ten weeks, Erin Patterson remained composed as a jury decided whether a poisoned beef Wellington lunch she cooked was a deliberate and callous act of murder, or a tragic accident. She was found guilty of the murders of three family members and the attempted murder of a fourth with the meal that had been spiked with death cap mushrooms on July 29, 2023, at her home in a small Victorian dairy town. Now the verdict is in, a key moment of weakness in the second week of the trial that saw her break down sobbing moments after the jury left the room can be revealed. The mother-of-two had spent two days listening to her son and daughter's interviews with police, with topics ranging from what the kids knew of the lunch, what they did after, and the disintegration of their parents' marriage. Erin Patterson was found guilty of three counts of murder after preparing the fatal beef Wellington lunch that ended in the deaths of three family members. Picture: Brooke Grebert-Craig. Photos of the remnants of the beef Wellington meal, taken in for testing, were released after the trial found Erin Patterson guilty of three counts of murder. Picture: Supplied Patterson, wearing a long brown cardigan and green top, sat in the dock watching a screen as video showed her daughter telling police she wasn't present at the lunch, 'so I don't know what happened'. The nine-year-old told her interviewer her mum told her she would be going to see a movie with her older brother and another boy the morning of the lunch. She said she saw 'meat' in the oven and Patterson was making a coffee as she explained she wanted to have lunch with her in-laws to discuss 'adult stuff'. 'I don't exactly know what they had but I know (brother) and me had leftovers the next day,' she said. The young girl said she went to the cinema around midday on July 29, had McDonald's for lunch and was picked up by her dad Simon Patterson, whom she spent the evening with. Later that night, the girl said Patterson told them they were having 'leftovers' with meat, mashed potato and green beans served. 'She wasn't really hungry so (brother) ate the rest of hers,' she said. There was no suggestion during the trial that the children's meals were contaminated with death cap mushrooms. The girl told police Patterson loved to cook and she would often help to bake sweet treats. Her older brother's interview was played next, the boy telling police he had arrived home on the day of the fatal lunch about 30 minutes before their grandparents Don and Gail Patterson, and great aunt and uncle Ian and Heather Wilkinson left. He agreed it appeared the group had a good time and said he spoke with his grandfather, Don, about his flying lessons before going to play video games with a friend. Don and Gail Patterson died after ingesting poisonous mushrooms. Picture: supplied Korumburra pastor Ian Wilkinson survived despite being left fighting for life but his wife Heather Wilkinson died after the lunch. Picture: Supplied After they said their goodbyes, the boy said he helped his mother clean up from lunch. 'I remember taking some plates up to the sink and putting them in the dishwasher,' he said. 'I collected all the plates put them in a pile next to the sink … I collected all the glasses put them near the sink.' He said he did not recall any remnants of food on the plates, which he believed were 'plain white' dinner plates about 15cm in diameter. The boy spoke with police about how his mother told him she felt sick the morning after the lunch, forcing them to skip church, but was adamant she would drive him the hour to his flying lesson. He told officers that the following Monday, he and his sister were pulled out of school by their father Simon and taken to the Monash Children's Hospital in Melbourne, where he visited his mother and had three blood tests over Monday and Tuesday before being sent home. The police line of questioning then turned to the relationship between Patterson and her husband, with the boy detailing a 'very negative' shift in his parents' relationship ahead of the fatal lunch. Killer mushroom cook Erin Patterson was convicted after a 10-week trial. Picture: NewsWire / Anita Lester As her son's police interview was played in court, the mother-of-two appeared glassy eyed and trying to hold back tears. The 14-year-old boy said he knew his dad didn't like that Patterson had moved the boy to another school, and wanted to be on the paperwork for his son's new school. 'Dad wouldn't talk to mum about that,' he said. He told the interviewer he and his sister had previously been staying with Simon Patterson after school Friday through to Monday and with Patterson from Monday evening though to Friday morning. But in the past year they had only stayed at their mother's home, by choice. 'For the past year we've been living at mum's, sleeping at mum's, for the last year he's trying to get me and (sister) to stay at his … but I didn't really want to,' he said. 'I told him I really didn't want to because he never did anything with us over the weekend.' Patterson appeared glassy-eyed during the interview, but managed to maintain her composure. Moments after the jury were excused and the room was clear, she broke down in heaving sobs. She was red faced and gasping for breath as her barrister, Colin Mandy SC, walked over to the stand to offer some reassuring words. The only other time Patterson displayed any clear emotion in the courtroom was when she was in the witness box. Her voice faltered and she was seen dabbing her eyes with a tissue whenever she responded to questions about her children. When the jury returned on Tuesday with their verdict, and hundreds gathered outside the courtroom to hear their verdict, Patterson looked only slightly nervous as she tried to meet each juror's eye and failed. She remained expressionless as the forewoman softly said 'guilty' in response to each charge. Patterson, who has maintained her innocence throughout the two-year saga, is expected to appeal the jury's decision. Originally published as Moment mushroom cook Erin Patterson broke down during murder trial
News.com.au
4 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘A bit of a Hogwarts special': Why society is obsessed with female killers
Erin Patterson looks much like you'd expect any middle-aged Australian woman to – brown hair, glasses, unremarkable clothes. As University of Sydney criminologist Dr Helen Easton pointed out, 'she could be your sister, your mum, your aunty, a neighbour'. At a glance, you wouldn't assume the mother-of-two to be capable of triple murder. Yet on Monday, Patterson was found guilty by a unanimous jury of killing her husband's parents and aunt, and attempting to kill his uncle, with a death cap mushroom-laced beef wellington lunch on July 29, 2023. The 50-year-old, who is yet to be sentenced, faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. Patterson's case has captivated the world. Newspapers from New York to New Delhi followed every twist of the trial, nicknaming her the 'Mushroom Killer'. Podcasters, film crews and true-crime fanatics descended on the rural town of Morwell, a sedate hamlet in Victoria better known for its prize-winning roses. It's unlikely this appetite for the case will be sated any time soon, either. Following the verdict, the ABC, streaming giant Stan and multiple publishers announced a drama series, a three-part documentary and books, respectively, inspired by or about the saga, all pegged for release within the next year. The reasons behind our rabid interest in Patterson, Dr Easton told are manifold, and largely united by a common thread: 'The available data, which for crime data is very accurate, tells us that women, on the whole, tend not to kill.' 'A powerful breach of gender norms' In Australia, per the most recent Institute of Criminology statistics, the male homicide offender rate was 2.45 per 100,000 men – almost seven times the female offender rate of 0.36 per 100,000 women. Of the 314 identified homicides between 2019 and 2020, 87 per cent were committed by men. When women do kill, Dr Easton explained, 'there is usually some connection to having experienced extreme, and often continued, violence or coercive control from their victim'. In cases of infanticide, 'women most often kill in a moment of diminished responsibility or automatism, connected to post-natal psychiatric illness'. 'Patterson's actions are therefore incredibly unusual,' Dr Easton said. 'Not only are they a breach of social norms, but they are also a powerful breach of gender norms. 'Stereotypes of women, which have historic origins but continue to inform legal processes to this day, suggest women to be caring, passive, and emotional – rather than the calculated, heartless and unemotional organiser of a poisoned Sunday lunch.' Society is 'always shocked', Swinburne University's Loryn Sykes said, when it's reminded that women 'have the capacity for violence and murder, as we don't see women as a threat to our collective safety'. 'We associate violence with the realm of men (because) violence is seen as masculine behaviour,' Ms Sykes, who is hoping to complete a PhD in true-crime podcasting, told Given the perception of male killers as 'a broader threat' to the general public than their female counterparts – especially if their victims are young women or girls – their crimes can be a catalyst for mass outrage, increased concern about the level of safety in the community, and even legislative change, she said. 'Murders committed by women, on the other hand, are not seen or framed as a threat … in the same way,' Ms Sykes said. 'Instead, the focus of media and public outrage is about condemning the individual women who perpetrated these murders rather than … what the crime says about the state of the world we live in. 'I think this is the reason why the public's response to this case is more about making fun of Erin Patterson – rather than being genuinely fearful of her.' 'A bit of a Hogwarts special' Patterson's crimes evoke imagery of the Victorian era, Ms Sykes said, pointing to the cases of Christiana Edmunds, the so-called 'Chocolate Cream Killer' of 1871, and Marie-Fortunée Larfarge, who poisoned her husband with arsenic in 1840. 'Even though women killing their family members is quite rare, the narrative of women murdering via poisoning is familiar enough of a trope in true crime that news outlets can craft a story that audiences can recognise and follow along with easily,' she added. The murder weapon itself plays into this narrative, Dr Easton said. 'Mushrooms are a mysterious and magical food – growing out of decay and … a key ingredient in the potions knocked up by witches,' she said. 'It offers up another stereotype Patterson can be associated with – the ugly, middle-aged witch or hag, again confirming her as evil. The mystery and magic of mushrooms and the mundanity of a Sunday lunch create contrast and interest in the story – a bit of a Hogwarts special. 'The fact that Erin's husband – and likely his larger family – were religious and therefore 'good' people further strengthens this contrast, and we enter the familiar narrative of the battle between good and evil.' 'Without the truth, Erin seems 'mad'' Most 'intriguing' of all – at least for Dr Easton – is Patterson's lack of a motive. 'Perhaps (the crime) would be more understandable had Erin's husband had an affair and his family supported him (in his infidelity), or if there was money involved which Erin would only inherit after the deaths of her husband and relatives,' she said. 'This remains a mystery in this case – and perhaps if the truth were out there, it would be a lot less interesting. Without the truth, Erin seems 'mad' – we can't see killing people as normal behaviour.' Criminologist Dr Xanthe Mallett said on The Trial podcast earlier this week that she and renowned criminal psychologist Dr Tim Watson-Munro had 'picked apart' Patterson's personality as they observed the case, in a bid to understand what prompted her to target her extended family. 'It appears, or what I believe happened is, she has this simmering rage for Simon and perhaps felt that his family hadn't supported her,' Dr Mallett said, referring to text messages tendered as evidence during the trial that demonstrated 'some tensions within the family'. 'And therefore some of that rage is transferred to them, and she felt justified in harming them because of this … and therefore she is protecting herself.'
ABC News
4 hours ago
- ABC News
Rachael, Kristian and Stocky tell you what they really think
We will never know exactly how the jury reached its guilty verdicts, but we can tell you why we think they did. Rachael Brown and Stephen Stockwell are re-joined by court reporter Kristian Silva for this post-verdict analysis episode. Today, we outline the most damning evidence against Erin Patterson, the gaps and questions never dealt with in court, and we dig into our listeners' 'Legally Blonde' moments. If you've got questions about the case that you'd like Rachael and Stocky to answer in future episodes, send them through to mushroomcasedaily@ - From court recaps to behind-the-scenes murder trial explainers, and post-verdict analysis, Mushroom Case Daily is your eyes and ears inside the courtroom. It's the case that's captured the attention of the world. Three people died and a fourth survived an induced coma after eating beef wellington at a family lunch, hosted by Erin Patterson. Police alleged that the beef wellington contained poisonous mushrooms, but Erin Patterson said she was innocent. This podcast follows every development of the trial as the accused triple murderer fights the charges in a regional Victorian courthouse. Reporters Kristian Silva and Rachael Brown are with producer Stephen Stockwell on the ground, bringing you all the key moments as they unravel in court. Keep up to date with new episodes of Mushroom Case Daily on the ABC listen app. To catch up on all the evidence from the case, go back and listen to all our Friday Wrap episodes:
