Death on a plate: Woman invites in-laws for lunch, kills them with a meal poisoned with deadly death cap mushrooms
The toxic Beef Wellington lunch was cooked at her home in Leongatha, Victoria. Her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister Heather died. Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, survived after weeks in hospital.
The jury gave the verdict after a 10-week trial and six days of discussion. Patterson claimed it was a mistake and that she had picked the mushrooms to improve the meal's taste.
On July 29, 2023, Erin Patterson invited five people for lunch, including her estranged husband Simon. However, Simon cancelled at the last minute.
After eating the meal, four guests fell seriously ill with vomiting and diarrhoea. Gail and Heather died on August 4, and Don died a day later. Ian survived after two months of hospital care.
The cause was death cap mushrooms, which are highly poisonous and damage the liver. These mushrooms, native to Europe, were seen near Patterson's home in Victoria around that time. They can cause liver failure within days.
Even a small piece can kill. Cooking or drying doesn't remove the poison.
During the trial, Ian told the court that Erin Patterson served the lunch on four grey plates for the guests. However, she used a different, orangey-tan plate for herself.
Prosecutors in Erin Patterson's case said she had planned 'four calculated deceptions'. First, she faked having cancer to invite the guests. Second, she secretly added poison to the beef Wellingtons. Third, she pretended to be sick too. Fourth, she tried to hide the truth afterwards.
Patterson bought a food dehydrator. CCTV footage captured her dumping it. However, it had her fingerprints and mushroom traces. She also reset her devices to delete proof.
Her lawyer said the claims were 'ridiculous' and that she had no motive to kill the guests. She has no money issues, a big home and full custody of her kids, the lawyer argued.
However, prosecutors didn't need to prove the motive behind the crime. They believe Patterson tried hard to make the poisoning look like an accident. But, the facts showed careful planning and efforts to destroy evidence.
Erin Patterson, earlier expressed anger towards her in-laws in Facebook messages. In December 2022, she wrote she was fed up with Don and Gail for not supporting her during her marriage problems. She expressed frustration in strong words.
Erin searched online for death cap mushroom sightings and visited those places. Her phone showed she bought a food dehydrator on the way back.
Forensic experts found photos on her phone of mushrooms that looked like death caps on weighing scales.
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Islam's sister Jesmina Begum said, 'He uses the phone to upload videos of jaatra gaan [a form of folk theatre music] on Facebook and watch the news. But a few other friends also have access to the account.' She added: 'He won't even be able to read these comments, forget writing them.' However, the FIR alleged that Islam had confessed to writing the comment, a claim his family denies. 'That's a lie,' Sattar, the father, who met him in the jail, told Scroll. Islam has filed for bail. 'He is the only breadwinner of the house and he has been languishing in jail for almost two months,' his father said.
