27-05-2025
Erin Patterson trial hears it is ‘highly unlikely' shop-bought mushrooms could prove deadly
A health official has told an Australian court that it is 'highly unlikely' the deadly mushrooms involved in a high-profile suspected triple murder came from commercial supply chains, including Woolworths and Asian grocers.
The testimony of Sally Ann Atkinson came during the trial of 50-year-old Australian woman Erin Patterson, who is accused of serving a lunch containing toxic mushrooms that led to multiple deaths in 2023.
Ms Atkinson ruled out that store-bought mushrooms could be deadly or contaminated and discussed her department's report after the deaths of three of Ms Patterson's relatives that 'the risk to public health was deemed very low'.
Ms Atkinson said that she spoke with Ms Patterson several times by text and phone in the days after the fatal mushroom lunch in July 2023. She told the court that the department of health's investigation into the suspected mushroom poisoning continued until 11 August, after which a report was compiled.
Ms Atkinson said the department concluded it was 'highly unlikely' that commercially sold mushrooms – those available in supermarkets – were contaminated with amatoxin, the deadly toxin found in death cap mushrooms, as these fungi grow only in the wild.
The Food Safety Unit found no issues with the mushroom supply to Woolworths and no evidence of food packaging tampering, she said.
Quoting from the department's report, Ms Atkinson said: 'Based on the above, the risk to public health was deemed very low. No food sampling, other than samples already collected from the lunch … were considered to be warranted.'
Ms Patterson is facing charges of murdering Don Patterson, Gail Patterson, and Heather Wilkinson, as well as attempting to murder Ian Wilkinson – relatives of her estranged husband, Simon Patterson. She is accused of lacing a dish with deadly death cap mushrooms and serving it to her relatives after inviting them for lunch. Prosecutors allege she called the meeting with the pretext of sharing medical information – an allegedly fabricated cancer diagnosis.
Ms Patterson, 50, has pleaded not guilty.
In the court on Tuesday, Ms Atkinson said that during her conversations with Ms Patterson she gave different versions of what happened after the fatal lunch.
At first, she made it seem like she might have used the dried mushrooms in another meal before the beef Wellington, the health official testified. Later, Ms Patterson said she hadn't used them before.
She also first said she bought all the ingredients on the same day, but later said she bought them over a few days. And at one point, she said she shopped in Mount Waverley, but later changed that to Glen Waverley, referring to two suburbs in Melbourne, Ms Atkinson told the jury on Tuesday.
The jury had earlier heard that Ms Patterson told Ms Atkinson she had bought the mushrooms used in the beef Wellington from a Woolworths in Leongatha and an Asian grocer in Melbourne.
Also on Tuesday, detective sergeant Luke Farrell detailed the search of Ms Patterson's Leongatha home on 5 August 2023, about a week after the fatal lunch, with Ms Patterson present during the visit at approximately 11.40am.
The jury was shown photographs from the search, including kitchen drawers where an instruction manual for a Sunbeam dehydrator was found tucked away.
Other images revealed digital kitchen scales with a glass bowl inside a pantry and a RecipeTin Eats: Dinner cookbook on the countertop. The cookbook contained a piece of tissue used as a bookmark, while a separate page featuring a beef wellington recipe was stained with cooking liquids.
Officers also found a jug with liquid in the pantry and a platter of cut fruit in the fridge.
The trial continues.
