Latest news with #deathcap
ABC News
5 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Prosecutor asks accused triple-murderer Erin Patterson why she didn't alert authorities over foraged mushrooms
Erin Patterson didn't tell a "single person" that she may have accidentally added foraged mushrooms to a lunch that eventually killed three of her relatives, her murder trial has heard. The accused triple-murderer has given evidence for a fifth day in the Supreme Court trial in the Victorian town of Morwell. She has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder after three relatives — her parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson — died from death cap mushroom poisoning following a lunch at her house on July 29, 2023. The trial of Erin Patterson, who stands accused of using a poisoned meal to murder three relatives, continues. Look back at how Friday's hearing unfolded in our live blog. To stay up to date with this story, subscribe to ABC News. Another relative, Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson, fell seriously ill but survived. Lead prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC, who continued her cross-examination of Ms Patterson today, pointed to a police interview in which she spoke lovingly of her in-laws. "You agree that you told police in your record of interview that you loved Don and Gail?" Dr Rogers asked. "Correct," Ms Patterson said. The prosecutor then asked why she wouldn't have thought to tell authorities of her worries that she may have added foraged mushrooms to her guests' lunches, given they had fallen seriously ill. Ms Patterson earlier told the trial she had become "scared" and began to worry that authorities would think it was "intentional". "Well I didn't," Ms Patterson responded. "I had been told that … people were getting treatment for possible death cap mushroom poisoning. So that was already happening." Dr Rogers noted that this was days before anyone had died, but that Ms Patterson didn't tell "a single person" that foraged mushrooms may be in the meal. "Correct," the 50-year-old mother came after Dr Rogers detailed a conversation that took place between Ms Patterson and her estranged husband Simon in a hospital on the Tuesday after the Patterson previously said he had confronted her and asked her if she'd used the dehydrator to poison his parents. Mr Patterson denies he said that. In evidence earlier this week, Ms Patterson said that after the conversation, "it got me thinking about all the times that I'd used it [the dehydrator]". "And how I had dried foraged mushrooms in it weeks earlier. And I was starting to think, what if they'd gone in the container with the Chinese mushrooms," Erin said. On the Wednesday after the lunch, the court heard Ms Patterson, got up, drove her children to school, then came home. "Then you got rid of the dehydrator," Dr Rogers said. Ms Patterson confirmed that was what days ago, Ms Patterson admitted to disposing of the food dehydrator at the Koonwarra told the court she knew that child protection workers were on their way to her house, and she feared being blamed for making her guests Patterson said this feeling of anxiety also led her to carry out a factory reset on her phone because she "panicked" about photos it contained of foraged mushrooms. The trial continues.
BreakingNews.ie
6 days ago
- Health
- BreakingNews.ie
Woman on trial for mushroom murders says she was trying to improve ‘bland' lunch
An Australian woman accused of murdering three of her estranged husband's relatives with poisonous mushrooms told a court she had been trying to improve a 'bland' recipe for them. Before Erin Patterson's in-laws and their relatives arrived at her home for lunch, she bought expensive ingredients, consulted friends about recipes and sent her children out to see a film. Advertisement Then she 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. Ian Wilkinson leaving the Latrobe Valley Magistrates' Court in Morwell, Australia, on Wednesday (James Ross/AAP Image via AP) 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. Advertisement 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 defence 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 did not become ill herself. 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 on 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' flavour, she said. Advertisement 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. 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 had 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. Advertisement 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.' 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 diarrhoea. She then sought hospital treatment but unlike her lunch guests, she quickly recovered. Advertisement 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 had not 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 mobile phone while it sat in an evidence locker to remove pictures of mushrooms she had foraged. Prosecutors argued in opening their case in April that she poisoned her husband's family on purpose, although they did not suggest a motive. She carefully avoided poisoning herself and faked being ill, they said. The trial continues with Patterson's cross-examination by the prosecutors. If convicted, she faces life in prison for murder and 25 years for attempted murder.
South China Morning Post
03-06-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Australian woman admits fatal mushroom lunch, but denies murder in court
An Australian woman accused of murdering three of her estranged husband's relatives with poisonous mushrooms told a court on Tuesday she accepted that the fatal lunch she served contained death caps. Advertisement But Erin Patterson said the 'vast majority' of the fungi came from local stores. She denies three counts of murder and one of attempted murder over the beef wellington meal she served to her parents-in-law and her estranged husband's aunt and uncle at her home in July 2023. Don Patterson, Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson were hospitalised and died after the lunch in the rural town of Leongatha in the Australian state of Victoria. Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, was gravely ill but survived. Patterson's lawyer earlier told the Supreme Court trial that the poisoning was a tragic accident, but prosecutors said it was deliberate. If convicted, she faces a sentence of life imprisonment on the murder charges and 25 years in jail for attempted murder. Long queues formed outside the Latrobe Valley Courthouse on Tuesday after Patterson took the stand late on Monday, which was the first time she had spoken publicly since the deaths. The Amanita phalloides is commonly known as the death cap. Photo: Shutterstock Accused foraged mushrooms for years
ABC News
23-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Lunch guests' illnesses were 'not survivable', doctor tells Erin Patterson trial
A doctor has detailed the final moments of three lunch guests who died from death cap mushroom poisoning after attending a lunch at Erin Patterson's house. Intensive care specialist Stephen Warrillow was called to the stand on Friday in Ms Patterson's triple-murder trial in the Supreme Court in Morwell. Dr Warrillow said Don and Gail Patterson, along with Heather and Ian Wilkinson, were transferred to the Austin Hospital in Melbourne in the days after they attended a lunch at Ms Patterson's home on July 29, 2023. All four were critically ill and suffering from symptoms consistent with mushroom poisoning, Dr Warrillow said. He said people suffering from amanita poisoning tended to experience diarrhoea, vomiting and "relentlessly progressive" internal damage. "Different organ systems essentially shut down," he said. The doctor detailed how the group were hooked up to machines, with staff giving them doses of the liver treatment drugs N-acetylcysteine (NAC), silibinin and activated charcoal. "He had a severe liver injury and severe liver failure," Dr Warrillow said of Don Patterson. The doctor said a liver transplant was performed on Mr Patterson, but his condition got "relentlessly worse". "All of our treatments had unfortunately failed and he was dying despite all the measures we were applying," he said. Mr Patterson's wife Gail was so sick doctors were unable to perform a transplant, Dr Warrillow said. Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, another of the lunch guests, suffered a similar fate. "It was very apparent that this was not survivable," Dr Warrillow said. The court was told the sisters died three hours apart early on August 4, 2023. Don Patterson died the following day. Ian Wilkinson, the sole lunch guest who pulled through, sat in the courtroom with his arms crossed as the doctor gave evidence about his story of survival. Mr Wilkinson was also suffering from acute liver failure when he was brought to the Austin, with his condition declining from August 2 to August 4. "We thought he was going to die. He was very close," Dr Warrillow said. However, he explained, Mr Wilkinson turned a corner from August 5 to August 7. "It was very slow because he was coming from a position of extreme critical illness," he said. Mr Wilkinson was eventually released from intensive care to a regular hospital ward on August 21. He stayed in rehab before finally being discharged home a month later. Prosecutors allege Ms Patterson, who fed the lunch guests individual beef Wellington portions, deliberately poisoned them with death cap mushrooms. Ms Patterson has pleaded not guilty, insisting she never intended to harm the lunch guests who were members of her extended family. Ms Patterson, 50, was also treated in hospital after the lunch and complained of suffering from diarrhoea and gastro-like symptoms, witnesses have told the trial. She was discharged within days. The Leongatha woman told authorities mushrooms in the meal were sourced from a local supermarket and an Asian grocer in Melbourne's south-east. Prosecutors say there was no evidence toxic mushrooms were being sold by shops, and claim Ms Patterson travelled to areas where death cap mushrooms were growing, two months before the lunch. The trial, which has completed its fourth week, continues before Justice Christopher Beale.
Daily Mail
16-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial LIVE updates: Erin Patterson's legal team queries test results of fatal lunch leftovers
Accused mushroom murderer Erin Patterson, 50, yesterday heard evidence that she allegedly found the recipe for her lunch from a RecipeTin Eats cookbook. Child protection practitioner Katrina Cripps (pictured below) said Patterson said she found the recipe for her meal in the cookbook and she 'wanted to do something new and special' for lunch. Ms Cripps said Patterson told her she bought chopped mushrooms from a local Woolworths and dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer. Patterson said she used the dried mushrooms because she heard they would 'add flavour' to the beef Wellingtons. Patterson, who is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, after serving them a deadly meal laden with death cap mushrooms, became emotional after seeing video evidence from her son and daughter. Patterson is also accused of attempting to murder Heather's husband, pastor Ian Wilkinson, who survived the lunch after spending several weeks in an intensive care unit. The court heard Patterson's estranged husband, Simon, was also invited but didn't attend. Witnesses told the jury Patterson ate her serving from a smaller and differently coloured plate than those of her guests, who ate from four grey plates. Patterson told authorities she bought dried mushrooms from an unnamed Asian store in the Monash area of Melbourne, but health inspectors could find no evidence of this. The health department declared the death cap poisoning was 'isolated' to Patterson's deadly lunch. Multiple witnesses, including Simon Patterson, Ian Wilkinson and other family members, have given emotion-charged evidence to the jury. Medical staff have told the jury of the painful symptoms the dying lunch guests and Ian Wilkinson suffered. Patterson's movements at hospital and her abrupt departure have also been aired in court as the trial continues this morning.
