Latest news with #poisoning
Reuters
31 minutes ago
- General
- Reuters
Erin Patterson: mushroom murders accused breaks down in Australian court
SYDNEY, June 3 (Reuters) - An Australian woman accused of murdering three of her estranged husband's elderly relatives with a meal laced with poisonous mushrooms wept as she was questioned over expletive-laden messages about the victims on Tuesday, in a case that has captivated the country. Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with the July 2023 murders of her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, along with the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, Heather's husband. The prosecution alleges she knowingly served the guests Beef Wellington that contained lethal death cap mushrooms at her home in Leongatha, a town of around 6,000 people some 135 km (84 miles) from Melbourne. Patterson denies the charges, with her defence saying the deaths were a "terrible accident". She faces a life sentence if found guilty. Appearing as a witness for her own defence, Erin Patterson was questioned on Tuesday by her barrister Colin Mandy about a series of expletive-laden messages sent to friends regarding the Patterson family. The court previously heard the relationship between the accused and her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, deteriorated shortly before the alleged murders due to a disagreement over child support. "I wish I'd never said it. I feel ashamed for saying it and I wish that the family didn't have to hear that I said that," she said of the messages, that the court has previously heard in the prosecution's case. "I was really frustrated with Simon but it wasn't Don and Gail's fault," she told the court through tears. Erin Patterson is the first witness for the defence after the prosecution rested its case on Monday, following a month of evidence from witnesses, including relatives and medical, forensic and mushroom experts. The accused began her testimony on Monday afternoon. It is unknown how long she will give evidence for or whether she will be cross-examined by the prosecution. The trial, which began on April 29, has seen intense interest from Australian and international media, with podcasters, journalists and documentary-makers descending on the town of Morwell, around two hours east of Melbourne, where the trial is being held. State broadcaster ABC's daily podcast about proceedings is currently the most popular in the country, with two others also high in the charts. The trial continues.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- Health
- The Guardian
‘They didn't deserve it': Emotional Erin Patterson tells murder trial of shame over messages about family
Erin Patterson has told a court she wishes she never told her Facebook friends in a private group chat 'this family I swear to fucking god' in relation to her in-laws, saying she felt ashamed but hoped that sharing her frustrations would mean she had a 'big cheer squad' for her problems. Patterson also told the jury in her triple murder trial that she was never diagnosed with ovarian cancer and had a history of 'consulting Dr Google', and hoped to bring her family back together despite a formal separation with her estranged husband Simon seven years earlier. In her second day in the witness box, Patterson was also asked about her relationship with Simon changing after a dispute about child support which arose the year before the alleged murders. Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to poisoning her four lunch guests – relatives of her estranged husband, Simon Patterson – with a beef wellington served at her house in Leongatha on 29 July 2023. Patterson has pleaded not guilty to murdering Simon's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt Heather Wilkinson, and attempting to murder Ian Wilkinson, Simon's uncle and Heather's husband. Lawyers for Patterson say the death cap mushroom poisoning was a tragic and terrible accident. Under questioning from her lawyer, Colin Mandy SC, on Tuesday, Patterson spoke about a time in late 2022 when she was in discussion with Simon and Don and Gail about two issues within the family: finances for their children, and the struggles of their son. Don and Gail were asked by Patterson to mediate between her and Simon, as they had done so before, she said. The court was shown a series of messages about these issues, including Don apologising for possibly misrepresenting Simon, and Patterson saying she appreciates it is uncomfortable. 'Simon seems to be under the misapprehension that a child support assessment covers every expense for the children under the sun,' Patterson wrote in December 2022. Patterson was also asked about a 'heated' exchange she and Simon had after she felt she had not been invited to a pub lunch for Gail's 70th. At the same time she was discussing these issues with Simon and his parents, Patterson was posting to her friends on a group chat. She said she sent the messages because 'I was really hurt and really frustrated and felt a little bit desperate' in the Facebook chat, which 'became a safe venting space for all of us'. Of a message previously read to the court, in which she said 'this family, I swear to fucking god', Patterson told the court: 'I wish I'd never said it, I feel ashamed for saying it, and I wish that the family didn't have to hear that I said that. 'They didn't deserve it.' Members of the Patterson and Wilkinson families, including Ian Wilkinson, were in court on Tuesday. Patterson, who was also asked about a separate message when she wrote she was 'sick of this shit', wanted nothing to do with the Pattersons, and wrote 'fuck em', that she shared her frustrations as 'I knew that the women would probably support me being annoyed about those things, and so I said that to them, knowing that they would latch on, and then it [becomes] a big cheer squad for your problem, if that makes sense'. Patterson also spoke about receiving inheritances from her grandmother and mother, which allowed her to loan about $1.2m to Simon's siblings and their partners, and for her to buy several properties and travel extensively overseas. The court heard Patterson had opened a second-hand bookshop in the Western Australian town of Pemberton before she moved back to Victoria with Simon and their son while she was pregnant with the couple's daughter. The reason for the move, she said, was to be closer to Don and Gail after the birth, and because their son loved spending time with his 'nanna and papa' and cousins. Another series of separations between her and Simon continued, until a 'formal' separation in late 2015. Patterson said that despite this she included his name on the title of the Leongatha property which she moved into in 2022 as she wanted to show him something 'tangible' about her desire for the family to reunite. 'That was what I wanted. I did that because I wanted some way to demonstrate with Simon that's what I really believed and wanted,' she said. Patterson appeared to become emotional when she was asked how her relationship with Don and Gail changed after this 'formal' separation. 'It never changed,' she said. 'I was just their daughter in law, and they just continued to love me.' Patterson also told the court about a history of health issues she and her children had which eroded her faith in the medical system. She never had ovarian cancer, nor a needle biopsy, she said. The court has previously heard about text messages she exchanged with Gail about the biopsy, and it is the prosecution case that Patterson used a cancer diagnosis as a 'false pretence' for the lunch. Patterson said both sides of her family had a history of ovarian cancer, and she feared she also had it. 'I'd been having, for a few months by then, a multitude of symptoms,' Patterson said. 'I felt very fatigued. I had ongoing abdominal pain. I had chronic headaches. I put on a lot of weight, in quite a short period of time, and like my feet and my hands seemed to retain a lot of fluid.' She said what 'sent me over the edge' to go to a GP was that her wedding rings wouldn't fit any more, and that when she then went to pick them up from the jeweller, after having them resized, they again didn't fit. At this time, and at another occasion when she feared she had a brain tumour, she 'consulted Dr Google'. She came to realise, she said, that doing this wasted her time, and the time of medical professionals, but she had come to distrust the medical system because of how it had handled issues with her children. Patterson's evidence continues.
ABC News
5 hours ago
- General
- ABC News
Erin Patterson murder trial live: Accused returns to the witness stand in mushroom case
Erin Patterson is expected to return to the stand to continue giving evidence at her triple-murder trial in Morwell. She's accused of murdering three relatives by serving them a beef Wellington meal that contained poisonous death cap mushrooms. Follow the trial in our live blog. To stay up to date with this story, subscribe to ABC News.
South China Morning Post
17 hours ago
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Australia's Erin Patterson, accused of 3 murders, testifies over mushroom poisoning
The woman accused of murdering three members of her ex-husband's family by serving them poisonous mushrooms has taken the stand at an Australian court on Monday as the highly publicised triple murder trial nears its conclusion. Erin Patterson, 50, is accused of killing her former parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail Patterson's sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66, and also of attempting to murder Wilkinson's husband, Ian, 68, after the four consumed a meal at Patterson's home in Victoria state in July 2023. She could face 25 years in prison for the attempted murder charge, while murder in the state of Victoria carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Her lawyer, Colin Mandy, previously told the Victorian state Supreme Court during the six-week trial that the poisoning was accidental. Patterson's appearance as a defence witness on Monday marked the first time the 50-year-old has spoken since pleading not guilty to all charges in May last year. She served meals of beef Wellington, mashed potato and green beans at her home in the rural town of Leongartha on July 29, 2023. All four guests were hospitalised the next day with poisoning from death cap mushrooms, also known as amanita phalloides, that were added to the beef and pastry dish.
The Independent
18 hours ago
- Health
- The Independent
Erin Patterson talks about family rift at fatal mushroom lunch trial
Erin Patterson, the Australian woman accused of murdering her people with a poisoned beef Wellington, took the stand on Monday to give evidence about her fractured relationship with her estranged husband and his family. Ms Patterson, 50, is charged with deliberately serving death cap mushrooms to her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson and Heather's husband Ian during a 2023 lunch at her house in Victoria. Ian Wilkinson was the only guest to survive. She spoke of a rift with her separated husband and his family. 'A bit more distance or space between us,' Ms Patterson said. She had started to have 'concerns' that her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, no longer wanted her involved with his family. 'Perhaps I wasn't being invited to so many things,' she said, describing their relationship at the time as 'functional'. Ms Patterson also spoke about the highs and lows of her relationship with Mr Patterson, telling the court they had separated several times following the birth of their son in 2009. 'Obviously our relationship was struggling to cause a separation, it was really important to both of us to cooperate about [our son] and make it as easy on him as possible,' she said. 'Primarily what we struggled with over the entire course of our relationship ... it was, we just couldn't communicate well when we disagreed about something. We could never communicate in a way that would make each of us feel heard and understood.' Ms Patterson met her husband in 2004 while working at the Monash council, a local government authority, and early in the relationship she was a 'fundamentalist atheist' trying to convert him despite his Christian faith. But a service at the Korumburra Baptist Church, led by Mr Patterson's uncle, Ian Wilkinson, and centred on 'faith, hope and love', had a profound effect on her. 'I had what can be best described as like a spiritual experience,' she said. 'I had been approaching religion as an intellectual exercise up until that. Does it make sense? Is it rational? But I had what I would call a religious experience there and it quite overwhelmed me.' Ms Patterson told the court she had envisioned her Leongatha home as the 'final house' and even designed the initial layout herself. 'I was involved right from the beginning of the design. Simon and I were involved through the whole design process. I drew a design first myself in Microsoft Paint,' she said. 'I saw it as the final house, meaning I wanted it to be a house where the children would grow up, where when they moved away for university or work they could come back and stay whenever they want, bring their children. and I'd grow old there. That's what I hoped.' She admitted to struggling with 'low self-esteem' for much of her adult life, which worsened as she grew older. 'I had been fighting a never-ending battle of low self-esteem most of my adult life,' she said. 'And the further inroads I made into being middle aged, the less I felt good about myself, I suppose. Put on my weight, could handle exercise less.' The trial continues.
