Australian woman accused of killing three of her ex-husband's relatives convicted in 'death cap' mushroom murder trial

 

death cap

Australian woman accused of killing three of her ex-husband's relatives convicted in 'death cap' mushroom murder trial

Erin Patterson, the Australian woman accused of killing three of her ex-husband's relatives by eating "death mushrooms" cooked in a beef Wellington lunch, was convicted of three counts of murder and attempted murder of the sole survivor.

The story began in July 2023, when Patterson hosted four people for lunch at her home in the Australian town of Leongatha. Dawn and Gail Patterson, her ex-husbands' relatives, died in the following days. Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, also died. Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, spent weeks in the hospital fighting the poison and survived. Patterson's estranged husband, Simon, had declined the lunch invitation.

Erin Patterson went to the hospital after eating the food but was not as ill as the others. She told the court that this was because she hadn't eaten much of the lunch and vomited afterward due to overindulging in dessert.

The lunch that day consisted of separate beef Wellington portions, steak, and mushrooms wrapped in pastry.

Patterson said she flavored the food with dried mushrooms, which she believed came from a grocery store, but which she may have collected and dried herself as part of her hobby of picking wild mushrooms.

The dehydrator was later found in a dumpster with Patterson's fingerprints and traces of the "death mushroom" poison inside. Patterson admitted to throwing it away in a panic and lying to police about having it.

The court heard evidence suggesting Patterson may have been in an area where the "death mushrooms" were growing in the months leading up to the meal. The defense argued that the poisoned meal was a horrific incident and that Patterson had no motive to intentionally kill the victims.

Ultimately, prosecutors convinced the jury with their argument that Patterson deliberately searched for the "death mushrooms" and then cooked them with the intent to kill the grandparents of her only children and her ex-husband's uncle and aunt.