Australian Erin Patterson was convicted of three counts of murder and attempted murder of the only survivor after killing three relatives with a serving of death cap mushrooms fried in a Beef Wellington meal.
Patterson was charged weeks into testimony with intentionally poisoning the lunch using death cap mushrooms, extremely toxic fungi that she picked after visiting a public webpage listing their locations.
During the ensuing weeks, Heather Wilkinson and ex-in-laws Don and Gaik Patterson passed away. Heather’s husband, Ian, and their congregational pastor lived after weeks in the hospital.
As prosecutors called witness after witness, Patterson sat in court and listened. The prosecutors testified the witnesses’ evidence painted a convincing picture of a triple murder which ultimately met the legal requirement of beyond a reasonable doubt as established by the jury.
Patterson invited five individuals to lunch on July 29, 2023, including estranged husband Simon Patterson, who phoned to advise he was not coming yesterday, the agreed facts say.
The four guests for lunch were Simon’s uncle and aunt, Heather and Ian Wilkinson, and his parents, Don and Gail who developed diarrhoea and vomiting within hours of eating.
Don succumbed to a failure to respond to a liver transplant on August 5, and Gail and Heather succumbed to multiorgan failure on August 4. Ian Wilkinson, following intensive care for over two months, survived and was eventually discharged from the hospital late in September.
Death cap mushroom Amanita toxins prevent liver cells from protein synthesis, resulting in the death of the cells and the potential for liver failure after two days of consumption.
The prosecution at trial suggested that Patterson had access to choose deadly mushrooms by seeing where they were listed on the iNaturalist website, a citizen science portal.
Prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC alleged that “four calculated deceptions” were at the heart of the case. “The first deception was the fabricated cancer claim she used as a pretence for the lunch invitation,” she said.
“The second deception was the lethal doses of poison the accused secreted in the home-cooked beef Wellingtons. The third deception was her attempts to make it seem that she also suffered death cap mushroom poisoning, and the fourth deception was the sustained cover-up she embarked upon to conceal the truth.”
The prosecution alleged Patterson attempted to cover up by disposing of the dehydrator and factory resetting her equipment to eliminate evidence, and she pretended to be I’ll in the days following lunch service.
The jury concluded that Patterson had planned to murder all four lunch guests, as she lied on the witness stand several times to the contrary. At a later time, Patterson will receive her sentence.