A woman in Australia has been convicted of fatally poisoning three of her former in-laws and attempting to kill a fourth after serving them a mushroom-laced meal, concluding a high-profile court case that has captured national attention.
Erin Patterson, 50, now faces the possibility of spending the rest of her life behind bars. A panel of 12 jurors, who spent a week reviewing the evidence under court-ordered isolation from media coverage, delivered the verdict on Monday. Her sentencing date has yet to be announced.
The case centers around a meal Patterson hosted nearly two years ago in the small community of Leongatha, where she prepared beef Wellington and invited several members of her estranged husband’s family to lunch.
Although her husband, Simon Patterson, declined the invitation, his parents Gail and Don Patterson, along with Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson, attended.
Three of the four guests died within days, showing symptoms aligned with toxic mushroom exposure. Ian Wilkinson became critically ill but survived and later gave testimony during the proceedings.
During the two-month trial, over 50 individuals gave testimony. Prosecutor Nanette Rogers did not provide jurors with a concrete reason behind Patterson’s actions, but she introduced material suggesting a troubled relationship between Patterson and her husband, including disagreements over parenting costs.
Despite the absence of a stated motive, Rogers insisted that Patterson’s guilt was made evident by numerous attempts to mislead including telling falsehoods about having cancer to justify hosting the lunch, pretending to fall ill herself, and taking steps to cover her involvement afterward.
Following the incident, Patterson allegedly got rid of a food dehydrator she used to dry mushrooms and initially misled investigators about its disposal. She also repeatedly reset her phone to factory settings, according to witness testimony.
“She, alone, chose what to cook, obtained the ingredients and prepared the meal,” Ms. Rogers told jurors in her closing arguments. “That choice to make individual portions allowed her complete control over the ingredients in each individual parcel.”
No response had been issued by Patterson’s legal team as of Monday afternoon regarding the jury’s decision.
Taking the stand in her own defense, Patterson insisted that the tragedy was accidental. She claimed she may have unknowingly combined wild mushrooms she had once gathered with store-bought varieties, unaware of their toxicity.
She also stated she had eaten the same food personalized servings of beef Wellington but later indulged in cake and vomited, a detail her defense argued might explain her survival. Her disposal of the dehydrator and initial dishonesty about it, she said, were due to fear and panic after her guests became sick.
One detail that stood out to the jury came from Ian Wilkinson, the only surviving guest, who pointed out that Patterson’s serving plate looked different in size and color from those used by the others.
The deeply unsettling nature of the incident set against the backdrop of a peaceful town, involving a familiar home-cooked dish and a seemingly ordinary murder amplified public interest far beyond typical criminal trials.
Daily conversation across the country reflected intense speculation and fascination with the story, from the meal’s details to the investigation’s digital trail.
Podcasts dedicated to breaking down each day of the court proceedings attracted millions of listeners, and public curiosity about the case eclipsed that of nearly any recent criminal trial in Australia.
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