Erin Patterson, 50, invited Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail Patterson’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66, to the fatal lunch on 29 July 2023
A woman has been found guilty of murdering three of her estranged husband’s relatives after she served them a beef wellington laced with poisonous mushrooms.
On July 29 2023 Erin Patterson, 50, invited her former parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail Patterson’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66, over for lunch at her home in the town of Leongatha, the court heard.
The mother-of-two, from the state of Victoria in southern Australia, has now been convicted at the Supreme Court trial in Victoria state aftr the jury returned a verdict after six days of deliberations, following a nine-week trial. Patterson, who sat in the dock between two prison officers, showed no emotion but blinked rapidly as the verdicts were read.
Patterson was also found guilty of the attempted murder of Mrs Wilkinson’s husband Reverend Ian Wilkinson. All her guests fell ill following the lunch the town of Leongatha, which consisted of beef wellington, mashed potatoes and green beans the court was told. Prosecutors had alleged that the mother of two laced the meal with deadly death cap mushrooms, also known as Amanita phalloides.
Mrs Wilkinson and Mrs Patterson died on Friday 4 August 2023, while Mr Patterson died a day late Reverend Wilkinson spent seven weeks in hospital but survived. Her estranged husband Simon Patterson, with whom she has two children, was also invited to the lunch and initially accepted but later declined, the trial heard.
The court heard how all four guests fell ill after eating their meal off four large grey dinner plates, while Patterson ate hers off a smaller, tan coloured plate. The prosecutions case alleged that she ate of a visibly different plate in order to ensure that there was no cross contamination.
Reverend Wilkinson said that straight after the meal, Patterson told the group that she had been diagnosed with cancer, suggesting that she was wanting their advice on the best way to tell her children.
The defence did not dispute the Reverand’s claims.
It wasn’t disputed that Patterson served the mushrooms or that the pastries killed her guests. The jury was only required to decide whether she knew the lunch contained the poisonous mushrooms, and if she intended for them to die.
The judge required the verdicts to be unanimous, and the return of guilty verdicts indicated that jurorsdid not believe Patterson’s defense that she accidently used the mushrooms and didn’t know they were death caps.
Prosecutors didn’t offer a motive for the killings, but during the trial highlighted strained relations between Patterson and her estranged husband, and frustration that she had felt about his parents in the past.
Patterson will be sentenced at a later date.