The Australian, 50, was convicted of murdering three relatives by poisoning then with a toxic mushroom meal in 2023 after luring them to lunch to discuss her alleged cancer
Footage has been released of mushroom killer Erin Patterson discharging herself from hospital after she had callously poisoned her family members.
The shocking CCTV video shows the cold-hearted 50-year-old brazenly walking out of a hospital in the small rural town of Leongatha in Victoria, Australia. Unbeknownst to medics, she had not long intentionally served up a deadly fungi meal to her in-laws.
Patterson was yesterday found guilty of murdering Gail and Don Patterson, both 70, Gail Patterson’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, and the attempted murder of Mrs Wilkinson’s husband, Reverend Ian Wilkinson, 68, who survived the horrific attack. Her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, 50, was also invited to the lunch but declined.
In the clip – released by the Supreme Court of Victoria – a hospital staff member attempts to stop Patterson as she tries to leave after she discharged her herself against medical advice. But evil Patterson, wearing white bottoms, a red top and black backpack, simply presses the hospital door buzzer and walks out.
A document also released revealed that the mum-of-two discharged herself at her “own risk” and on her “own responsibility against the advice of the medical officer/senior nursing staff”. Soon after leaving, a hospital employees is seen on CCTV using gloves to inspect the leftover deadly beef wellington after police took it out of Patterson’s bin.
Elsewhere, a frantic call to the police by a hospital doctor concerned for Patterson’s safety was also played in court. Dr Chris Webster is heard saying on the phone: “I have a concern regarding a patient that presented here earlier but has left the building and is potentially exposed to a fatal toxin from mushroom poisoning.
“And I’ve tried several times to get hold of her on her mobile phone. So there were five people that ate a meal on Saturday, and two of them are in intensive care at Dandenong Hospital.
“Two have just been transferred from Leongatha Hospital to Dandenong Hospital. And Erin presented this morning with symptoms of poisoning.
“While I was attending the other patients, the nurse informed me that she had discharged herself against medical advice.” Dr Webster told the court during the nine-week trial that has shocked Australia he was “surprised” Patterson left the hospital of her own accord so soon after being admitted.
“She left at … she left at 10 past. She was only here for five minutes,” he said, adding “I had just informed her that she had been potentially exposed to deadly death cap poison.” 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.
Patterson initially said that the death were a tragic accident and that she didn’t meant to harm anyone. However, her twisted web of lies quickly unravelled under closer scrutiny.
She first claimed that she bought dehydrated mushrooms from an Asian supermarket in Melbourne. However, she couldn’t remember precisely where she had got them from.
Patterson denied she had foraged for wild mushrooms or that she had her own food dehydrator to dry these out. But she then later confessed both to foraging for mushrooms and to owning a dehydrator.
The warped killer pleaded not guilty, but did accept that death cap mushrooms had been baked into the individual Beef Wellingtons. She is due to be sentenced at a later date.
