Your guide to the Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial: All the evidence, witnesses, timeline details in one place
Trying to keep up with the trial of mushroom cook Erin Patterson? We’ve compiled all the evidence, witnesses and timeline details for you to keep track of the proceedings.
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Erin Patterson welcomed her ex-husband’s parents Don and Gail Patterson and his aunt and uncle Heather and Ian Wilkinson to her home for a meal in July 2023.
After they said grace, the family tucked into their lunch: beef wellington.
Over the following days, the guests were rushed between hospitals with intense gastro-like symptoms before they were diagnosed with mushroom poisoning.
Three of the guests – Don, Gail and Heather – died, while Ian survived.
Months later, Erin was charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, accused of lacing the lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms.
She has pleaded not guilty, claiming what happened was a “terrible accident”.
It is one of the most highly anticipated murder trials in recent memory.
Here’s everything you need to know.
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Who attended the mushroom lunch?
Erin Patterson hosted a lunch at her home in Leongatha – a Gippsland town in Victoria’s southeast – on July 29, 2023.
Her estranged husband’s parents Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, as well as Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, and her husband Ian Wilkinson, 71, attended.
Erin also invited her husband Simon Patterson, but he did not attend.
Who died after the mushroom lunch?
Gail and Heather died in hospital on August 4, while Don died a day later on August 5.
Ian survived after months of treatment and was released from hospital on September 21.
What are the symptoms of death cap mushroom poisoning?
The lunch guests were diagnosed with amanita mushroom poisoning or, more specifically, death cap mushroom poisoning.
They had each presented to hospital on July 30 with severe gastro-like symptoms, including diarrhoea and vomiting.
Typically, the symptoms develop about six to 12 hours after consuming the mushrooms.
Despite intensive treatment, Don, Gail and Heather died from altered liver function and multiple organ failure.
What is beef wellington?
Erin served the lunch guests individual beef wellingtons.
Beef wellington is a baked dish, which involves searing a beef tenderloin, wrapping it in a mushroom mix and encasing it in pastry.
The court has not been told how Erin prepared her beef wellington meal.
Does Erin Patterson have children?
Erin shares two children,a son and a daughter, with Simon.
In August 2023, the 14-year-old and nine-year-old were interviewed by police about the lunch.
The interviews were played to the jury in the second week of the trial.
They cannot be named for legal reasons.
THE EVIDENCE
THE WITNESSES
OTHER MEDICAL STAFF
The jury also heard from patient transport officer Cindy Hyde, nurse Lisa Shannon and Dr Beth Morgan, who treated Don and Gail the day after the lunch.
Nurses Kylie Ashton and Cindy Munro, who were working at Leongatha Hospital two days after the lunch, also gave evidence, as well as toxicology registrar Dr Mark Douglas and paramedic Eleyne Spencer.
The jury also heard from infection prevention and public health director Rhonda Stuart, emergency registrar Laura Muldoon and emergency physician Varuna Ruggoo, all from Monash Health.
THE TIMELINE
THE TRIAL
WEEK 1: APRIL 29 – MAY 2
LIVE BLOGS: DAY 2, DAY 3, DAY 4
The 15-person jury was empanelled in Morwell on Tuesday.
The jurors heard three attempted murder charges against Erin had been dropped.
She was accused of trying to kill Simon three times, but Justice Christopher Beale said the charges had been discontinued by the prosecution.
The prosecution and defence delivered their opening addresses to the jury on Wednesday.
The prosecution allege that Erin deliberately poisoned the lunch guests with individual beef wellingtons laced with death cap mushrooms after inviting them to her home “on the pretence” that she had been diagnosed with cancer.
It is also alleged that Erin did not ingest death caps at the lunch, but pretended to be sick to cover that up.
The prosecution also said that phone data suggested Erin travelled to two areas close to Leongatha – Loch and Outtrim – in April and May 2023 where death caps had recently been found by experts, who logged their locations on a website called iNaturalist.
The defence, however, said the lunch was a “tragedy and a terrible accident”.
The defence admitted Erin lied about dumping a dehydrator after the lunch and foraging for mushrooms – but she denies that she ever deliberately sought out death caps.
It conceded Erin has never been diagnosed with cancer.
Simon was the first witness to give evidence on Thursday.
He told the jury about his on-again off-again relationship with Erin, which ended in 2015.
Their friendship “substantially” changed in 2022 amid a child support dispute.
Simon told the court that it was “very rare” for Erin to invite guests to her home and that she never asked him about his family’s condition after the meal.
The jury was also shown tense text messages between the couple from 2022.
WEEK 2: MAY 3 – MAY 9
LIVE BLOGS: DAY 5, DAY 6, DAY 7, DAY 8, DAY 9
Simon returned to the box after the weekend and was quizzed on whether he had asked Erin if she used the dehydrator to “poison” his family, which he denied.
One of Erin’s online friends described her as a “super sleuth” and told the jury Erin had described Simon as “coercive” and “controlling”, while describing his family as “demanding”.
Messages from Erin, where she revealed she had bought a dehydrator and was “hiding powdered mushrooms” in her children’s food, were shown to the jury.
Ian, the only guest to have survived the lunch, gave evidence on Tuesday.
He told the court how Heather had been “excited” to attend the lunch and how Erin had refused Gail and Heather’s help when serving up the meal.
The triple-0 call made by Dr Chris Webster after Erin discharged herself from hospital against medical advice was played to the jury on Wednesday.
Dr Webster told the jury he was “surprised” that Erin had left given he informed her she had potentially been exposed to death cap mushrooms.
He asked Senior Constable Adrian Martinez-Villalobos to obtain leftovers of the beef wellington from Erin’s home.
The accused became emotional when the prerecorded evidence of her daughter and son, then aged nine and 14, was played to the jury on Thursday and Friday.
She reached for a tissue when her daughter was beamed into the courtroom on a screen.
She could be seen sitting in an interview room on a blue armchair, her legs barely touching the ground.
Her son described his parents’ relationship as “very negative” in the lead-up to the lunch.
He also told the jury Erin was “building LEGO” hours after the lunch.
WEEK 3: MAY 13 – MAY 16
LIVE BLOGS: DAY 10, DAY 11, DAY 12, DAY 13
The trial resumed on Tuesday after a day off.
Dr Tom May, a world-renowned mycologist or fungi specialist, gave the jurors a lesson in amanita phalloides, more commonly known as death cap mushrooms.
He also spoke to the jury about the citizen science website iNaturalist where members of the public post sightings of plants, animals and fungi.
The court heard two observations of death caps in the Gippsland region, namely Loch and Outtrim, were posted to iNaturalist on April 18 and May 21, 2023.
Dr May confirmed it was him who posted about the death caps in Outtrim while he was in the township to make a presentation to a local community group about fungi.
Dr Camille Truong, another mycologist, on Wednesday told the court she examined leftovers of the beef wellington.
She used tweezers to pick tiny mushroom pieces to examine under a microscope.
She told the court she found no traces of death caps.
A juror was discharged on Thursday by Justice Christopher Beale after discovering he had allegedly been discussing the case with family and friends.
The court heard the trial will proceed with 14 jurors, with two jurors to be balloted off before deliberations commence.
Child protection worker Katrina Cripps was called as the next witness and said she spoke to Erin on July 31, who told her Simon had become “nasty” amid a child support dispute.
Ms Cripps said Erin prepared beef wellington because she found it in a RecipeTin Eats cookbook and wanted “to do something new and special”.
Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine toxicologist Dr Dimitri Gerostamoulos then gave the jury a lesson in death cap toxins, namely alpha-amanitin and beta-amanitin.
He told the court the leftovers and seven vials of debris from the dehydrator were tested by toxicologists.
The court heard beta-amanitin was detected in one sample of the mushroom paste and one sample of the meat, while both alpha-amanitin and beta-amanitin were detected in four of the seven vials.
Agriculture Victoria diagnostician Dr David Lovelock on Friday said he DNA tested the leftovers and seven vials of debris.
The court heard no death caps were detected in the samples of the leftovers, but death caps were detected in two of the seven vials.
Originally published as Your guide to the Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial: All the evidence, witnesses, timeline details in one place
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The accused killer’s phone pinged at two separate locations where toxic death cap mushrooms had been spotted in the months before the lethal lunch.
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