‘Upsetting’: Nagi Maehashi makes statement on mushroom murders
Australian chef Nagi Maehashi has broken her silence after her popular recipe book became tangled in a shocking murder trial.
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Chef Nagi Maehashi has shared her heartbreak over her beef Wellington recipe being used by killer Erin Patterson.
Patterson was found guilty this week of murder and attempted murder after she served a Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms to her estranged husband’s parents and aunt.
Maehashi said she had spent more time improving her beef Wellington recipe than any other, and said that she was heartbroken to have found herself “entangled in the tragic situation”.
She also insisted that the media needed to stop reaching out to her, and urged them to respect her privacy.
“It is of course upsetting to learn that one of my recipes – perhaps the one I’ve spent more hours perfecting than any other – something that I created to bring joy and happiness, is entangled in this tragic situation,” she wrote in an Instagram post with a mushroom emoji.
“Other than that, I have nothing to say and I won’t be talking to anyone. Thank you for respecting my privacy.”
Maehashi’s cookbook Dinner was featured as evidence in the shocking murder trial that lasted 40 days.
When police searched Patterson’s house on August 5, 2023, they found a copy of the popular recipe book with the recipe for beef Wellington “spattered” with evidence that it had been followed.
Patterson would later confirm to the court that she followed the Wellington recipe but had made a few deviations.
During the trail, it was alleged that Patterson deviated from the recipe so she could make individual portions of the deadly Wellington to ensure would not accidentally consume it herself.
On Monday, after seven days of deliberations, the jury unanimously found Patterson guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
Prosecutors argued the only reasonable explanation for what happened is Patterson knowingly seeking out death cap mushrooms and including them in the lunch on July 29, 2023, intending to kill or seriously injure her guests.
Her defence, on the other hand, argued Patterson accidentally included the deadly mushrooms and acted poorly out of panic she would be wrongly blamed.
Patterson’s parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson died from multiple organ failure linked to mushroom poisoning in the week following the lunch.
She will return to court at a later date for sentencing.
Originally published as ‘Upsetting’: Nagi Maehashi makes statement on mushroom murders
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