Mushroom cook Erin Patterson ‘wanted to do something fancy’ with beef wellington dish, court hears

Accused murderer Erin Patterson told a health official she had “explosive” diarrhoea after the beef wellington meal she prepared for her lunch guests and that she had never made it before but “wanted to do something fancy”, a jury has heard.

Public health adviser Sally Ann Atkinson leaves court after giving evidence. Picture: David Geraghty

Accused triple murderer Erin Patterson told a public health adviser she prepared one batch of mushroom paste with two types of fungi for her “fancy” beef wellington meal, a jury has heard.

Sally Ann Atkinson from the Department of Health took to the witness box Monday after proceedings were interrupted by a protester.

Dressed in a yellow T-shirt with “all we are saying is give truth a chance” in black letters, the man leapt up to address Justice Christopher Beale.

“How can you be a judge?” he said.

He made a reference to “concealed crimes” before he was swiftly evicted.

Ms Patterson is standing trial in Morwell, accused of murdering her estranged husband’s parents Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, along with Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66.

They died after she served them individual beef wellingtons allegedly laced with lethal death cap mushrooms on July 29, 2023.

Heather’s husband, pastor Ian Wilkinson, 71, was the only guest to survive.

Ms Patterson, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, claiming what happened was a “tragedy and a terrible accident”.

Ms Atkinson told the Supreme Court jury on Monday she first spoke to Ms Patterson on August 1, three days after the lunch.

She said Ms Patterson told her she experienced “explosive” diarrhoea the night of the lunch and “every 45 minutes” the next day.

During that conversation, she said Ms Patterson told her she had never made beef wellington before and “wanted to do something fancy”.

Erin Patterson said she had never made beef wellington before the lethal lunch.

The court heard Ms Patterson said the dried mushrooms she used in the beef wellington were first purchased from an Asian grocer in April 2023 for a “pasta dish”.

Ms Atkinson said Ms Patterson indicated she “could have used some” of them in the pasta dish, but when she spoke to her again on August 2, she said she had never used the dried mushrooms before.

Crown prosecutor Jane Warren asked Ms Atkinson whether this was “consistent” with what the accused had told her earlier about the dried mushrooms.

“The initial conversation seemed to indicate she had used some of them in the (pasta) dish … and then she was saying that she had not,” she said. “She wasn’t very clear.”

The jury was shown text exchanges between the pair as Ms Atkinson attempted to gather information about the Asian grocer, the dried mushrooms, the other ingredients and the drinks served at the lunch for the Department of Health investigation.

Ms Atkinson said she called Ms Patterson again on August 3 and asked how she prepared the beef wellington.

The jury previously heard Ms Patterson used a recipe from a best-selling RecipeTin Eats cookbook, which calls for 1kg of mushrooms.

Accused mushroom cook killer Erin Patterson used a beef wellington recipe from a RecipeTin Eats cookbook. Picture: Jason Edwards

Ms Atkinson told the court Ms Patterson said she used button mushrooms, as well as the dried mushrooms after she “rehydrated” them and chopped them by hand.

The court heard she then fried garlic and shallots in oil, before adding the fungi.

Ms Atkinson said Ms Patterson told her she only made one batch of mushroom paste, using “all of it” to coat the eye fillet steaks.

Earlier, pathologist Dr Brian Beer from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine gave evidence about the autopsies of the bodies of Heather, Gail and Don.

He told the court the pattern of their injuries, which included extensive necrosis of the liver, was “very consistent” with amanita poisoning or toxic mushroom poisoning.

Ben Goodwin from the Victoria Police forensic services department also gave evidence, confirming he examined the dehydrator after it was dumped by Ms Patterson at the Koonwarra tip on August 2.

He said he took seven samples of “possible vegetable matter” from the dehydrator.

The jury previously heard death cap mushroom amatoxins were detected in four of the seven samples.

The trial continues.