Erin Patterson denies weighing out toxic mushrooms on her kitchen scales to determine deadly dose
Accused mushroom murderer Erin Patterson has denied she weighed out death caps to calculate how much was required for a deadly dose, but says her estranged husband Simon would have got a beef wellington too, had he turned up for lunch.
Police & Courts
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Accused triple murderer Erin Patterson put death cap mushrooms on a set of kitchen scales to figure out the weight required for “five fatal doses” of the toxic fungi, a prosecutor has claimed.
Ms Patterson denied this accusation and many others as she was cross-examined for the first time since taking the stand in her own triple-murder trial.
The mother of two told the Supreme Court on Thursday she did not tell her lunch guests she was diagnosed with cancer; did not deliberately forage for death caps; and did not know at the time she had used her dehydrator to dry out deadly fungi.
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.
The prosecution alleges she served them individual beef wellingtons she had deliberately laced with death caps at her Leongatha home 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 of attempted murder, maintaining what happened was “a tragedy and a terrible accident”.
To complete her evidence-in-chief, defence lawyer Colin Mandy SC asked his client about the allegations levelled against her.
She denied she lied to officials about making one batch of mushroom paste for the beef wellington and using dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer in the beef wellington.
But she admitted to lying in her record of interview, describing it as a “stupid knee-jerk reaction” because she was scared.
When Mr Mandy asked her if she intended to “kill” her four guests or cause them “any harm”, Ms Patterson repeatedly declared: “No, I didn’t.”
After she answered the final question from Mr Mandy, she reached for a tissue.
Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC then rose to her feet to grill the accused murderer.
THE MUSHROOMS
Dr Rogers asked Ms Patterson about photos found on her tablet of yellow-tinged mushrooms laid out on a dehydrator tray on a set of scales.
She told the court it was “likely” she took the photo, but did not remember.
Dr Rogers told the court the evidence of mycologist Dr Tom May was that the mushrooms in the photo were “consistent” with death caps at a “high level of confidence”.
She suggested that the mushrooms were death caps Ms Patterson had foraged in Loch on or after April 28 having seen a post on citizen science website iNaturalist.
“That’s not correct,” she replied.
As the photo of the yellow-tinged mushrooms was beamed into the courtroom, Dr Rogers asked: “I suggest that you were weighing these death cap mushrooms so that you could calculate the weight required for the administration of a fatal dose for one person, agree or disagree?”
Ms Patterson replied: “Disagree.”
Dr Rogers asked: “And the weight required for five fatal doses, for five people, agree or disagree?
Ms Patterson replied: “Disagree.”
She also denied deliberately putting death caps in the beef wellingtons she served her guests, conceding on Wednesday a container with dried mushrooms she bought from an Asian grocer might have contained mushrooms she had foraged.
Dr Rogers asked: “You intended to serve one of those beef wellingtons to Simon Patterson … had he turned up at the lunch?”
Ms Patterson replied: “If he’d come, I would have given him a beef wellington too, yes, but not one with death cap mushrooms in it intentionally.”
THE CANCER CLAIM
During her evidence-in-chief, Ms Patterson admitted she misled her lunch guests when she told them she might need “treatment” for ovarian cancer to hide the fact she was planning to have gastric bypass surgery.
She has conceded she has never been diagnosed with any type of cancer.
Dr Rogers told the court Ian gave evidence that Ms Patterson had announced at the lunch that she had cancer and had undergone a diagnostic test that showed a tumour.
But Ms Patterson said she did not say make those statements.
“I didn’t say that I had received a diagnosis, no,” she replied.
Ms Patterson said she agreed she wanted the guests to “believe she would be having treatment for cancer”, but she denied telling them she had a diagnosis.
She also denied lying about her health to get the guests and Simon to attend the lunch.
Dr Rogers asked: “I suggest that you never thought you would have to account for this lie about having cancer because you thought that the lunch guests would die?”
Ms Patterson replied: “That’s not true.”
THE DEHYDRATOR
Ms Patterson admitted she lied to police about owning a dehydrator and agreed CCTV footage from the Koonwarra tip on August 2 showed her taking a large black box out of her car and putting it into an e-waste bin.
Dr Rogers suggested that she lied to police because she knew she had been using the dehydrator to dry death caps, but Ms Patterson denied knowing that.
In a series of rapid-fire questions, Dr Rogers asked: “You were very keen to dispose of any evidence which might connect you with the possession of death cap mushrooms, correct?”
Ms Patterson replied: “No, I didn’t know they’d be in it.”
She then suggested that Ms Patterson rushed out of Monash Medical Centre on August 1 because she wanted to “get rid of evidence”, but she disagreed.
Dr Rogers asked: “You lied because you knew if you’d told the police the truth, it would implicate you in the deliberate poisoning of your four lunch guests, correct?”
She replied: “No. No, it’s not true.”
As the sixth week of the trial draws to a close, Justice Christopher Beale told the jurors the accused was likely to be in the witness box until early next week.
The trial continues.
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