One year on from Erin Patterson’s triple fatal mushroom lunch
One year ago, there wouldn’t have been too many who’d heard of the small town of Korumburra, but a fatal mushroom lunch changed all that. Now residents have a starring role in the one of the most anticipated murder trials in Victorian history.
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Twelve months ago, Korumburra was a small patch on a map of Victoria best known for its rolling green hills and coal mining history.
Now, it will forever be linked to a lethal lunch that killed three beloved community members.
As the months go on, the tight-knit town anxiously waits for one of the most anticipated murder trials in Victorian history.
A jury of 12 strangers will decide whether Erin Patterson murdered three of her former in-laws and tried to kill her ex-husband and his uncle on July 29 last year.
With a trial date still pending, the community have kept their ranks tightly closed for the past year.
Former South Gippsland Shire mayor Nathan Hersey said he didn’t expect that to change anytime soon.
“People are still waiting to see what happens with the court case so there’s a lot of people that are still not talking or not commenting,” he said.
“For most people, it’s back to usual, but of course some people’s lives have been permanently changed.”
The lunch
On a wintry Saturday afternoon, Erin had her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and Heather’s husband Ian over for lunch.
Erin’s ex-husband Simon Patterson was due to attend but pulled out at the last minute.
The centrepiece of the meal was a beef wellington dish, a roast meat coated in finely chopped mushrooms and wrapped in a pastry crust.
Erin cooked the meal, her guests ate and then they all went home.
Hours later, her four guests were rushed to hospital with suspected food poisoning.
Within days Don, Gail and Heather were dead and Ian was left fighting for life.
Early in their investigation, Victoria Police confirmed the beef wellington dish was allegedly laced with highly poisonous death cap mushrooms.
But Erin denied any wrongdoing, declaring her innocence to a media pack outside her two-storey Leongatha home.
“I didn’t do anything. I loved them and I’m devastated they are gone,” she said.
The 49-year-old later wrote in a statement that she bought the mushrooms from a local supermarket and Asian grocer.
Those facts are yet to be proven.
The cook
Almost four months after the lunch, Erin Patterson was charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.
Four of the attempted murder charges relate to Simon, with the alleged crimes occurring in Korumburra, Howqua and Wilsons Promontory.
Erin remains behind bars at maximum women’s security prison Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Melbourne’s west.
A prison source said she was placed into a protection unit, housed with some of the worst female offenders.
The insider said she required isolation from other inmates due to personal safety risks.
Before Erin Patterson’s name was splashed across headlines around the world, she worked as an air traffic controller for Airservices Australia.
Later, she became editor of the local newsletter the Burra Flyer, a role she took over from Don and Gail in 2018.
After Gail’s death, Erin told the media she was like a mother figure to her.
“Gail was the mum I didn’t have because my mum passed away four years ago,” she said.
“Gail has never been anything but good and kind to me.”
Erin had an often rocky relationship with her own parents Heather and Eitan Scutter who both died of cancer eight years apart.
In a message to a friend, Erin said her mum was “ultra weird” and a “cold robot”.
The alleged victims
Don, Gail and Heather were well-respected members of the Korumburra community.
The trio had all previously worked at the local high school; Don was a science teacher, Gail helped in the office and Heather assisted as a teacher’s aide.
Ian, a pastor and the sole survivor of the lunch, spent weeks recovering in hospital but returned to Korumburra Baptist Church in February.
He delivered a 20-minute sermon where he became emotional when talking about God never leaving his side.
One year on, Ian still makes regular appearances at his church, playing a pivotal role in this year’s Easter celebrations.
The 70-year-old, along with Simon, will be a key witness in Erin’s high-profile court case.
Mr Hersey said Ian remains tight-lipped about the tragedy.
“He is a person who is quite private about it so it’s not the topic of conversation you bring up even if you meet him down the street,” he said.
“We’re just in this time of waiting to see what happens but continue to support him.”
The future
Over the past couple of months, Erin Patterson’s name has dipped in and out of headlines.
In April, she returned to court for the first time in five months where a pack of journalists flocked to Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court.
Erin asked for her case to be heard at the Morwell courts with her defence barrister, Colin Mandy SC, arguing that it should be held in her local community.
A month later, the mum of two pleaded not guilty to all eight charges, fast-tracking her case to the Supreme Court.
Since then, she has made several appearances before court but most of the details cannot be reported for legal reasons.
When Erin’s trial date is set, there’s no doubt she will be back in the spotlight.
At the time of her arrest, Victoria Police Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said the media’s interest was unlike anything he had ever seen before.
“Over the last three months, this investigation has been subject to incredibly intense
levels of public scrutiny and curiosity,” he said.
“I cannot think of another investigation that has generated this level of media and public interest, not only here in Victoria but nationally and internationally.”
When the jury of 12 decides the mushroom cook’s fate, not only will sleepy Korumburra be watching, the whole world will be, too.
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