On a wintry Saturday afternoon, a woman invites her former in-laws over for lunch and cooks them a beef wellington dish. Hours later, all four people fall ill. Within days, three are dead.
It was the little lunch that captured the world, yet also a private meal of which we still know so little.
A Saturday catch-up with friends and family. A coming together after an apparently amicable separation between a husband and wife.
Then, the guests dropped dead in the days afterwards. Their symptoms – vomiting, stomach cramps, liver failure – allegedly matched the markers for death cap mushroom ingestion.
They had been invited to Erin Patterson’s Leongatha home for lunch. She served them a beef wellington dish she had prepared herself.
Days later, three of them were dead.
Months later, the host of the lethal lunch was arrested and charged with murder amid a media frenzy and a police investigation described by a senior officer as unmatched for public scrutiny and curiosity.
These are the many events that transpired in the months after Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson died from the allegedly poisonous mushroom meal in the rural Victorian town on July 29, 2023.
Sunday, July 30
Don and Gail Patterson and Heather and Ian Wilkinson attend local hospitals in Korumburra and Leongatha. They are then taken to The Austin Hospital in Melbourne.
Erin says she was admitted to hospital with bad stomach pains and diarrhoea, put on a saline drip and given a liver protective drug.
Monday, July 31
Erin says she was taken by ambulance from Leongatha Hospital to the Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne.
Friday, August 4
Sisters Heather Wilkinson and Gail Patterson die in hospital. Police seize a dehydrator allegedly dumped at Koonwarra Tip, 13km away from Erin’s house.
Saturday, August 5
The Homicide Squad executes a search warrant at Erin’s Leongatha home. She’s then interviewed by investigators and released later that day, pending further inquiries.
Don Patterson dies in hospital later that evening.
Sunday, August 6
Homicide Squad probes whether foul play was involved. The Herald Sun identifies the three victims of the lunch. Korumburra residents pay tribute to Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson.
Monday, August 7
The Herald Sun identifies Erin Patterson as the cook of the lunch.
Victoria Police hold their first press conference about the deaths. Detective Inspector Dean Thomas says the victims’ deaths are unexplained. He says Erin Patterson is a suspect because she cooked the meals on July 29. Insp Thomas says Erin’s children were at the lunch but they ate a different meal. He says the victims suffered from symptoms of death cap mushroom poisoning.
After the press conference, Erin speaks to the media outside her Leongatha home. When asked what she thought about police saying she was a suspect, Erin says she “didn’t do anything”. She says she loved the victims and is devastated they are dead.
Tuesday, August 8
Erin tells the media she is grieving and is feeling “shithouse”.
Sunday, August 13
50 parishioners gather at Korumburra Baptist Church to pray for the victims. A church leader says Ian Wilkinson’s health is slowly improving.
Monday, August 14
A five-page statement written by Erin is released to the media. In the statement, Erin says she bought button mushrooms from a local supermarket and dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer in Mount Waverley, but couldn’t recall the name of the store. She said she served the meal and allowed her guests to choose their plates. Erin says her children were not at the lunch because they went to the movies. She says they ate leftovers of the meal the following night but scraped off the mushrooms because they didn’t like them.
Tuesday, August 15
The Herald Sun reveals a paramedic’s final conversation with a victim of the deadly mushroom lunch was relayed to homicide detectives. Sources close to the investigation say an ambulance officer alerted investigators to the conversation with the patient, who ate the mushrooms at the Leongatha lunch and later died. It’s not known what the patient told the healthcare worker, only that they believed it necessary to pass it on to police.
Tuesday, August 29
Erin Patterson spotted at her lawyer Bill Doogue’s office in Melbourne.
Thursday, August 31
A public memorial is held for Don and Gail Patterson. Simon Patterson speaks publicly for the first time at the service. He says Gail’s final message in their family group chat was “lots of love to you all”.
Friday, September 22
The sole survivor of the lunch, Ian Wilkinson, is released from The Austin Hospital after spending eight weeks fighting for life.
Wednesday, October 4
A public memorial service is held for Heather Wilkinson. Her husband, Ian Wilkinson, makes his first public appearance since he was released from hospital. He uses a walking frame and wears a black face mask, black suit and navy tie.
Friday, November 3
Erin faces Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court. She is flanked by two security guards as she sits behind a pane of glass in the dock. She stares at journalists but shows little emotion during the short filing hearing. Erin is remanded in custody at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre and ordered to return to court on May 3 for a committal mention.
Thursday, December 28
The Herald Sun reveals that Erin’s Leongatha home has been broken into at least three times in the past month.
Sunday, February 11, 2024
Ian Wilkinson returns to Korumburra Baptist Church, delivering a 20-minute sermon to his congregation. He celebrates 25 years as a pastor at the church, his 70th birthday and 45th wedding anniversary.
Monday, March 25
Brief of evidence is served.
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