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Erin Patterson facing lengthy jail term after being found guilty of poisonous mushroom murders

Erin Patterson could die in jail as the nation’s most ­notorious female prisoner after a jury found her guilty of three killings from serving toxic beef Wellingtons to four elderly people.

Death cap mushroom triple murderer Erin Trudi Patterson could die in jail as the nation’s most ­notorious female prisoner after a jury found her guilty of three killings from serving toxic beef Wellingtons to four elderly people.

Patterson, 50, formerly of Leongatha, will be sentenced at least in part on the cruelty of her crimes and the amount of preparation required to organise the meal, which included sourcing the deadly mushrooms, dehydrating them and planning with precision the five separate parcels of food.

Patterson’s face was almost dead pan when the four jury verdicts were read to the court for the murders of Don and Gail Patterson, both, 70, and Heather Wilkinson, 66, and for the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, 71, in South Gippsland on July 29, 2023.

She only showed a glimmer of emotion when the Gail Patterson verdict was read out, her throat moving slightly as she looked in the direction of the jury.

As the other three charges were revealed, there was no sign of any emotion as Patterson kept her poker face before being led from the court to await sentencing.

The Australian broke the news of the mass poisoning on August 5, 2023, the same day that police raided her home and that she lied in a police record of interview about foraging for mushrooms and owning a food dehydrator, which was used to kill her victims.

Two days after The Australian broke the story, the Homicide Squad confirmed that Patterson was the sole suspect in the case amid questions over why she alone didn’t fall seriously ill after the meal.

Police also privately questioned why Patterson wore white pants the day after the lunch when she said she was suffering from rolling bouts of diarrhoea. On July 30, she drove more than two hours to take her son to and from a planned flying lesson that never happened, claiming to have had diarrhoea in the bushes.

News of the convictions was beamed worldwide as scores gathered outside the court but the family of the dead did not turn up to court for the verdicts, which came after seven days of jury deliberations and on day 46 of the trial.

A court watcher screamed “filthy murderer” as Patterson left the Morwell police cells in a police van heading for Melbourne.

Detectives hugged each other in the privacy of the witness room and Victoria Police Detective Inspector Dean Thomas of the Homicide Squad asked the media to respect the privacy of the ­Wilkinson and Patterson families, who have done no media since the lunch. 

“I think it’s very important that we remember three people have died and we had a person that nearly died and was seriously injured as a result,’’ Inspector ­Thomas said. “I ask that we acknowledge these people and not forget them. I ask also that the Patterson family and Wilkinson family have asked for privacy during this time and I ask that the media please respect that.”

Don Patterson died after an attempted liver transplant, while both women were too unwell by the time the complex surgery was considered. Ian Wilkinson fell into a coma, underwent surgery on his abdomen, and was not discharged to a rehabilitation ward until about six weeks after eating the meal.

The jury of five women and seven men on Monday returned guilty verdicts on all charges, finding prosecutors proved beyond reasonable doubt that Patterson tainted the meal with the lethal dose of the deadly mushrooms in a calculated and sinister attempt to take their lives.

Justice Beale thanked the jurors for their time, acknowledging the 10-week trial had been a “major intrusion” on their lives. “You’ve been an exceptional jury,” he said. “The way you’ve conducted yourself throughout this trial has caught my attention.”

Patterson was supported in court by her loyal online friend, Ali Rose Prior, who has been present for much of the trial, saying she was “saddened” by the verdict, but “it is what it is”.

She said she would visit her friend in prison, but did not answer when asked if she believed Patterson would appeal the verdict.

Asked whether she had expected Patterson would be convicted, Ms Rose said: “I didn’t have any expectations. It’s the justice system and it has to be what it is.”

Ali Rose Prior, friend of Erin Patterson leaves Latrobe Valley law courts. Picture: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images
Ali Rose Prior, friend of Erin Patterson leaves Latrobe Valley law courts. Picture: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Ms Rose has been a fixture at the courts and adjacent Jay Dee’s Cafe in Morwell as the legal process has unfolded over nearly three months.

Patterson left the Morwell Police precinct about 5.30pm in a prison transport van bound for Dame Phyllis Frost women’s ­prison. She was escorted by one police car with another following her.

Michelle Wilson, who has been attending the trial for the past eight weeks, said she wasn’t shocked when the verdicts came down.

“I wasn’t surprised by the verdict. Initially I thought it was going to be a hung jury because they were taking so long, but when they came back with a guilty I wasn’t surprised because I looked at the jury’s faces and they didn’t look at Erin.”

“Previously, they all looked at her when they’re sitting down and today not one person did.”

The beef Wellington meal was served on July 29, 2023, shortly after 12.30pm and evidence was heard that death cap mushrooms were served in the beef Wellingtons. Patterson denied this had happened deliberately.

The meal was made up of individual beef Wellingtons that were served in pastry, with death cap mushrooms included inside.

The prosecution claimed that Patterson had foraged for the mushrooms, then used her dehydrator to prepare the duxelles.

Patterson had initially claimed not to have foraged but this lie was reversed after her record of ­interview.

She also claimed she may have sourced the mushrooms for the meal from an unnamed Asian grocery in Melbourne that was never located and Woolworths.

A key part of Patterson’s ­defence was that she had suffered from body image issues and on the afternoon the meal was served she vomited after allegedly bingeing on two-thirds of an orange cake, which had been brought to the lunch by Gail Patterson.

During the investigation, police were unable to locate Patterson’s primary phone, known as Phone A, and another phone which had been reset was handed to police.

Patterson admitted to resetting the phone when it was in a police locker.

Witnesses to give evidence included Patterson herself, who was on the stand for eight days and was exposed as a serial liar.

Patterson’s defence barrister Colin Mandy SC said his client did get sick but not as sick as the other guests, and that her age and weight may have been a reason that she didn’t get critically ill.

Ian Wilkinson, right, survived the ordeal and testified against Patterson. Picture: NewsWire / Diego Fedele
Ian Wilkinson, right, survived the ordeal and testified against Patterson. Picture: NewsWire / Diego Fedele

He also said that Ian Wilkinson had been honestly mistaken when he claimed that four of the plates were grey and that Patterson had served her meal on a smaller, tan/orange plate.

Mr Mandy also said that it was not feasible that Patterson had chosen to wreck everything she had, targeting people that were crucial to her and her children.

The prosecution alleged that Patterson visited nearby Outtrim on May 22, the day after mycologist Dr Tom May reported a death cap sighting on the iNaturalist website.

A lie over possible ovarian cancer, it was alleged, was because she was ashamed about looming weight-loss surgery, although nothing was booked in and the clinic she suggested did not do gastric band surgery.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/erin-patterson-found-guilty-of-poisonous-mushroom-murders/news-story/6e66e6163fd3537687b0165dca5bf757