After a gripping nine-week trial, a jury has found Erin Patterson, 50, guilty of murdering three of her relatives and attempting to kill a fourth by serving them a meal laced with death cap mushrooms. The case- dubbed the “mushroom murderer” trial- has captured public attention across Australia and internationally.
The fatal lunch took place on 29 July 2023, at Patterson’s home in rural Victoria, Australia. Five people sat down to eat: Patterson herself, her ex-in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, and Heather’s husband Ian. Within days, three were dead. Ian alone survived, but only after emerging from a coma weeks later.
Patterson, who described herself as an amateur forager and mushroom lover, had maintained the poisoning was an accident. She claimed to have mistakenly mixed wild mushrooms into a beef Wellington recipe adapted from a celebrity chef. But prosecutors argued otherwise: that Patterson had foraged death cap mushrooms in the weeks prior, used them intentionally, and then lied to cover her tracks.
Lies, deception, and the death cap trail
During the trial in the small town of Morwell, the court heard that Erin told guests she had cancer to lure them to the lunch. She denied this under oath, claiming she was ashamed of seeking weight-loss surgery and had used cancer as a cover.
The prosecution presented evidence that she had disposed of a food dehydrator, lied repeatedly to police, and failed to give clear answers about where the mushrooms came from. While she claimed they were bought dried from an Asian grocery store, she could not identify the suburb, brand, or method of payment.
Digital evidence showed she had accessed a foraging app to view recent death cap sightings in nearby towns and that her phone had travelled through those areas. Prosecutors admitted she had harvested the mushrooms herself, and later tried to cover it up.
A family destroyed
Gail and Don Patterson brought an orange cake to the lunch. Their guests were served beef Wellington with mushroom duxelles, mashed potatoes and green beans. Erin’s serving was plated separately. By the next day, all four guests were in hospital suffering severe vomiting and diarrhoea. Donald reported vomiting 30 times within a few hours.
Erin, in contrast, claimed she vomited only after binge-eating the orange cake due to her struggle with bulimia. She avoided hospital for two days and eventually left against medical advice, never developing the same symptoms, and later testing negative for death cap poisoning, details that pointed towards her being the “mushroom murderer”.
She told the jury she had panicked and lied about details, but insisted she had no intention to harm anyone. “I love them,” she told police. “They’re the only family I’ve got.”
But her claims of love were contrasted with expletive-laden Facebook messages, in which she called her in-laws “a lost cause.” The prosecution didn’t present a clear motive but said the lies, the planning, and the efforts to destroy evidence painted a convincing picture of guilt.
Verdict delivered, sentencing to come
After a week of deliberation, the jury rejected Patterson’s defence. The court found her guilty on three counts of murder and one of attempted murder. She will return to court for sentencing at a later date.
The mushroom murderer case has raised questions around foraging, food safety, and the complexities of domestic tensions. But for the families left behind, it remains a story of deep loss- and a lunch that changed everything.
Source: BBC
Also read: Rise in psychedelic mushroom use in the US sparks concern
For more videos and updates, check out our YouTube channel.
