It was a story like a particularly dark fairy tale. A woman serves a tempting lunch for her parents -in -law – only to experience a little later how to die from the consequences of poisonous mushrooms. On Monday, 50-year-old Erin Patterson was guilty of three-day jury advice and a ten-day trial for triple murder and attempted murder-two years after she had served a fatal dose of Beef Wellington in July 2023 in Leongatha, Victoria.
Although the indictment in the process did not give a direct motif – and it seemed that Patterson understood herself with her in -laws – said the lawyer Nanette Rogers that she had “two faces”, and that’s why she committed the crime. Patterson, on the other hand, said that she would never have wanted to harm her family. “My parents are both dead,” said Patterson after the police incident. “My grandparents are also dead. They are the only family I have … I love them very much.”
Who killed Ein Patterson?
Patterson’s “only family” – and alleged victims – were the parents of their separated husband, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70 years old, as well as Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66. Only Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, 71, the deadly meal survived. Patterson’s husband Simon Patterson, who separated from her in 2015, did not take part in lunch because, according to his own statement, he felt “too uncomfortable”, as he informed her the day before by text message. She replied that his absence was “really disappointing” and that “she spent a small fortune for beef fillet”.
According to witnesses, the invitation to lunch was a surprise for Patterson’s extended family; Ian said he had never been to Patterson’s house before, and Simon said that it was unusual for his wife to organize such an event. Nevertheless, they set off – they even brought an orange cake as a gift – and eaten individually served portions of the Wellington, a complex British dish made of beef, mushroom compote and ham in puff pastry. Ian noticed that Patterson’s portion was served on an orange plate while everyone else had a gray plate. “I’ve been wondering since lunch,” said Heather later, according to a witness, “Does Erin have too little dishes?” Nevertheless, it was a pleasant meal with conversations and asked – Patterson ended it by telling those present that she had cancer, which she assumed as the reason for the invitation.
What are green tuber mushrooms?
All four guests got sick within a few hours, they rose and suffered from diarrhea. Everyone came to the hospital and were transferred to an artificial coma. Gail and Heather died of multi -organ failure on August 4, while Don died on August 5 after a failed liver transplant. Ian survived and was released in September.
According to the indictment, Patterson had prepared the meals with green tuber mushrooms, which can lead to liver failure and death. These grow in several places in Australia – including in rural Victoria, not far from Patterson’s place of residence. The lawyers argued that Patterson found their location via a Citizen Science website and collected them in April and May 2023.
On April 28 – one of the days on which her cell phone was located near the fatal mushrooms – she also admitted to having bought a dehydrator that she disposed of at a landfill on August 2, after the illness of her guests. According to the indictment, their fingerprints and traces of green tuber mushrooms were on the device – which indicates that it had used the device to prepare the poisonous fungi.
Patterson stated that he was an enthusiastic collector of wild mushrooms, but denied her guests to have deliberately poisoned, and claimed to have accidentally mixed the tuber mushrooms with bought mushrooms. She didn’t say whether she knew that they were poisonous. Her children also claimed to have eaten remains without getting sick.
Why didn’t Erin Patterson get sick?
Despite the striking different colored plates, which Ian noticed at lunch, Patterson claimed that she had eaten the same thing as her in -laws – but did not get sick because she overlooked her family’s orange cake later. During the process, Patterson spoke about her eating disorder bulimia and weight.
Two days after the meal, she went to the hospital and reported on discomfort, but declined a recording for herself and her children, who, according to her statement, also had eaten from Wellington. A doctor who had already taken up her guests informed the police out of concern for Patterson’s health. However, tests showed that neither Patterson nor her children had received something toxic or showed the same symptoms as the family. It therefore seems unlikely that she and her children consumed poisoned food.
Patterson decidedly rejected the allegation of the poisoning in 2023 and told the press: “They were some of the best people I have ever met; they never did anything to me” and described Gail Patterson as “The mother I never had. … I can’t believe that this has happened, and I’m so sorry.”
Fingerprints
Nevertheless, the indictment claims that Patterson was striking in the days after lunch. After leaving the hospital, surveillance camera footage showed how she drove to the dump and threw the dehydrated apparatus away. In addition, she is said to have used three cell phones at the time of food. Two of them disappeared mysteriously and the third was deleted when the police secured it. In addition, your internet search course contained at least one request for green tuber mushrooms.
Patterson Log towards the police about owning a dehydrator – even though she had the operating instructions and found her fingerprints on it. When she realized that her parents -in -law got sick, she claimed that she suspected that she accidentally poisoned her and only lied for fear. “It was this stupid short -circuit reaction to dig deeper and continue to lie,” she said in court.
Did Erin Patterson have a motif?
It is unclear which motif Patterson could have had to poison her parents -in -law. According to Simon, they were in good relationship – at least until 2022 when there were financial disputes. However, this does not explain why she would have targeted her extended family. “She got on particularly well with Dad. They shared the love of knowledge and learning,” said Simon in court. “I think she loved his gentle kind.”
Nevertheless, according to Facebook messages, Patterson is said to have sued the reluctance of her family to interfere in her crumbling marriage. “I have the snout full of this shit, I don’t want to have anything to do with them anymore,” she wrote to a friend. “I thought his parents wanted to do the right thing, but apparently their own convenience is more important to them, so shit on them.”
Nevertheless, her lawyer claimed that she had no motive for murder. He did not give a statement on the judgment.
Does Ein Patterson really have cancer?
According to the prosecutor Nanette Rogers, Patterson made “four calculated illusions” during lunch. “The first deception was the invented cancer with which it founded the invitation to eat. The second deception was the deadly dose of poison that she incorporated into the homemade beef Wellington. The third deception was to make her look as if she was also poisoned by tuber blades. Truth operation. “
Why Patterson logs about cancer is unclear, but her lawyer said in court that this was an excuse for a planned weight loss operation, about which she was too ashamed to say the truth. Patterson is convicted at a later date; You face lifelong imprisonment. Meanwhile, the public is pursuing its case with great obsession – at least three podcasts on the topic are currently available online, and international media report in detail.