A home cook who served death cap mushrooms in a dish that killed three of her estranged husband’s relatives has said she used the toxic fungi because they have “more flavor.”
Australian mom Erin Patterson accepts that the beef Wellington lunch she prepared in July 2023 was laced with deadly ingredients. So the question at the center of her trial is whether she deliberately added the death cap mushrooms or whether the poisoning was a tragic accident.
The Context
While Simon Patterson, the cook’s estranged husband, had declined her lunch invitation, his parents, Don and Gail Patterson, attended the meal. The 70-year-olds died in the hospital after eating the beef Wellingtons, which were served with green beans and mashed potatoes.
Gail Patterson’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, also died after eating the lunch, while her 68-year-old husband, Ian Wilkinson, fell seriously ill and remained hospitalized for weeks. He survived after receiving a liver transplant.
Patterson, who said she bought the mushrooms used in the dish, also ate the meal and later told doctors she had suffered from stomach pains and diarrhea. But she refused examination and did not fall seriously ill.
She has pleaded not guilty to three charges or murder and one charge of attempted murder.
What To Know
This week, Patterson addressed the court for the first time in a trial that has gripped Australia and made headlines around the world.
During the police investigation following the poisoning, she had said she used fresh mushrooms purchased from Woolworths and dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer in Melbourne.
However, prosecutors alleged that she might have foraged for wild toxic mushrooms, adding that phone company data suggested she had visited an area where death cap mushrooms were known to grow.
On the stand, Patterson said that while she had some foraging experience, she “mainly picked field mushrooms” and would never pick any fungi she wasn’t completely sure of. She said she liked cooking with wild mushrooms and often purchased more exotic ones because they had “more flavor.”
Explaining why she bought a food dehydrator in April 2023, Patterson told the court: “I liked eating wild mushrooms, but it’s a very small season. You can’t keep them too long in the fridge, so it’s one way of preserving them. But it wasn’t just for mushrooms, I could use it to preserve a whole range of things.” After the fatal lunch, she threw the dehydrator away.
Prosecutors said Patterson pretended to have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer as a pretext for the lunch, which she served at her home in the rural town of Leongatha in the state of Victoria. She told the court that while she was not suffering from cancer, she had a family history of the disease.
The lunch came at a tense time for the family as Patterson’s relationship with her estranged husband had been deteriorating.
The couple’s children, who were out watching a movie at the time of the lunch, were interviewed by the police. On Friday, the jury heard recordings of the interviews, in which Patterson’s then-14-year-old son said he had eaten leftovers from the lunch for his dinner. Her then-9-year-old daughter recalled Patterson saying she had suffered from diarrhea after the lunch.
The prosecution said Patterson ate from a different style of plate to her guests during the meal, which Heather Wilkinson allegedly remarked on before her death.
Patterson’s Relationship With Her Estranged Husband
Patterson also told the court about her relationship with her husband, from whom she separated in 2015. She described their separation as being “difficult” in the immediate aftermath.
“But that only lasted a couple of weeks,” she said, adding, “We went back to being really good friends.” However, their relationship had been strained over various issues, including his financial support.
She said that despite the couple’s split, her in-laws continued to love her. However, she had recently begun to feel a growing distance between them and believed Simon Patterson did not want her to be “involved too much with the family any more.”
“I had felt for some months that my relationship with the wider Patterson family, and particularly Don and Gail, perhaps had a bit more distance or space put between us,” Patterson said. “We saw each other less.”
She spoke of her love for the couple, with the BBC reporting that she sounded emotional as she told the court how much they had meant to her and how much she valued their support after she had her children.
She wept as she was questioned about the language she’d used in messages she sent to her friends denigrating her parents-in-law, saying she was ashamed of talking badly about them because they didn’t deserve it.
“I wish I’d never said it. I feel ashamed for saying it, and I wish that the family didn’t have to hear that I said that,” she said, adding, “I was really frustrated with Simon, but it wasn’t Don and Gail’s fault.”
Last month, the court heard how she had complained about the Patterson family to her friends after feeling they weren’t supporting her in a financial dispute with her ex about child support payments.
“This family i swear to f***ing god,” she allegedly wrote in December 2022 in a Facebook group chat.
“Nobody bloody listens to me. At least I know they’re a lost cause,” she continued, adding, “I’m sick of this shit I want nothing to do with them” and “f*** em.”
What Happens Next
The trial, which has been running for six weeks, is set to continue. If convicted, Patterson could face life imprisonment for murder and up to 25 years for attempted murder.
She is expected to continue giving evidence in her defense throughout the week.
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