Husband’s parents and aunt murdered in Australia

Australian woman Erin Patterson has been found guilty of killing her husband’s parents and aunt by mixing poisonous mushrooms with beef at lunch and attempting to murder a guest. The trial, held in the town of Morwell, Victoria, found that Patterson had collected deadly ‘death cap’ mushrooms from the surrounding area and then tried to cover up the crime by lying to police and destroying evidence. Her legal team had claimed that she had collected the poisonous mushrooms unintentionally and had lied because she was ‘terrified’ of seeing loved ones sick. However, a jury ruled on Monday (July 7) that she had done so intentionally. Patterson’s former parents-in-law, Don Patterson (70) and Gail Patterson (70), and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson (66), died in hospital a few days after the meal on 29 July 2023. Local priest Ian Wilkinson (Heather’s husband) survived after weeks of treatment. Patterson’s ex-husband, Simon Patterson, was also invited to the lunch but pulled out at the last minute. He was also charged with attempted murder, but that was dropped before trial. The case became one of the most high-profile trials in Australian history. The Supreme Court of Victoria heard evidence from more than 50 witnesses over nine weeks, including Patterson herself. Police said they had recovered poisoned food scraps from her home’s rubbish bin. Doctors were slowly unravelling the circumstances of the death. The only thing missing from the case was a motive—a key element for Patterson’s defence. The prosecution claims that Patterson invited guests to his home under false pretenses of cancer, poisoned them and feigned illness to avoid suspicion. He lied to police and doctors about collecting mushrooms, throwing away food dehydrators and deleting data from his mobile phone – all of which are cited as evidence of his crimes. In court, Patterson claimed that he loved his relatives and had no reason to harm them. He repeatedly said that he did not intentionally put mushrooms in the food and that dried wild mushrooms placed next to the store mushrooms accidentally got into the food. After a week of deliberations, the jury found him guilty on four charges, which could lead to life in prison. No members of the Patterson and Wilkinson families were present in court and they declined to comment.