Erin Patterson has been found guilty of murdering her in-laws with poisonous mushrooms. 

The nine week trial of the 50-year-old Australian has gripped and horrified the nation in equal measure. 

In April 2023, Patterson invited her estranged husband, his parents, Gail and Don Patterson, and his aunt and uncle, Heather and Ian Wilkinson, to lunch at her home in Leongatha, a couple of hours drive from Melbourne. 

While her husband declined, his family accepted and arrived at the property for what they assumed would be a friendly catch up with the mother of two. 

In fact, the lunch was nothing of the sort; Patterson has served her guests beef Wellington laced with highly poisonous death cap mushrooms. 

“They fell quite ill and three of them ended up dying in hospital,” The Age crime reporter Marta Pascual Juanola explained to Newstalk Breakfast. 

“The fourth one, Ian Wilkinson [her husband’s uncle] survived after spending several weeks in the hospital, including several of those in an induced coma. 

“Eventually, in November 2023, Erin Patterson was charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder over the lunch.” 

Death cap mushrooms. Picture by: Alamy.com.

Patterson and her husband separated in 2015 after a fractious relationship that saw them break up and reunite several times. 

And although he had initially accepted her invitation to lunch, he ultimately declined her invitation. 

“The day before the lunch, he sent Erin Patterson a text saying he felt uncomfortable attending and he would not be attending,” Ms Pascual Juanola said.

“Erin Patterson responded to that text by saying, ‘I was expecting that you’d come, it’s important to me that you make it.’” 

Had he attended, he would have heard that the mother of his two children had cancer. 

This, Patterson later claimed, was why she had invited her in-laws to lunch, as she hoped they might be able to offer advice about how to break the  devastating news to her children. 

In fact, that was one of many lies she told. 

“There were no records, both in her files or otherwise in the cancer register, that she ever did get diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which is what she told her lunch guests,” Ms Pascual Juanola said.

“The prosecution’s theory was that she lured them with that fake cancer lie because otherwise it would be uncommon for her to invite people over for lunch at her house. 

“She was not particularly social and did not usually have people over.” 

Sentence

Having been found guilty, Patterson will remain in prison. 

Murder in Victoria carries a mandatory life sentence but it is up to the judge to decide on the minimum term. 

“We need to wait for another hearing to be listed, that’s what’s called a plea hearing,” Ms Pascual Juanola said. 

“It is then that we’ll get to a sentencing stage and we’ll find out what that sentence is. 

“She’s facing life in prison for each count of murder and up to 25 years for attempted murder. 

“In Victoria, it is up to the judge to decide whether that’s served concurrently or accumulatively.”

Main image:  Erin Patterson. Picture by: AAP Image/James Ross/Alamy Live News.