An Australian mother has been found guilty of murdering three of her relatives and attempting to kill a fourth after feeding them a poisoned beef wellington lunch.
Erin Patterson, 50, was convicted on Monday by a jury in the Supreme Court of Australia’s Victoria state of murdering her estranged husband’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, after six days of deliberations in a trial which has gripped Australia.
She was also found guilty of attempting to kill Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, who also ate the poisoned dish but survived after spending weeks in hospital.
Patterson now faces life in prison but will be sentenced at a later date. She showed no emotion as the verdicts were read to the court.
The fateful incident took place in Patterson’s hometown of Leongtha, Victoria, in July 2023, and saw all four attendees fall ill after eating a home-cooked meal of mashed potatoes, green beans, and a beef wellington laced with highly toxic death cap mushrooms.
It was not disputed whether Patterson killed her guests by serving them the deadly mushrooms. Instead, Patterson argued the deaths were accidental.
Patterson offered no motive for the murders, but prosecutors pointed out the strained relationship between her and estranged husband Simon Patterson, which had deteriorated over the past year. Simon was also invited to the lunch but did not attend.
Lawyers argued Patterson had no reason to kill her relatives; she was financially comfortable, had moved into a new home, had sole custody of her children, and was set to study for a new career in nursing at the time of the murders.
But prosecutors claimed there was a darker side to Patterson, who kept her true feelings about her in-laws hidden behind a public facade.
During the trial, Patterson was also found to be lying in several of her statements, including claims that she had invited the family members round to break the news that she had cancer and needed advice on how to break the news to her children, who were not in attendance.
She also lied to police about never having foraged mushrooms or owning a food dehydrator, which prosecutors claimed was due to panic after being overwhelmed by the realization that her lunch had killed people.
Throughout the trial, Judge Christopher Beale made repeated mentions to the media storm the case had attracted and thanked the jurors for their hard work over the space of ten weeks.
“This case has attracted unprecedented media attention and excited much public comment,” Beale said in his final directions to the jury, who had to reach a unanimous decision on all four charges.
“If any of that has reached your eyes or ears, or does so in the coming days or during your deliberations, you must be particularly careful not to let it influence you in any way.”
No member of either the Patterson or Wilkinson families was in attendance as the verdict was read out, according to The Guardian.
