The Australian Erin Patterson (50) has been found guilty by a jury of triple murder and attempted murder of her in-laws in 2023. She gave the victims a lunch with poisonous mushrooms. Patterson risks a life sentence.
Patterson served the dish beef wellington to her seventy-year-old ex-parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson. Gail’s sister Heather (66) and her husband Ian Wilkinson were also present. Don, Gail, and Heather died. Only Ian survived the dinner.
The BBC reports that Patterson listened to the jury’s verdict silently. During the trial, she maintained that the poisonous mushrooms had accidentally ended up in the dish.
Patterson will hear her sentence on a date to be determined. She can appeal the jury’s verdict, but it is not yet known whether she will do so.
The trial in Morwell, a town near Melbourne, has received a lot of international media attention in recent months. The poisoning took place in Leongatha, a village near Morwell.
Ex found it ‘too uncomfortable’
Patterson had invited the family members with a pretext. She supposedly wanted to discuss how best to tell her children bad medical news.
During the dinner, the woman shared the false diagnosis that she had ovarian cancer. She had also invited her ex Simon to the dinner. He did not come because he felt “too uncomfortable” due to tensions between him and Patterson.
About twelve hours after the lunch, the suspect’s guests became ill. They were admitted to the hospital. Doctors discovered that the guests had suffered mushroom poisoning. After a few days, parents-in-law Gail and Don and aunt Heather died.