Patterson had pleaded not guilty to all charges. Here\u2019s how the trial unfolded.<\/p>\n
Illustration: Guardian Design1. Erin Patterson tells her side of the story<\/p>\n
For five weeks, Patterson quietly observed her murder trial from the courtroom dock. On day 24 of the trial, Patterson began to tell her side of the lunch she prepared for four elderly relatives. During days in the witness box, Patterson\u2019s raw and emotional evidence detailed her \u201cnever-ending battle with low self-esteem\u201d<\/a>, plans for weight-loss surgery and struggles with an eating disorder.<\/p>\n Questions from her defence lawyer, Colin Mandy SC, about her interest in wild mushrooms elicited her history of foraging that began after observing mushrooms in the Korumburra botanic gardens during walks with her children in 2020, during the Covid pandemic.<\/p>\n Patterson admitted she had never been diagnosed with ovarian cancer<\/a> despite telling her lunch guests she may need treatment for this. Questioned about messaging her Facebook friends \u201cthis family I swear to fucking god\u201d <\/a>in relation to her in-laws, Don and Gail, Patterson said she now felt \u201cashamed\u201d.<\/p>\n Under cross-examination by prosecutor Nannette Rogers SC, Patterson denied deliberately lacing the beef wellingtons with death cap mushrooms but accepted the toxic fungi were in the dish <\/a>she served on 29 July 2023.<\/p>\n Patterson said she lied to police about dehydrating mushrooms because she was afraid she would be held responsible<\/a>. She said on 1 August 2023 \u2013 three days after the lunch \u2013 she realised foraged mushrooms may have been in a container with store-bought dried mushrooms used in the beef wellingtons<\/a>. Patterson said the realisation came after her estranged husband, Simon asked her: \u201cIs that how you poisoned my parents, using that dehydrator?\u201d<\/a> while she was in Monash hospital days after the lunch.<\/p>\n She agreed she did not tell anyone about her realisation.<\/p>\n In Patterson\u2019s final moments in the witness box, prosecutor Nanette Rogers made three suggestions to the accused: that she deliberately sourced death cap mushrooms in 2023, deliberately included them in beef wellingtons she served and did so intending to kill her guests.<\/p>\n \u201cDisagree,\u201d Patterson said to each.<\/p>\n 2. Testimony from sole lunch survivor<\/p>\n Ian Wilkinson entered the witness box on day six and began to tell the jury about the family lunch held on a winter\u2019s day in July 2023. Recalling the invitation, Ian said he and Heather were \u201cvery happy\u201d to be invited to Patterson\u2019s house less than a fortnight before the meal. Ian had never been for a meal at Patterson\u2019s Leongatha home and no reason was given for the invitation.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seemed like maybe our relationship with Erin was going to improve,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Ian Wilkinson leaves the Latrobe Valley magistrates court in Morwell, Victoria. The court heard that he and his wife, Heather, fell sick the evening of the lunch. Photograph: James Ross\/AAP<\/p>\n Inside Patterson\u2019s home, Ian recalled her plating the individual beef wellingtons on four large grey plates and a smaller plate \u2013 an \u201corangey, tan\u201d colour. Patterson, he said, ate from the odd plate. Patterson and her guests tucked into their meals \u2013 each allocated a single beef wellington, which looked like a pasty \u2013 with a side of mashed potatoes and green beans, Ian said. After the group had finished eating, Patterson \u201cannounced that she had cancer\u201d, Ian said. \u201cIn that moment, I thought, \u2018This is the reason we\u2019ve been invited to lunch\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Ian and Heather fell sick the evening of the lunch, the court heard.<\/p>\n 3. Simon Patterson<\/p>\n On day three of the trial, the prosecution called their first witness \u2013 Patterson\u2019s estranged husband, Simon. He detailed the couple\u2019s multiple separations before a final separation in 2015.<\/p>\n Simon Patterson, Erin Patterson\u2019s estranged husband, arrives at the court in Morwell in May. Photograph: Diego Fedele\/EPA<\/p>\n Simon said despite being separated, the couple had a strong friendship \u2013 often holidaying together overseas with their children \u2013 until a dispute over child support in late 2022, when his accountant listed him as \u201cseparated\u201d on his tax return<\/a>. After this, the \u201cchatty\u201d nature of their digital correspondence ended. \u201cIt became functional,\u201d Simon told the court.<\/p>\n During Simon\u2019s evidence, the court was shown text messages between the pair in the lead-up to the lunch. The day before, Simon texted Patterson to say he felt \u201ctoo uncomfortable\u201d to attend<\/a>. In Patterson\u2019s reply, she said the news was \u201creally disappointing\u201d and that she had \u201cspent a small fortune on beef eye fillet\u201d for the meal. Under cross-examination, Simon denied saying to Patterson \u201cis that what you used to poison them?\u201d in relation to her food dehydrator, while she was at Monash hospital in the days after the lunch.<\/p>\n Video testimony from Patterson\u2019s two children, who cannot be named due to a suppression order, was played to the jury. The prerecorded evidence, which the siblings gave separately to police on 16 August 2023, showed each child being interviewed by police officers. In the video, Patterson\u2019s children recalled eating leftovers of her beef wellington lunch a day after the fateful lunch. Her daughter described her mother as a \u201cvery good cook\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n Patterson\u2019s 14-year-old son recalled the meal he and his sister ate on 30 July 2023 was eye-fillet beef \u2013 \u201csome of the best meat I\u2019ve ever had\u201d. He described his parent\u2019s relationship as \u201cvery negative\u201d and told police his father \u201cdoes a lot of things to try and hurt\u201d his mother.<\/p>\n Patterson\u2019s children said they they did not know their mother to forage for mushrooms, the court heard. Patterson\u2019s son recalled his mother seeing a mushroom at Korumburra botanic gardens in 2020 during a walk. He said his mother took a picture of them because she \u201cthought they looked nice\u201d.<\/p>\n 5. Inside the police investigation<\/p>\n The prosecution\u2019s final witness, Det Leading Sen Const Stephen Eppingstall, the officer in charge of the investigation, began testifying on day 20. He described the evidence police gathered as they investigated the poisonings.<\/p>\n Det Leading Sen Const Stephen Eppingstall led the investigation into the fatal mushroom lunch. Photograph: James Ross\/AAP<\/p>\n Eppingstall told the jury police probed Patterson\u2019s phone records, bank statements, Woolworths purchase history, medical records and electronic devices seized from her Leongatha home a week after the lunch. Electronic records from a Cooler Master computer found at Patterson\u2019s house indicated it had been used to visit webpages listing sightings of death cap mushrooms<\/a> in May 2022.<\/p>\n![\"Erin](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3455.jpg\")
Erin Patterson found guilty of murdering three relatives and attempting to murder a fourth \u2013 video4. Patterson\u2019s children testify<\/p>\n