Four unanswered questions after woman guilty of mushroom killings ...Middle East

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A jury decided Erin Patterson, 50, killed Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson with pastries filled with lethal death cap mushrooms.

Patterson will be sentenced at a later date and is facing life in prison, but questions remain over the case after a 10-week trial which sparked huge international interest.

Erin Patterson murdered her husband’s parents and aunt by lacing their beef Wellington lunch with toxic mushrooms, a jury found (Photo: Anita Lester and Handout / Latrobe Valley Law Courts/ AFP)

Three of the guests died several days after the meal. Mr Wilkinson, who required a liver transplant, survived.

However, during the trial they highlighted strained relations between Patterson and her estranged husband, Simon Patterson and frustration she had felt about his parents in the past.

Before the jury retired to consider their verdict, Justice Christopher Beale told jurors the prosecution didn’t need to present a motive for the murders in order for Patterson to be found guilty.

But, he added, the defence had argued Patterson had a motive not to kill her lunch guests, which he told the jury was “a significant consideration you must have regard to.”

Source of the mushrooms

Patterson had claimed the poisonous fungi may have been placed in the meal by mistake after she included foraged mushrooms she didn’t know were death caps.

But detectives discovered death cap mushrooms had been spotted in two nearby towns in the weeks before the fatal meal was served, with Patterson’s mobile phone location showing she had visited both areas.

Plates containing samples of a beef Wellington meal laced with toxic mushrooms that was prepared by Australian home cook Erin Patterson (Photo: Supreme Court of Victoria/ AFP)

During her trial, Patterson denied lying about foraging for mushrooms with her children despite them not recalling doing so when questioned by police.

Patterson claimed she realised in the days after the lunch that the beef Wellington may have included mushrooms she had foraged and put in a container with store-bought ones by accident.

Police documents court stated that she had tried to murder Simon Patterson three times between November, 2021 and September, 2022.

Erin Patterson had tried to kill Simon Patterson several times, according to court documents, but charges of attempted murder were later dropped (Photo: Martin Keep / AFP)

Mr Patterson had been due to come to the deadly lunch at her home in the rural town of Leongatha, Victoria, on July 29 to discuss access to their children but cancelled at the last minute.

But the charges of attempted murder were dropped on the eve of the trial and the allegations were not put to the jury.

Why did she take the stand?

Erin Patterson is taken from Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court in Morwell after being found guilty of murdering her in-laws (Photo: William West / AFP)

But given the evidence against her, some observers were surprised Patterson didn’t plead guilty to murder as she may have received a reduced sentence.

An alleged murderer testifying as a witness in their own defence is a rare strategy and normally a last resort, said Nicholas Papas, a veteran criminal barrister based in Melbourne who frequently acts in murder trials.

During her time in the witness box, Patterson claimed to have had a “never-ending battle” with low self-esteem, planned for weight loss surgery and struggled with an eating disorder.

But during her days of cross-examination by prosecutor Nanette Rogers she repeatedly clashed over minor details.

But Patterson’s decision to take her chances with a jury and convince them of her innocence failed and she is now facing a life sentence.

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