Accused mushroom killer says she lied to police Australian court

SYDNEY - An Australian woman accused of murdering three people with poisonous mushrooms told a court on June 5 she lied to police because she feared being held “responsible”.

Erin Patterson is charged with murdering her estranged husband’s parents and aunt in 2023 by spiking their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms.

She is also accused of attempting to murder a fourth guest – her husband’s uncle – who survived after a long stay in hospital.

Patterson maintains the lunch was poisoned by accident and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

An Australian court was told on June 5 how Patterson used a food dehydrator to prepare mushrooms that she had collected while foraging.

Patterson later told police she did not own a food dehydrator, the prosecution said.

“You lied about dehydrating food and mushrooms because you knew that if you told police the truth, then that would implicate you in the poisoned lunch,” prosecution lawyer Nanette Rogers said on June 5. “Agree or disagree?“

Patterson responded: “I agree that I lied because I was afraid I would be held responsible.”

The court previously heard that Patterson used a food dehydrator to preserve store-bought and foraged mushrooms, which she then kept in her pantry.

Days after the deadly lunch, security cameras allegedly captured Patterson discarding the dehydrator at a local rubbish dump.

Detectives said they found traces of death cap mushrooms in the dehydrator, the court previously heard.

“I didn’t deliberately put death cap mushrooms in the meal,” Patterson told the court on June 5.

The prosecution alleges Patterson intentionally poisoned her lunch guests and took care that she did not consume the deadly mushrooms herself.

Her defence says Patterson ate the same meal as the others but did not fall as sick.