Australia prepares for verdict in mushroom murder trial

MORWELL, Australia - The trial of an Australian woman accused of murdering three of her estranged husband’s elderly relatives using toxic mushrooms entered its final stages on June 25, with the jury soon to begin its deliberations in a case that has gripped the nation.

Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with the murders of her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Ms Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, along with the attempted murder of Mr Ian Wilkinson, Ms Heather’s husband, in July 2023.

The prosecution accuses her of foraging for poisonous death cap mushrooms and knowingly adding them to individual portions of beef wellington that she served to her guests at her home in Leongatha, a town of about 6,000 people some 135km south-east of Melbourne.

Patterson denies the charges, which carry a life sentence, with her defence calling the deaths a “terrible accident”.

Justice Christopher Beale, the presiding judge, began his second day of instructions to the jury on June 25 at the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court in Morwell, a former coal mining town whose best known tourist attractions until the trial were a rose garden and a regional art gallery.

Justice Beale has said the process will take until at least the end of the day, meaning the 14-member jury will retire to consider their verdict on June 26 at the earliest. Their decision must be unanimous.

Outside, despite the winter cold and rain, members of the public began queuing for the limited seats in the court hours before proceedings began.

“I am a true crime fanatic,” said Mr Philip Mayers, a social worker who got up at 5am and drove two hours from Melbourne, the state capital, to get his place in the court.

“It’s the uniqueness of it, you don’t hear it every day.”

Media frenzy