Australian woman found guilty of all counts in mushroom murders case

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On July 7, the jury in the case found Erin Patterson guilty of all four charges, the court heard in Morwell.

PHOTO: AFP

SYDNEY - An Australian woman was on July 7 convicted of

murdering three elderly relatives of her estranged husband

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

The four gathered at Erin Pattersons home in Leongatha, a town of about 6,000 people some 135km south-east of Melbourne, where the mother of two served them a meal of individual beef wellingtons accompanied by mashed potato and green beans, which were later found to

contain death cap mushrooms

On July 7, the jury in the case found her guilty of all four charges, the court heard in Morwell, a town around two hours east of Melbourne where the trial was being held.

Patterson, who had pleaded not guilty to all charges, saying the deaths were accidental, will be sentenced at a later date. She faces a maximum life sentence.

The 10-week trial attracted huge global interest, with local and international media descending on Court 4 at the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court in Morwell, the nearest court to Pattersons home where she had requested to be tried, despite being warned of lengthy delays.

State broadcaster ABCs daily podcast on proceedings was consistently among the most popular in Australia during the