Erin Patterson convicted of murder

Mother of 2 guilty of killing 3 people

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An Australian woman was convicted yesterday of murdering three elderly relatives of her estranged husband with a meal laced with poisonous mushrooms, and attempting to murder a fourth, in a case that gripped the country.

After a week of deliberation, the jury found Erin Patterson lured her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, to lunch at her home and poisoned them with individual servings of Beef Wellington that contained death cap mushrooms.

They also found the 50-year-old guilty of the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, Heather's husband, who survived the 2023 meal at Erin Patterson’s home in Leongatha, a town of about 6,000 people some 135 kilometres southeast of Melbourne.

Patterson had pleaded not guilty to the four charges, saying the deaths were accidental.

The mother of two will be sentenced at a later date and faces a maximum life sentence. She can appeal against the verdict.

Colin Mandy, Patterson’s defence lawyer and one of Melbourne's top criminal barristers, made no comment as he left the court through a scrum of journalists.