'Marital issues' detailed before mushroom murders

An Australian woman felt ostracised from her husband's family in the months before she allegedly murdered three of his relatives with toxic mushrooms, a court heard yesterday.

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Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with murdering the parents and aunt of her estranged husband in 2023 by serving them a beef Wellington laced with lethal death cap mushrooms.

She is also accused of attempting to murder her husband's uncle, who survived the meal after a long stay in hospital.

Ms Patterson has pleaded not guilty to all charges in a trial that continues to captivate the country.

Having watched the prosecution build its case over the past five weeks, Ms Patterson took the stand for the first time yesterday to mount her defence.

She described how husband Simon — the pair were estranged but still legally married — seemed to be pushing her out of the family in the lead up to the fatal meal.

"We saw each other less," she told the jury.