Woman murdered guests by adding toxic death caps to food, jury finds

An Australian woman murdered her husband's parents and aunt by lacing their beef wellington lunch with toxic mushrooms, a jury found yesterday at the climax of a trial that gained global attention.

- Nino Bucci Melbourne Adeshola Ore Benita Kolovos Morwell, Victoria

Erin Patterson, 50, hosted a meal in July 2023 that started with good-natured banter and earnest prayer but ended with three guests dead.

Throughout the supreme court of Victoria trial, which lasted more than two months, Patterson maintained that the meal had been accidentally poisoned with death cap mushrooms, the world's most lethal fungus.

But yesterday a jury convicted Patterson of murdering her estranged husband's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt, Heather Wilkinson, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The 12-person jury also found Patterson guilty of attempting to murder Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, the pastor of Korumburra Baptist church, who survived after weeks of treatment in hospital.

After the verdict, DI Dean Thomas, of the Victoria police homicide squad, said: "I think it's very important that we remember that we've had three people that have died. I ask that we acknowledge those people and not forget them."

As the verdicts were read out, Patterson did not drop her gaze from the jury. She looked ahead calmly. No members of the Patterson or Wilkinson families attended court for the verdicts.