Erin Patterson pleads not guilty to all charges over alleged mushroom murders
Erin Patterson, 49, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of three people. The Australian is facing three murder charges and two counts of attempted murder over a meal she cooked last July that allegedly had a poisonous mushroom in it.
Police say Patterson also tried to kill her estranged husband on three occasions. Patterson has always maintained her innocence.
The case has gripped Australia and left a tight-knit community reeling.
Patterson hosted a lunch at her home in Leongatha on 29 July. Her former in-laws Gail and Don Patterson, along with Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and Heather’s husband Ian were in attendance.
Patterson’s estranged husband Simon Patterson had also been invited to the meal but could not make it at the last minute.
Erin Patterson is accused of the murder of three people by serving them an allegedly poisonous mushroom lunch, and five charges of attempted murder. The Victorian woman has pleaded NOT GUILTY to all charges and elected to have her case “fast-tracked” to the Supreme Court. #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/CqRUEWXqao
— 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) May 7, 2024
Hours after the lunch, all four guests fell ill with what was initially thought to be severe food poisoning. Within days, Gail and Don Patterson and Heather Wilkinson had died.
Ian Wilkinson survived, having spent almost three months in hospital.
Police believe the four ate death cap mushrooms – which are highly legal if ingested.
Patterson and her children were the only ones who did not fall ill from the meal. She was named as a suspect by police soon after.
Police say after months of investigating detectives have uncovered three other murder attempts on her estranged husband. In November she was arrested and formally charged with eight offences in total.
Her case will now be fast-tracked to the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne for trial, with her first hearing scheduled for 23 May.
