Australian woman accused of triple mushroom murders breaks down in court
June 3, 2025
4,813
SYDNEY — An Australian woman accused of murdering three of her estranged husband’s elderly relatives with a meal laced with poisonous mushrooms wept as she was questioned over expletive-laden messages about the victims on Tuesday, in a case that has captivated the country.
Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with the July 2023 murders of her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, along with the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, Heather’s husband.
The prosecution alleges that she knowingly served the guests Beef Wellington that contained lethal death cap mushrooms at her home in Leongatha, a town of around 6,000 people some 84 miles from Melbourne.
Patterson denies the charges, with her defense saying the deaths were a “terrible accident.” She faces a life sentence if found guilty.
Ian Wilkinson leaving court in Morwell, Australia, on Wednesday.Asanka Ratnayake / Getty Images
Appearing as a witness for her own defense, Erin Patterson was questioned on Tuesday by her barrister Colin Mandy about a series of expletive-laden messages sent to friends regarding the Patterson family.
The court previously heard that the relationship between the accused and her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, deteriorated shortly before the alleged murders due to a disagreement over child support.
“I wish I’d never said it. I feel ashamed for saying it and I wish that the family didn’t have to hear that I said that,” she said of the messages, which the court had previously heard in the prosecution’s case.
“I was really frustrated with Simon, but it wasn’t Don and Gail’s fault,” she told the court through tears.
Erin Patterson is the first witness for the defense after the prosecution rested its case on Monday, following a month of evidence from witnesses, including relatives and medical, forensic and mushroom experts.
The accused began her testimony on Monday afternoon. It is unknown how long she will give evidence for or whether she will be cross-examined by the prosecution.
The trial, which began on April 29, has seen intense interest from Australian and international media, with podcasters, journalists and documentary-makers descending on the town of Morwell, around two hours east of Melbourne, where the trial is being held.
State broadcaster ABC’s daily podcast about the proceedings is currently the most popular in the country, with two others also high in the charts.
A legjobb élmény biztosítása érdekében olyan technológiákat használunk, mint a cookie-k az eszközadatok tárolására és/vagy eléréséhez. Ha beleegyezik ezekbe a technológiákba, akkor olyan adatokat dolgozhatunk fel ezen az oldalon, mint a böngészési viselkedés vagy az egyedi azonosítók. A hozzájárulás elmulasztása vagy visszavonása bizonyos funkciókat és funkciókat hátrányosan érinthet.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
