Erin Patterson, the woman at the center of Australia’s notorious “mushroom lunch” case, has been found guilty of murdering three relatives and attempting to murder a fourth by serving them a Beef Wellington laced with deadly death cap mushrooms.
A 12-member jury returned the unanimous verdict after six days of deliberation, concluding a high-profile 10-week trial in the rural Victorian town of Morwell, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
The case has drawn global attention and inspired multiple podcasts dissecting each day’s proceedings.
Patterson was convicted of murdering her former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, following a July 2023 lunch at her Leongatha home. Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, survived after weeks in intensive care.
Prosecutors argued Patterson deliberately picked the highly toxic fungi after spotting their location online and used a food dehydrator—later found with mushroom remnants and her fingerprints—to prepare the lethal meal. The jury accepted that she intended to kill all four guests.
Patterson claimed the poisoning was accidental and said she lied out of panic. The court also heard damning messages she sent prior to the incident, expressing frustration with her estranged husband's family.
She will be sentenced at a later date.
