A jury in Australia revealed on Monday a woman guilty of having murdered the parents and the aunt of her distant husband using the lace beef toxic toxic Wellington, her weeks of ceiling of verdict of depositions of the courtroom in a case that seized the country and made the headlines worldwide.
Erin Patterson, the convicted person, had denied the accusations, and his defense team had described the deaths of “terrible accident”.
Here is everything you need to know:
What happened?
On July 29, 2023, Patterson welcomed his former parents-in-law for lunch at his home in Leongatha, a city of 135 km (84 miles) south-east of Melbourne, in the southeast state of Victoria.
His guests included his mother-in-law, Gail Patterson; stepfather, Donald Patterson; Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson; And Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson. His ex-husband, Simon Patterson, refused the invitation.
Patterson, now 50 years old, served his guests with individual beef, a steak baked in the oven where the beef fillet is wrapped in a mushroom paste and a puff pastry, with potatoes and green beans on the side. Patterson has also eaten Wellington beef.
The four guests fell ill within hours of their meal consumption and were hospitalized. Gail, Donald and Heather died, while Ian survived after spending weeks in an induced coma. Gail and Donald were both 70 years old at the time of their death, while Heather was 66 years old. Patterson lawyers argued that she also fell ill after lunch and presented her results from medical tests as proof. It was later discovered that the Wellingtons were laid down with toxic mushrooms from death.
The prosecutors said that Patterson was separated from Simon, but the two remained friendly thereafter. Patterson had two children with Simon, who were also present at home during lunch, but did not eat the Wellingtons.
Patterson was arrested in November 2023 and has been in detention since. She was accused of the murders of Gail, Donald and Heather, alongside the attempted murder of Ian. These charges carry a perpetuity sentence.
What has the jury announced and what about the conviction?
The jury was kidnapped last week because they discussed and deliberated on a decision. Monday morning, it became clear that they had reached a verdict:
- Guilty, on the three accusations of murder, concerning the three people killed.
- Guilty, for the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson.
The judge has not announced a date of conviction. This will be the next step in the legal proceedings.
What are the mushrooms of the death cap?
Amanita Phalloides, commonly known as the death cap, are the deadliest mushroom species for humans. The mushrooms are small, simple and yellow or brown, appearing like several other species of non -poor or edible mushrooms. While the species is from Europe, these fungi are also found in North America and Australia, generally pushing under oaks.
They contain toxins that inhibit DNA production, leading to renal and hepatic insufficiency. If an individual consumes these fungi, initial symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea are beginning to appear in the six to 12 hours.
All parts of the mushrooms are toxic, and cut or cook them do not rid them of toxins. A fungus is enough to kill an adult.
What happened during the trial?
The trial before jury opened its doors on April 29 of this year at the Magistrate Court of Latrobe Valley, located in the former minor city of coal from Morwell in Victoria. Judge Christopher Beale chairs the case. Patterson’s parents and friends testified during the trial.
Pursuit
The accusation is led by Nanette Rogers, a lawyer who accused Patterson of having fueled poisonous mushrooms, using a kitchen ladder to weigh the deadly dose and add them to the beef wellingtons of her guests and not to hers. Rogers also pointed out how Patterson lied to the police when she was asked if she fueled mushrooms or possessed a food dehydrator.
The police found a food dehydrator in a discharge near the house of Patterson, in which traces of mushrooms in the bossonnette were found.
The accusation also noted that Patterson had examined a website listing the mushrooms in death’s swimming.
Ian testimony
The only survivor of the incident, Ian, testified on the sixth day of the trial.
Ian, a 71-year-old church pastor, told the trial that on lunch day, Patterson seemed to be “reluctant” to let his guests enter his pantry. “Heather and Gail proposed to help ensure food. The offer was rejected and Erin Plated,” said Ian.
Ian said he and his wife had vomited vomiting and diarrhea that night, but they rejected symptoms like gastroenteritis.
Defense
Patterson’s defense is led by Barrister Colin Mandy, who told the trial that Patterson did not intend to kill his guests. However, the defense did not deny that there were death ceilings in meals.
Mandy said Patterson had panicked and lied about food mushrooms in the police. “She panicked when he was faced with the terrible possibility, the terrible achievement, that her actions had caused the disease of the people she loved,” he said.
He also added that Patterson had fallen ill of the same meal and did not simulate his symptoms, which the accusation alleys. Mandy said to the trial: “She was not as sick as the other lunch guests, nor she represented that she was.” He added that the results of blood tests show disease indicators “which cannot be rigged”, such as low potassium levels and high hemoglobin.
Patterson also revealed that she ate a smaller game of the meal at lunch and made a boost on an orange cake that Gail Patterson had brought, after the departure of the guests. Patterson testified that after having eaten about two thirds of the cake, she vomited, which, if it is true, could explain why her body had lower toxins of Wellington beef than the others.
Since his arrest in November 2023, Patterson has maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty to all the counts. She maintains that poisoning was a “terrible accident”.
Mandy told the trial that Patterson had developed an interest in the search for food during the locking of COVVI-19 in 2020, and it was not unusual for her to collect knowledge on the mushrooms of the death cap.
Pattern
“You don’t need to be satisfied with the reason or even that there was one,” Rogers told the jury on April 30.
“The accusation will not suggest that there was a particular reason to do what it did.”
Rogers also presented messages that Patterson had sent to friends on Facebook, expressing his frustration in the face of his parents-in-law who do not get involved in a children’s alimony dispute between her and Simon.
In December 2022, she wrote: “I’m fed up with this S *** I don’t want to have anything to do with them. I thought her parents would like him to do the right thing, but it seems that their concern for not wanting to feel uncomfortable and not to want to get involved in the personal subjects of their sons who go beyond this if F ***.”
In another message, she wrote: “This family that I swear to F ******* God.”
When Mandy asked Patterson how she thought of these messages, she said: “I want me to never say … I am ashamed to have said it, and I want the family to have to hear that I said it. They don’t deserve it.”
What do we know about the jury?
There were initially 15 jurors, but one of them was rejected in May for discussing the case with friends and family. Judge Beale told the jurors to refrain from looking for the case or discussing it outside the courtroom.
The jury of 14 members was then reduced to 12 per ballot, which finally returned the verdict.
On July 1, Judge Beale urged jurors to put aside emotions and sympathy while sending the verdict.
“The question is not to know if it is in a way responsible for the tragic consequences of lunch, but if the accusation has proven beyond all reasonable doubts that it is criminally responsible,” said Beale. “Emotions, such as prejudices and sympathy, must have no role to play in your decision.”
