Australian woman found guilty in mushroom poisoning case

An Australian woman has been found guilty of murder after serving her relatives a meal that included death cap mushrooms.

Erin Patterson was also convicted of one count of attempted murder in the trial at the Supreme Court of Victoria. She will be sentenced at a later date and can appeal the guilty verdict.

The jury returned their decision after almost a week of deliberations and a trial of longer than two months. They rejected the claim of Patterson’s defense team that it was an accident caused by including foraged mushrooms that she didn’t know were death caps.

Case background
Detectives from Victoria Police arrested the 50-year-old in November 2023.

In July 2023, four people were taken to hospital after they became ill following a meal of beef wellington at a house in Leongatha. Two women, aged 66 and 70, died on August 4. A 70-year-old man died on August 5. A 69-year-old man was released from the hospital in September.

Don and Gail Patterson and her sister Heather Wilkinson died from symptoms consistent with death cap mushroom poisoning. Ian Wilkinson survived the incident. Erin Patterson is the daughter-in-law of the couple who died.

Eating just one death cap mushroom may kill an adult, according to the Victorian Department of Health. Poisonous mushrooms, including death caps, occur in Victoria during autumn as the weather becomes wetter and cooler.

Cooking, peeling, or drying these mushrooms does not remove the poison. No home test distinguishes safe and edible mushrooms from poisonous types.

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