A Woman In Australia Was Found Guilty Of Murdering Three Family Members Using Toxic Mushrooms
On July 7, a jury found Erin Patterson guilty of murdering her husband's parents and aunt.
This Australian woman murdered 3 family members by serving them a meal with one of the deadliest mushrooms to exist, shocking the country.
On July 29, 2023, 50-year-old Erin Patterson invited her husband’s parents, aunt and uncle over for lunch, at her house in Leongatha, Victoria.
She also invited her estranged husband, who she had separated from in 2015, but he did not attend.
She arranged the lunch to tell her relatives about what later turned out to be a false cancer diagnosis and discuss how to tell their children.
She had served her guests individual beef wellingtons alongside a mushroom paste.
Within 24 hours, all 4 guests fell ill and were hospitalized, reporting severe vomiting and diarrhea.
On Aug. 4, all except one guest, her husband’s uncle Ian Wilkinson, died.
Police then opened an investigation and found the meal contained death cap mushrooms, one of the deadliest mushrooms to exist, and arrested Patterson on Nov. 2, 2023.
Patterson was arrested and tried for deliberately placing the toxic mushrooms in the meal to murder her relatives.
In a statement, Patterson said she had brought dried mushrooms from an Asian supermarket three months before the lunch, and reportedly even faked her own symptoms after the meal.
Authorities found that Patterson had disposed of evidence, including resetting her phone to eliminate photos of mushrooms and disposing a food dehydrator that contained the remains of the death cap mushroom.
The case sparked widespread interest and shock across Australia, with people branding Patterson as the "mushroom killer".
On July 7, a jury found Patterson guilty of 3 counts of murder and 1 attempted murder.
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