An Australian woman accused of murdering her former in-laws and another woman with poisonous mushrooms has made her first court appearance.
Erin Patterson, 49, has been charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder. The murder charges stem from a family lunch she hosted at her home in Victoria in July, while three of the attempted murder charges are related to incidents between 2021 and 2022.
Ms. Patterson maintains her innocence.
In a brief court hearing in rural Victoria on Friday, Ms. Patterson’s case was adjourned until May 3rd, to allow prosecutors time to analyze computer equipment seized from her home during a police search.
The accusations revolve around a beef Wellington that Ms. Patterson served to her former in-laws Gail and Don Patterson, Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, and her husband Ian Wilkinson.
According to Ms. Patterson, she made the dish using a mixture of button mushrooms purchased from a supermarket and dried mushrooms bought from an Asian grocery store several months prior.
Police report that all four guests became violently ill and were subsequently taken to the hospital. Within a few days, Gail and Don Patterson and Heather Wilkinson had died. Ian Wilkinson, however, recovered after being hospitalized in critical condition.
Authorities suspect that the four individuals ingested death cap mushrooms, which are highly poisonous.
Ms. Patterson came under suspicion when she and her two children were found unharmed after the lunch.
However, the 49-year-old maintains that she never intended to harm her guests. She claims that she herself was hospitalized after the meal and given medication to prevent liver damage.
In August, she wrote in a statement, “I am now devastated to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to the illness suffered by my loved ones.”
In addition to the three murder charges, Ms. Patterson also faces two counts of attempted murder relating to the July lunch. She is further charged with three counts of attempted murder in connection with three separate incidents where a 48-year-old man allegedly fell ill after meals consumed between 2021 and 2022. No additional details have been provided.
