An Australian woman accused of killing three of her ex-husband's relatives using poisonous mushrooms told a court on Tuesday that she admitted to having death caps in the meal she cooked that turned fatal.
However, Erin Patterson says “most” of the mushrooms were purchased from local stores.
She denies three charges of murder and one of attempted murder relating to the beef Wellington she served to her in-laws and her ex-husband's aunt and uncle at her home in July 2023.
Don Patterson, Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson were hospitalised and died after lunch in the small town of Leongatha in the Australian state of Victoria.
Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, was in serious condition but survived.
Earlier, Patterson's lawyer told the Supreme Court that the poisoning was a tragic accident, but prosecutors argued it was deliberate.
If convicted, she could face life in prison on the murder charge and 25 years in prison for attempted murder.
Long lines formed outside the Latrobe Valley courthouse on Tuesday after Patterson made her first public appearance since the tragedy.
During hours of testimony on Tuesday, Patterson, 50, told the court she began picking mushrooms during the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020, with her children as the only witnesses.
“I cut off a piece of one of the mushrooms, fried it in butter and ate it,” she said. “They were delicious and I didn't feel sick.”
Patterson also said she fed her children mushrooms chopped “really, really finely” so they couldn't detect them in curries, pastas and soups.
Patterson says she developed a love for exotic mushrooms, joined a “mushroom lovers” Facebook group and purchased a dehydrator to preserve her finds.
Her lawyer Colin Mandy, the chief justice, asked whether she accepted that the beef Wellington she served to dinner guests in 2023 contained death caps.
“Yes, I think so,” Patterson replied.
The defendant told her lawyer that most of the mushrooms used that day were bought from local supermarkets. She agreed that she could have put them in the same container with dried wild mushrooms she had found a week earlier, as well as others from an Asian grocery store.
In April, Mr Mandy told the court his client had lied when she initially told investigators she had never foraged for mushrooms. However, he denied she had deliberately sought out the death cap and claimed she had dumped her dehydrator in a panic after the accidental deaths.
Earlier on Tuesday, Patterson broke down in tears when asked about profane messages she sent to her in-laws in December 2022 in a Facebook group chat she described as a “safe place to express emotions” for a group of women.
“I wish I had never said that. I'm so ashamed that I said that, and I'd rather the family not hear that I said that,” Patterson said. “They don't deserve that.”
Patterson, who said she had tried to involve her in-laws in mediation in a dispute with her ex-husband Simon over tuition fees, said she felt hurt, frustrated and “a little hopeless.”
The couple formally separated in 2015 after a series of temporary break-ups, the court heard. Simon Patterson was invited to dinner in July 2023 but did not attend.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
