An Australian woman accused of murdering three of her estranged husband’s relatives with poisonous death cap mushrooms wept in court as she admitted lying about medical issues.
Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with murdering her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, in a case that has gripped the public.
She is also charged with the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, Heather’s husband.
Prosecutors say Patterson knowingly served the guests lethal death cap mushrooms in a Beef Wellington at her home in Leongatha, Victoria, in July 2023.
She denies all the charges, claiming the deaths were a “terrible accident”.
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Everything you need to know about the mushroom murder trial
Patterson continued speaking in her own defence on Wednesday as her trial in Morwell, Victoria, continues, repeatedly weeping in court as she said she may have accidentally included foraged mushrooms into the food she served.
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“Now I think there was a possibility there were foraged ones in there,” she said as she was questioned by her own barrister, Colin Mandy.
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The court also heard that Patterson had invented medical issues partly to elicit sympathy from her estranged husband’s relatives, from whom she said she felt she was growing apart.
“I didn’t want their care of me to stop, so I kept it going. I shouldn’t have done it,” she told the court.
“Did you lie to them?” Mr Mandy asked. “I did lie to them,” Patterson replied, through tears.
The prosecution argues that Patterson invented medical issues – the trial has heard she lied about a cancer diagnosis – in order to lure the victims to the meal – a claim Patterson denies.
The defence does not dispute that Patterson lied about having cancer.
