New photos show Erin Patterson's killer beef wellington as four major deceptions explained
After a week of deliberation, Erin Patterson was found guilty of murdering three of her husband's family members with a meal laced with death cap mushrooms.
New photographs have been released of the poisonous mushroom-laced beef wellington used by Erin Patterson to murder three elderly relatives of her estranged husband.
Patterson, 50, lured her mother-in-law, Gail Patterson; father-in-law, Donald Patterson; and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, to lunch at her home and poisoned them in the summer of 2023.
The mother-of-two, from Leongatha, a small town south east of Melbourne, Australia, fed them individual servings of beef wellington that contained death cap mushrooms.
Patterson, who was convicted by jurors on Monday, also served the poisonous dish to Ian Wilkinson, Heather's husband and a Baptist church pastor, who survived.
During the trial, Wilkinson told jurors that Patterson had served her own separate meal on a different coloured plate.
Her estranged husband had also been invited to the meal, but turned down the invitation the day before, according to messages shown to the court.
Prosecutors told jurors that Patterson had employed four major deceptions in order to murder her guests.
She first fabricated a cancer diagnosis to lure the guests to the lunch, then poisoned their meals while serving herself an untainted portion, the prosecution's leading barrister Nanette Rogers told the court.
Patterson then lied that she was also sick from the food to avoid suspicion, before finally embarking on a cover-up when police began investigating the deaths, attempting to destroy evidence and lying to investigating officers, the prosecution said.
Patterson, who said during the trial she had inherited large sums of money from her mother and grandmother, was the only witness in her defence, spending eight days on the stand, including five days of cross-examination.
Patterson told the court about a life-long struggle with her weight, an eating disorder and low self-esteem, frequently becoming emotional as she spoke about the impact of the lunch on the Patterson family and her two children.
She told the court she had lied about having cancer to her guests because she was embarrassed to admit she was actually having weight loss surgery.
The defendant said she wanted her relatives' advice on how to tell her children about the surgery.
She told the court she had also not become as ill as her guests because she secretly binged on a cake that her mother-in-law had brought to the lunch and then made herself sick.
Patterson also told the court she had a loving relationship with the three people who died, including her mother and father-in-law, telling jurors they were all she had in her troubled life.
What was Erin Patterson found guilty of?
Former air traffic controller Patterson had pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder, claiming the deaths were accidental.
These charges were over the deaths of her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson.
She also denied a charge of attempted murder in relation to Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson.
However, after a week of deliberation and a 10-week long trial, jurors in Morwell, Victoria, found Patterson guilty of all counts on Monday.
How long could she face in jail?
Patterson will be sentenced at a later date and faces a maximum life sentence.
According to the state of Victoria's Sentencing Advisory Council, courts must "take into account that a prison sentence of 25 years "represents the middle of the range of objective seriousness" for the offence of murder.
In some cases, people are sentenced to life, but this does not mean they are not eligible for parole.
Out of the 89 sentenced to imprisonment by Victoria's higher courts for murder between 2017 and 2022, only one person received a life sentence without parole, the council says.
According to Victoria's Adult Parole Board, a non-parole period (after which a prisoner will be eligible for release) must be at least six months less than the prison sentence.
Patterson is awaiting sentencing for four separate convictions, and it will be up to the judge whether these sentences are served concurrently (at the same time) or consecutively (one after the other).
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