An Australian woman will go on trial for murder Wednesday over a family lunch that turned deadly, but not all the original charges remain on the table. With jury selection now wrapped up, attention shifts to the quiet courthouse where Erin Patterson will face allegations that have gripped Victoria and made international headlines. Prosecutors have dropped a charge against Patterson related to an alleged attempt to murder her husband, reports the BBC; the Washington Post reports police had claimed she poisoned him via her cooking three times in 2021 and 2022. What remains: three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. The 50-year-old has pleaded not guilty.
The case centers on a mushroom lunch served in July 2023 in Leongatha, Victoria. Three people died in the hospital days after the lunch, during which a Beef Wellington steak dish was served. CBS News reports Patterson said in a statement that the fresh and dried mushrooms she used were purchased from a supermarket chain and an Asian grocery store, respectively. Police say the symptoms suffered by the alleged victims synced with having eaten death cap mushrooms. Don and Gail Patterson, both 70 and Patterson's former in-laws, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, died. Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, 68, survived after weeks of hospital treatment.
In her statement, Patterson said she also ate the dish and experienced stomach pains and diarrhea, and that her children ate some leftovers but with the mushrooms removed, as they don't like them. The trial, expected to last six weeks, will take place about an hour's drive from Leongatha. Justice Christopher Beale advised the jury to weigh the evidence "dispassionately," using "their heads and not their hearts." (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)
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