Nearly two years on from the infamous beef Wellington meal that rocked Australia, Erin Patterson has been found guilty of murder.
Patterson stood accused of three counts of murder over the deaths of her former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66, who attended the lunch at her home in regional Victoria on July 29, 2023.
The trio died in hospital just days after consuming the fatal meal.
Patterson, 50, was also accused of the attempted murder of Heather’s husband, Ian, 68, who survived the meal. She pled not guilty to all charges.
On Monday afternoon (July 7), one week after they began deliberating, a group of 12 jurors returned to the Latrobe Valley courthouse in Victoria’s southeast to declare the verdict.
Over the nine-week trial, the jury was presented with 125 exhibits of evidence, statements from dozens of witnesses, photos of death cap mushrooms, and hours of testimony from Patterson herself on the stand.
Patterson’s lawyers argued the incident was a tragic accident, with the foraged mushrooms making their way into the meal by mistake.
However, prosecutors claimed the mother of two had deliberately sought out death cap mushrooms and served them with malicious intent.
While a clear motive was never established, the prosecution said Patterson had shown animosity towards her in-laws.
The case not only rocked the tight-knit communities of Leongatha and Korumburra in East Gippsland, where Patterson and the victims lived, but also made headlines around the world.
Patterson will be sentenced at a later date.
