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Topics: Australia, Crime, Erin Patterson, True crime
Callum Jones
Topics: Australia, Crime, Erin Patterson, True crime
A woman accused of poisoning her husband's relatives has revealed why she made an extra meal after denying she wanted to kill her former partner.
Erin Patterson is accused of murdering the parents of her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, after she invited them over to lunch in July 2023.
Don and Gail Patterson and Simon's aunt, Heather Wilkinson, all died after Patterson served them a beef wellington that repotedly contained death cap mushrooms. Patterson, from Leongatha, in Victoria, Australia, has also been accused of attempting to murder Simon’s uncle and Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, who managed to survive the poisoning.
The woman's trial is now underway, and she has pleaded not guilty to all the charges she is facing.
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While there is no debate Patterson served deadly mushrooms to her guests, the Australian woman claims she did so unknowingly.
She has previously said in court how she researched ideas to find 'something special' as she wanted to get away from the 'bland' flavour of the meal. Patterson told the court she thought she was adding dried fungi bought from an Asian supermarket into the meal.
This week, Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC asked Patterson why she decided to maker six beef wellingtons when she was cooking food for four guests and herself.
She quickly dismissed suggestions that the sixth portion was for her husband if he ended up turning up to the dinner date.
"I didn’t make that sixth one for Simon," Patterson explained. "It’s just an extra one. Simon wasn’t coming."
She added: "I had five twin packs, I put two in the freezer and I had six to make. So I did that."
The meal had been planned in the first place to discuss Patterson's health, with the defendant admitting last week she lied to her in-laws about having cancer.
"I was ashamed of the fact that I didn’t have control over my body or what I ate. I didn’t want to tell anybody, but I shouldn’t have lied to them," Patterson said.
On Thursday (June 19), lawyers for the suspect delivered their closing remarks to the jury.
Defence barrister Colin Mandy SC said: "If you think at the end of your deliberations that it’s a possibility this was an accident, a reasonable possibility, you must find her not guilty.
"Our submission to you is the prosecution can’t get over that high bar of beyond reasonable doubt.
“When you consider the actual evidence and consider it properly, methodically and analytically, your verdicts on these charges should be not guilty.”