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ERIN PATTERSON, 50, HAS PLEADED NOT GUILTY TO THREE COUNTS OF MURDER AND ONE COUNT OF ATTEMPTED MURDER AFTER SHE SERVED MEALS OF BEEF WELLINGTON, MASHED POTATO AND GREEN BEANS AT HER HOME

10:21, 20 May 2025 A woman accused of poisoning and killing her ex-husband's family with a beef wellington dumped "death mushrooms" in a "seeping" brown paper bag, a

court heard. Erin Patterson, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder after she served meals of beef Wellington, mashed potato and green beans

at her home in the rural town of Leongartha on July 29, 2023. Her former parents-in-law Gail and Don Patterson, both 70, died in the week alongside Gail Patterson’s sister Heather Wilkinson,

66, after eating the meal. Wilkinson’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, 68, was poisoned but survived after a liver transplant. Patterson has pleaded not guilty to all charges. All four guests were

hospitalised the next day with poisoning from death cap mushrooms, also known as amanita phalloides, that were added to the beef and pastry dish. And now, after investigators started to

probe the horror meal, new details have emerged about what happened to the leftovers after lunch. Article continues below Dr Chris Webster, who works at Leongatha Hospital, told the jury he

was surprised Ms Patterson had discharged herself from the hospital against medical advice. “I had just informed her that she’d been exposed to a potential deadly death cap mushroom

poisoning and I thought that being in hospital would be a better place for her to be,” he said. The doctor was called by police who told him they had attended Ms Patterson's home for a

welfare check, and to look for any leftovers. “I had no idea but I figured there was a chance. Strike while the iron is hot; the police are there,” he said. Constable Martinez-Villalobis

said Ms Patterson was “co-operative throughout the exchange” and told him that leftovers would either be in her indoor or outdoor bin. The leftover food was discovered at the bottom of her

outdoor red-lidded bin in an “seeping” brown paper Woolworths bag, the officer said. “It was primarily maybe one-and-a-bit beef wellingtons,” he said. “I used another one of the bags that

were in the bin … because it was seeping a bit from the bottom and I didn’t want to get dirty.” The officer took the bag to the hospital where he handed it over to a nurse at around 10.19am.

Leongatha Hospital’s Dr Veronica Foote told the jury she was in contact with another hospital for guidance on how to treat Ms Patterson’s suspected death cap mushroom poisoning. Article

continues below “So I, with gloves on, I took the samples out of the bag, put them on a clean A4 sheet of copy paper and took the photos,” Dr Foote said. She said there was “finely chopped

and cooked mushrooms”. The trial continues.