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Mum 'served deadly mushroom lunch to in-laws then made herself throw up with dessert'A woman accused of poisoning and murdering her in-laws with death cap mushrooms, has said she made

herself throw up after eating the lethal meal, during an Australia trialNewsEmma Mackenzie Lifestyle Writer10:08, 05 Jun 2025Updated 10:24, 05 Jun 2025Erin Patterson told the court she threw

up after the poisoned meal, after eating too much dessert(Image: AP) The 'mushroom murder' trial in Australia has seen the accused, Erin Patterson, 50, give her third day of testimony. The

mum of two stands accused of three counts of murder, and one of attempted murder - all of which she denies, pleading not guilty to all four charges.

Erin prepared a beef Wellington lunch for her guests in July 2023, before deliberately including and feeding them poisonous death cap mushrooms, the court heard. However, her legal team is

arguing that the inclusion of the toxic ingredient was nothing more than a terrible accident, which had tragic consequences.

Three of her lunch guests died after eating the meal; her former parents-in-law, Don Patterson, 70, and Gail Patterson, 70, and her ex-mum-in-law's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66. The fourth

guest, Ian Wilkinson, 71, survived, but spent weeks in hospital receiving treatment.

The court heard Erin claimed that after eating a small portion of the poisoned main course, she binged on dessert - making herself "over-full" and vomit. She only had "a quarter, a third,

somewhere around there" of the beef Wellington, she reportedly said, but once her guests headed home, she gorged on an orange cake her former mother-in-law had brought to the lunch.

"I ate another piece of cake, and then another piece," she said, before eventually finishing the cake. "I felt sick… over-full so I went to the toilets and brought it back up again."

"After I'd done that, I felt better," she said.

Article continues belowIan Wilkinson survived the lunch, but spent weeks in hospital receiving treatment(Image: Getty Images) Over three days the court heard Erin admit she lied to her

guests about having cancer, because she wanted help looking after her children whilst she underwent gastric bypass surgery. "I remember thinking I didn't want to tell anybody what I was

going to have done. I was really embarrassed by it," she claimed.

Erin told the court she had spent quite some time deciding what to cook her guests, before landing on beef Wellington - a dish that had sentimental connotations from her childhood, as it was

something her mother would make for special occasions.

However, she claimed the mushrooms she included had little taste, so she added some dried mushrooms that she had previously purchased from an Asian food shop in Melbourne months before, and

that she kept in a container.

The trial is continuing at Latrobe Valley Magistrates' Court(Image: GETTY) When asked if there could have been other sorts of mushrooms in there too, she said: "Now, I think there was a

possibility that there were foraged ones in there as well."

Since 2020, the accused has been regularly foraging for wild mushrooms. She said when she went to the hospital two days after the lethal lunch - for medical attention after developing

stomach issues - that she was "shocked but confused" when she was asked if she might have consumed death cap mushrooms.

The mushroom murder trial in Australia has captured international attention and testimony and the six-week trial has seen 50 people take the stand to provide evidence.

Erin claimed during her testimony that her ex-husband, Simon Patterson, asked her if she used her food dehydrator to poison his parents, which caused her to panic, and throw the appliance

away at the tip near her home. A conversation that her ex denies happened.

Article continues below She also erased all the data from her phone more than once, even when the police were actively searching her home - with the court hearing this was because she was

afraid they would see images of the food dehydrator and the mushrooms themselves.

"I had made the meal and served it and people had got sick," Erin told the court. "I was scared that they would blame me for it."

The trial continues.