TRENDING|| Woman In Hot Soup After being found guilty of murd£ring her three in-laws after serving them lunch laced with de@th cap mushrooms
Published on July 8, 2025 at 2:30 PM by Edgar Naitha
Australian woman Erin Patterson was found guilty on June 7 of murdering three of her estranged husband’s relatives by serving them lunch laced with poisonous death cap mushrooms.
The verdict came after a nine-week trial and six days of jury deliberation in Victoria’s Supreme Court.
Patterson showed no visible emotion as the unanimous verdicts were read, though she blinked rapidly.
Her victims were her former parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, all of whom died after the 2023 meal in Leongatha.
Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, also fell critically ill but survived, and Patterson was found guilty of attempting to murder him.
The court focused on whether Patterson knowingly used death cap mushrooms and intended to kill, rejecting her claim it was a tragic accident.
Prosecutors did not present a clear motive but emphasized Patterson’s strained relationship with her in-laws and her deteriorating marriage.
They argued she deliberately served individual beef Wellingtons to control who consumed the poisoned portions, while Patterson denied intent and said she lacked ingredients for a family-sized version.
Patterson admitted to lying during the investigation, including about owning a dehydrator and foraging mushrooms, claiming panic over the incident led to her false statements.
