16 h. ago A life saved and what Erin Patterson allegedly confided to friends: week four of the mushroom lunch trial

Sole surviving lunch guest watches on as Victorian supreme court hears how hospital staff ‘thought he was going to die’ from death cap mushroom poisoningWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom murders trial?Ian Wilkinson sat in the Victorian supreme court, only metres from the woman accused of trying to murder him, as one of the men who helped save his life gave evidence.Prof Stephen Warrillow, the director of intensive care at Austin Health, had already spoken about the deaths of three people from death cap mushroom poisoning and the particular characteristics of their illnesses; “rapidly progressive deterioration”, the organ failure and of it being “non-survivable”. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago 'Death mushrooms' found in 'seeping brown bag' after woman 'poisoned ex husband family'

Erin Patterson 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.

Events

3 d. ago 'Death mushrooms' found in 'seeping' brown paper bag after woman 'poisoned ex husband family'

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

Events

4 d. ago Erin Patterson murder trial live: mobile data shows Patterson’s device could have been in area where death cap mushrooms reportedly sighted

Australian woman, 50, faces three murder charges and one charge of attempted murder over lethal mushroom lunch. Follow live updatesPatterson’s defence lawyer, Sophie Stafford, is cross-examining McKenzie.She agrees she removed and disposed of every death cap mushroom she could find when she spotted the mushrooms. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Erin Patterson murder trial live: witness posted location of death cap mushrooms to citizen science website

Australian woman, 50, faces three murder charges and one charge of attempted murder over lethal mushroom lunch. Follow live updatesPatterson’s defence lawyer, Sophie Stafford, is cross-examining McKenzie.She agrees she removed and disposed of every death cap mushroom she could find when she spotted the mushrooms. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Mushroom trial live: witnesses to continue giving evidence on day 14 of Erin Patterson murder trial

Australian woman, 50, faces three murder charges and one charge of attempted murder over lethal mushroom lunch. Follow live updatesMcKenzie says in her role she answered calls from members of the public and professionals regarding ingestion of a range of poisonous substances including fungi.She tells the court what her role involved when someone calls the help line:We need to ascertain the circumstances, for instance it might be a toddler who has a nibble of a little brown mushroom and nothing more. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago What the Erin Patterson murder trial jury was told this week that you NEVER heard about

Erin Patterson claims she ate half of a beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms at her deadly lunch. 

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7 d. ago Mushroom lunch leftovers examined and a juror removed: how week three of the Erin Patterson murder trial unfolded

Australian jury asked to consider if murder accused was pretending to be sick after lunch that killed three in-lawsWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom murders trial?The mushroom paste was contained in a vial about 2cm wide and 5cm high, with the exhibit name EX X1 Z13.The paste was taken from inside a beef wellington, which in turn was taken from inside a paper bag found in a wheelie bin outside Erin Patterson’s home. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Erin Patterson trial live: juror discharged on day 12 of hearing

Australian woman, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha. Follow live updatesErin Patterson’s defence lawyer, Sophie Stafford, is cross-examining Cripps.Stafford says Cripps is “not very clear” on what Patterson said about how much she ate at the lunch in July 2023. Cripps agrees.Is it your recollection that firstly she didn’t eat her entire portion?Yes. She indicated she didn’t eat it all. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Erin Patterson trial live: death cap mushroom toxin detected in beef wellington leftovers and dehydrator, toxicologist tells court

Australian woman, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha. Follow live updatesErin Patterson’s defence lawyer, Sophie Stafford, is cross-examining Cripps.Stafford says Cripps is “not very clear” on what Patterson said about how much she ate at the lunch in July 2023. Cripps agrees.Is it your recollection that firstly she didn’t eat her entire portion?Yes. She indicated she didn’t eat it all. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson did not answer when asked if she picked mushrooms used in poisonous lunch, court hears

Australian woman, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha. Follow live updatesErin Patterson’s defence lawyer, Sophie Stafford, is cross-examining Cripps.Stafford says Cripps is “not very clear” on what Patterson said about how much she ate at the lunch in July 2023. Cripps agrees.Is it your recollection that firstly she didn’t eat her entire portion?Yes. She indicated she didn’t eat it all. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Mushroom trial live: child protection worker tells court Erin Patterson said she felt ‘isolated’ from in

Australian woman, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha. Follow live updatesPatterson’s defence lawyer, Sophie Stafford, is cross-examining Cripps.Stafford asks Cripps about her conversation with Simon Patterson at Monash medical centre on 1 August 2023. Continue reading...

Society

8 d. ago Erin Patterson murder trial live: witnesses continue to give evidence on day 12 of alleged mushroom murder case

Australian woman, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha. Follow live updatesThe jurors have not entered the court room yet.While we wait for today’s proceedings to kick off, here’s a report from our justice and courts reporter, Nino Bucci, on what the trial heard yesterday: Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Erin Patterson murder trial live: ‘probably impossible’ for death cap mushrooms to come from supermarket as they cannot be cultivated, expert tells trial

Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha. Follow live updatesKey figures in the mushroom lunch trialLawyer Sophie Stafford asks Dr Thomas May about incidents involving death cap mushroom poisoning.She points to a poisoning that was a subject of a Victorian coroner’s report from May 2024. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Erin Patterson murder trial live: witnesses continue to give evidence on day 11 of the alleged mushroom murder case

Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha. Follow live updatesKey figures in the mushroom lunch trialDr Thomas May began giving his evidence yesterday, telling the court that:death cap mushrooms were most commonly reported in Maythere had been three known sightings of death cap mushrooms in the Gippsland regionthe “citizen science” website iNaturalist is often used to report sightingsa smooth capa white stem which usually has a visible ringwhite gills Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Erin Patterson murder trial told dangerous death cap mushroom sighted near her home

Court told mushroom expert logged photos and GPS coordinates on a citizen science website

Events

1 week ago Erin Patterson murder trial live: fungi expert says death cap mushrooms have been mistaken for edible ones in past

Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha. Follow live updatesDr Laura Muldoon says she received the image from Dr Veronica Foote at Leongatha hospital on 31 July.The photos show a pastry encasing a brown paste. There are also leftovers of the brown paste in the photo.Dried dehydrated mushrooms, possibly shiitake or porcini ... she stated she purchased them from a Chinese grocery store in Oakleigh or Glen Waverley.All her blood tests had come back and were normal and all her vitals were normal. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Erin Patterson murder trial live: jurors shown photo of remains of fateful beef wellington meal at centre of triple murder case

Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha. Follow live updatesDr Laura Muldoon says she received the image from Dr Veronica Foote at Leongatha hospital on 31 July.The photos show a pastry encasing a brown paste. There are also leftovers of the brown paste in the photo.Dried dehydrated mushrooms, possibly shiitake or porcini ... she stated she purchased them from a Chinese grocery store in Oakleigh or Glen Waverley.All her blood tests had come back and were normal and all her vitals were normal. Continue reading...

Culture

1 week ago Erin Patterson murder trial: jurors shown photo of remains of fateful beef wellington meal at centre of triple murder case

Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha. Follow live updatesMuldoon says she received the image from Dr Veronica Foote at Leongatha hospital on 31 July.The photos show a pastry encasing a brown paste. There are also leftovers of the brown paste in the photo.Dried dehydrated mushrooms, possibly shiitake or porcini ... she stated she purchased them from a Chinese grocery store in Oakleigh or Glen Waverley.All her blood tests had come back and were normal and all her vitals were normal. Continue reading...

Culture

1 week ago Erin Patterson murder trial: witnesses to continue giving evidence on day ten of mushroom case

Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha. Follow live updatesThe prosecution’s next witness is Dr Laura Muldoon, who assessed Erin in the Monash hospital emergency department.Muldoon says she spoke to Erin on 31 July - two days after the lunch when she was transferred to Monash hospital. She says Erin’s reported symptoms were nausea and abdominal pain.One of the types, she said, came from the supermarket with plastic over the top. The other pack she said she got from an Asian food shop a number of weeks prior.She said they were in a packet but she’d opened the packet and put them in a container.She said she couldn’t remember but perhaps if she drove past the shop she could recognise it.She did say they had a strong smell.I said I was trying to make sure there was no public health issue. Continue reading...

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