52 h. ago Australian woman accused of mushroom poisoning admits possible online search for deadly fungi

Erin Patterson is on trial for allegedly killing three family members with poisonous meal

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62 h. ago Australia mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson did not tell anyone about realisation foraged mushrooms may have been in lunch meal, court hears

Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder after a fatal beef wellington lunch in Leongatha in 2023. Follow livePatterson denies telling ex-partner she had important medical news she wanted advice onRogers says Simon gave evidence that on 16 July 2023 – two weeks prior to the lunch – Patterson approached him after a church service and said she had some important medical news she wanted advice on and how to break it to the children. Continue reading...

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3 d. ago Admitted lies, emojis and a dehydrator: Erin Patterson spars with prosecutor as fatal mushroom lunch deconstructed

Murder accused cross-examined in Victorian supreme court trial over beef wellington lunch that left three in-laws deadWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom trial?There were times in Erin Patterson’s fourth day in the witness box where it seemed as if her lies she has admitted in her testimony, like the mushrooms she prepared for the beef wellington, were being cooked down as much as possible.Had she pretended to have cancer at the fateful lunch or had she not? What, exactly, were the reasons for her repeated lies to Gail Patterson about a lump in her elbow? How about the lies she told to police? Continue reading...

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3 d. ago Australia mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson ‘lied because I was afraid I would be held responsible’, court hears

Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder over a fatal 2023 beef wellington lunch. Follow live updatesPatterson is shown a photo of the dehydrator at the tip and asked if this is the one she owned.“I presume so,” Patterson says.This post was amended on 5 June 2025 to correct the location of the police search, which was at Patterson’s Leongatha home and not at Leongatha hospital as previously stated. Continue reading...

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3 d. ago Australia mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson denies intentionally dehydrating death caps

Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder over a fatal 2023 beef wellington lunch. Follow live updatesPatterson is shown a photo of the dehydrator at the tip and asked if this is the one she owned.“I presume so,” Patterson says.This post was amended on 5 June 2025 to correct the location of the police search, which was at Patterson’s Leongatha home and not at Leongatha hospital as previously stated. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago ‘Is that how you poisoned my parents?’: Erin Patterson tells mushroom trial husband confronted her over dehydrator

Triple murder accused, who denies deliberately poisoning anyone, tells court she dumped dehydrator used to dry foraged mushrooms due to feeling ‘scared’ of child protection officers seeing itWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom trial?Erin Patterson has told a court her estranged husband asked her if she had used a dehydrator to poison his parents, and admitted resetting her phone out of fear police would discover photos she had of foraged mushrooms.In her third day in the witness box, Patterson also said she thinks there is a “possibility” that foraged mushrooms were unintentionally added to her beef wellington mixture as she tried to improve its “bland” flavour, and lied to her lunch guests about having cancer because she was embarrassed about planned weight loss surgery.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Australia mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson tells court she felt ‘scared, responsible’ after husband asked if she poisoned his parents using dehydrator

Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder over a fatal 2023 beef wellington lunch. Follow liveErin Patterson explains health lies, food issues and how she made mushroom lunch as murder trial continuesWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom trial?Erin Patterson says it was ‘a possibility’ foraged mushrooms were in containerMandy turns to preparations for the meal.I cooked that for a very long time.You’ve got to get almost all of the water out so it won’t turn your pastry soggy.I decided to put in the dried mushrooms which I bought from the grocer which I still had in the pantry. Continue reading...

Society

4 d. ago Australia mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson tells court ‘I shouldn’t have lied to’ lunch guests about having cancer

Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder over a fatal 2023 beef wellington lunch. Follow liveWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom trial?Erin Patterson says it was ‘a possibility’ foraged mushrooms were in containerMandy turns to preparations for the meal.I cooked that for a very long time.You’ve got to get almost all of the water out so it won’t turn your pastry soggy.I decided to put in the dried mushrooms which I bought from the grocer which I still had in the pantry. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Australia mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson agrees text messages with mother

Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder over a fatal 2023 beef wellington lunch. Follow liveWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom trial?Mandy takes the jury to messages from June 2023 between Patterson and her mother-in-law Gail.In the messages, Gail asked Patterson about a medical appointment. Patterson later replied and said she had a needle biopsy conducted.I must have told them I was having a medical appointment that day.I think I just said I was having a problem or a lump on my arm checked out.Were those lies?Yes.The issue started to resolve and I felt a bit embarrassed I had made such a big deal about it. I didn’t want their care of me to stop so I just kept it going.I shouldn’t have done it.I became aware of death caps quite early in this period.I don’t specifically remember doing that day but it’s possible it was me.It’s possible that’s part of the process I went through to see if t...

Politics

5 d. ago After weeks of silence, Erin Patterson begins to tell her side of the story to deadly mushroom lunch trial

Accused triple murderer gives emotional testimony as she faces questions on beef wellington lunch that killed threeErin Patterson accepts beef wellington served at fatal lunch contained death cap mushrooms, triple murder trial hearsErin Patterson had been in the witness box for 142 minutes, a window to her right showing the rain falling outside in regional Victoria, when her barrister Colin Mandy SC said: “I’m going to ask you some questions now about mushrooms”.Patterson had already spoken to the court about her children and her family, her hefty inheritances, her relationship with her estranged husband, Simon, and their slow and gradual decoupling, in her evidence on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Creeping effect of death cap mushroom as woman accused of Beef Wellington murders

Erin Patterson is accused of deliberately adding the deadly fungi to a meal served to her estranged husband’s family

Events

5 d. ago Erin Patterson accepts beef wellington served at fatal lunch contained death cap mushrooms, triple murder trial hears

Murder accused also tells jury she was never diagnosed with ovarian cancer and feels ‘ashamed’ of Facebook messages she wrote about her familyWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom trial?Erin Patterson has told a court that the majority of the mushrooms in a beef wellington dish served in her Leongatha home came from a local supermarket, but says she also accepts the dish contained death caps.Patterson also said in evidence that she wishes she never said to her Facebook friends in a private group chat “this family I swear to fucking god” in relation to her in-laws, saying she felt ashamed but hoped that sharing her frustrations would mean she had a “big cheer squad” for her problems. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Australia mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson tells court she saw a future with estranged husband and ‘wanted to bring the family back together’

Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder over a fatal 2023 beef wellington lunch. Follow liveBarrister Colin Mandy SC asks his client why at one stage there were three properties in both Erin and Simon Patterson’s name when the couple had been separated for four years.I always thought we would bring the family back together. That is what I wanted ... It was something tangible to say to Simon, I see a future for us.I have not.I’ve never had a needle biopsy anywhere.I consulted Dr Google.I alternated that with Don.We did talk about it sometimes.The kind of conversations that we had ... they would gently make fun of the fact that I was religious and I would try and evangelise back to them in a sense ... It was sort of all in good humour. Continue reading...

Society

5 d. ago Australia mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson tells court she saw a future with estranged husband and ‘wanted to bring thefamily back together’

Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder over a fatal 2023 beef wellington lunch. Follow liveBarrister Colin Mandy SC asks his client why at one stage there were three properties in both Erin and Simon Patterson’s name when the couple had been separated for four years.I always thought we would bring the family back together. That is what I wanted ... It was something tangible to say to Simon, I see a future for us.I have not.I’ve never had a needle biopsy anywhere.I consulted Dr Google.I alternated that with Don.We did talk about it sometimes.The kind of conversations that we had ... they would gently make fun of the fact that I was religious and I would try and evangelise back to them in a sense ... It was sort of all in good humour. Continue reading...

Society

6 d. ago Australia mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson gives evidence in her triple murder trial

Trial of Victorian woman, 50, who has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder over a fatal 2023 beef wellington lunch, enters sixth week. Follow liveThe jury is back in the courtroom in Morwell.Mandy concludes the defence’s cross-examination. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Australian mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson to give evidence in her triple murder trial

Trial of Victorian woman, 50, who has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder over a fatal 2023 beef wellington lunch, enters sixth week. Follow liveThe jury is back in the courtroom in Morwell.Mandy concludes the defence’s cross-examination. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Erin Patterson trial live: lead detective in Australian mushroom case continues giving evidence on day 24 of trial

Trial of Victorian woman, 50, who has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder over a fatal 2023 beef wellington lunch, enters sixth week. Follow liveMandy is showing the jury a flow chart which shows three sim cards police investigated.Eppingstall previously told the court there were three phones police believed Patterson used – two Samsungs and a Nokia. He said one of the Samsungs, referred to as phone A, had never been recovered. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Erin Patterson murder trial live: witnesses in mushroom trial continue giving evidence on day 20 of case

Australian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder after a mushroom lunch at her house in regional Victoria in 2023. Follow live updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastWe are waiting for today’s proceedings to get under way. Here’s a recap of what the jury heard on Monday from our justice and courts reporter, Nino Bucci:Welcome to day 20 of Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial. Evidence is expected to begin after 10.30am once the jurors enter the courtroom. Patterson, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha, in regional Victoria, on 29 July 2023. The prosecution alleges that Patterson deliberately poisoned her lunch guests with “murderous intent” but her lawyers say the poisoning was a tragic accident. Patterson is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and her e...

Events

2 w. 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.

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2 w. 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

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