Jurors on Monday began deliberations in the trial of Erin Patterson, who is accused of serving deadly mushrooms to a group of guests at a meal that ultimately killed three people. File Photo by James Ross/EPA-EFE
Jurors in the murder trial of Erin Patterson, an Australian woman who served a meal containing poisonous mushrooms that killed three guests, began deliberations on Monday.
The final 12 jurors were decided by a ballot, and then the judge gave the remaining seven men and five women a summary of both the prosecution and defense cases. The group was then sequestered to supervised accommodations where they will mostly stay until a decision has been reached.
The prosecution accused Patterson of having invited her estranged husband Simon Patterson’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt and uncle Heather and Ian Wilkinson, over to her home in Australia in August of 2023 for a lunch of beef Wellington.
Don and Gail died later that week, as did Heather, from the ingestion of poisonous death cap mushrooms. Ian was sickened and hospitalized but survived.
The prosecution claimed Patterson knowingly put the toxic fungi into the home-cooked meal, then lied to police about doing so and disposed of related evidence.
The defense maintains the poisoning was accidental, that Patterson had no reason to purposefully kill her guests and had originally lied because she panicked after hurting people she loved.
Prosecutors have further accused Patterson of not only inviting the victims over to kill them with a lethal meal but had furthermore prepared an extra poisoned serving in case Simon, who had declined his invitation to dine that day, changed his mind and came to eat.
Patterson has testified that she had only eaten a small portion of the beef Wellington lunch and later had vomited up the food because she also ate cake and has a history of binging and purging.
Patterson has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one of attempted murder in the case.
