An Australian woman accused of intentionally cooking a fatal mushroom lunch has told her trial she had wanted the beef Wellington meal to be “special”.
But prosecutors argue Ms Patterson put poisonous fungi into their food in a carefully crafted plot to kill them.
Simon Patterson, the accused’s estranged spouse, had been invited too, but pulled out the day before.
“I wanted it to be special,” Ms Patterson said.
“Even after you were discharged from hospital you did not tell a single person that there may have been foraged mushroom used in the meal,” Dr Rogers said.
According to the Australian woman who is accused of purposefully preparing a deadly mushroom lunch, she wanted the beef Wellington dish to be “special” during her trial.
Erin Patterson, who was charged with killing three people and attempting to kill another in July 2023 at her home in regional Victoria, has entered a not guilty plea.
The 50-year-old claims that it was a terrible accident and that she had no intention of causing harm to her loved ones. However, prosecutors contend that Ms. Patterson carefully planned to kill them by adding toxic fungi to their food.
In court on Friday, Ms. Patterson was questioned about her relationships with her guests and told that it was “unusual” for her to host such an event at her home.
A few days after the lunch, Ms. Patterson’s 70-year-old in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, as well as Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66, became ill and passed away.
In addition to being hospitalized, Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, a local pastor, recovered from a weeks-long induced coma. Although he had been invited, the accused’s estranged spouse Simon Patterson withdrew the day before.
Ms. Patterson was the first member of the defense to testify on Monday, although over 50 witnesses from the prosecution have testified during the trial, which started six weeks ago.
While acknowledging that she rarely received invitations to her home, Ms. Patterson told the court during her second day of cross-examination on Friday that she had planned the meeting to talk about a health concern and wanted to prepare a delicious dinner for her family as a token of appreciation for their support.
“I wanted it to be special,” Ms. Patterson stated.
She has previously acknowledged that she deceived her guests into thinking she might require cancer treatment, telling the jury that she did so to hide the fact that she was going to have weight-loss surgery but was too ashamed to tell them.
But she was told by prosecutor Nanette Rogers that she had invited Simon and his family to kill them and that there was no health matter to discuss. According to Dr. Rogers, she had even made an extra toxic meal in case Mr. Patterson decided to come over.
Ms. Patterson has denied these accusations repeatedly this week, frequently breaking down in tears as she told the judge that she loved the lunch guests as much as her own family.
She has also frequently told the court that she discovered, in the days following the lunch, that the beef Wellington might have unintentionally contained dried mushrooms she had picked herself and stored in a container with store-bought ones.
She claimed she was afraid of being held accountable for the guests’ severe illnesses, which is why she lied to the police and health authorities about where the mushrooms came from and why she threw away a food dehydrator.
According to Dr. Rogers, “Surely if you had loved them, then you would have immediately notified the medical authorities?”.
Ms. Patterson claimed that because the lunch attendees were already receiving treatment for death cap mushroom poisoning, she chose not to inform the doctors about the potential that wild mushrooms had inadvertently been included.
Dr. Rogers remarked, “Even after you were released from the hospital, you did not inform anyone that the meal might have included foraged mushrooms.”.
“Instead, you got up and took your kids to school. and took a car home. After that, you disposed of the dehydrator. “,”.
According to Ms. Patterson, “Correct,”.
Ms. Patterson and her husband had a falling out, the court heard, and Dr. Rogers implied that the accused was still upset with her in-laws for siding with their son.
“You had two faces,” Dr. Rogers remarked after forcing Ms. Patterson to read aloud messages that express disapproval of Simon Patterson and his parents.
According to Dr. Rogers, she had a “private face” that she displayed in the messages on top of her “public face” of seeming to get along well with Don and Gail.
“That was how you expressed [there] how you really felt about Don and Gail,” she said.
Furthermore, you truly felt that way about Simon Patterson. Whether you were right or wrong, you didn’t think he was a good human being at heart.
“Incorrect” was Ms. Patterson’s response, her voice trailing off and her head trembling.
The accused repeatedly stated that she couldn’t clearly recall ever using the iNaturalist website, which listed locations of death cap mushrooms in areas near her home. Ms. Patterson’s use of the website was also closely examined.
Next week, she will undergo another cross-examination. The judge has informed the court that the trial, which was originally scheduled to last six weeks, will now likely last at least another two weeks.
