Woman Accused of Killing Ex-Husband's Family with Poisoned Meal Tells Court 'Exotic Mushrooms' Have 'More Flavor': Reports

The Australian woman accused of killing her ex in-laws and a third family member by poisoning them after inviting them for lunch, has told a court she accepts that there were death cap mushrooms in the meal, according to reports.

On July 29, 2023, Erin Patterson, 50, allegedly served her ex-husband’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66, beef wellington laced with poisonous mushrooms, which resulted in their deaths. Gail’s husband Ian Wilkinson, 68, also attended the lunch and was hospitalized as a result, News.com.au and NBC previously reported, citing authorities.

Erin pleaded not guilty to the murders and the attempted murder of Wilkinson last month, per The Sydney Morning Herald. The prosecution has argued that Erin deliberately put the poisonous mushrooms in the food, but the defense says it was a “terrible accident,” according to BBC News.

During her trial on Monday, June 2, defense barrister Colin Mandy SC asked Erin, “Do you accept there must have been death cap mushrooms in there?” She replied, “Yes I do,” according to the outlet and The Guardian.

Erin said in court that she bought the “vast majority” of the mushrooms from a Woolworths supermarket in her hometown of Leongatha and some from an “Asian grocer in Melbourne,” per the The Sydney Morning Herald. She reportedly said the mushrooms from the grocers “smelled really pungent” and packed them in a container at home. 

Her lawyer asked her whether she had purchased mushrooms from those stores before, and what kind she purchased.

“There was shiitake, porcini, I think enoki was one of them. Sometimes the bags would say ‘wild mushroom mix,’ ” Erin said, per BBC News.

The defendant said she bought a dehydrator in April 2023 to preserve both wild and store-bought mushrooms, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. After packing away the mushrooms she bought from the grocers in Melbourne, Erin said she also put wild mushrooms she dehydrated around June 2023 “in a container that already contained other dried mushrooms.”

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Erin said she started foraging for wild mushrooms in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in several places, including the Korumburra Botanic Gardens near her home and in her backyard, per the outlet.

“The dog was eating some and I picked the mushrooms that I could see because I wanted to try and figure out what they were to see if it was a problem,” she said, per the outlet. “…They were ones that were potentially edible but there was one species I was a little bit worried about. I believe they were called inocybe.”

Erin said she researched types of mushrooms on Facebook groups for mushroom lovers, according to the outlet. After trying out a mushroom she cooked at home and not feeling sick, she said she “put them in meals [she and her children] ate.”

Th court also heard how she was drawn to “exotic mushrooms” because they “just taste more interesting… [have] more flavor,” per BBC News. “They tasted good and I didn’t get sick,” she said.

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Erin has been charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.

Her ex-husband, Simon Patterson was also invited to the lunch with his parents, according to police. The Associated Press previously reported that authorities alleged she had tried to poison Simon on three separate occasions.

Prosecutors previously told the court that Erin lied to her guests that she had cancer, arguing that she used the cancer story to ensure her children would not be at the lunch, CNN reported. The defense did not dispute the cancer lie, according to the outlet.