The case of Erin Patterson has already gripped Australia for more than a year — a strange, unsettling story of family tragedy, unanswered questions, and allegations that stretch far beyond the mushroom-laced beef Wellington that left three people dead and another gravely ill.
Patterson, 50, was convicted last month of murdering her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, after a lunch at her home on 29 July 2023. Heather’s husband, local pastor Ian Wilkinson, survived but spent weeks in the hospital. The fatal meal — made with mushrooms containing a lethal toxin — was initially thought to be the entire story. But as the court heard this week, prosecutors had once accused Patterson of trying to kill her estranged husband Simon Patterson on multiple occasions, long before that lunch. Those charges were dropped without explanation before the trial, and the details suppressed — until now.
Simon Patterson told pre-trial hearings he suspected a years-long campaign to poison him through seemingly ordinary meals. He described three near-death episodes: a Tupperware container of bolognese penne in 2021 that sent him to the hospital, a chicken korma curry during a camping trip in May 2022 that left him in a coma and cost him part of his bowel, and a vegetable wrap later that year that triggered paralysis so severe he could only move his neck, tongue, and lips by the time he reached the hospital.
A family friend, Dr. Christopher Ford, urged him to keep a food diary to help identify the cause. By February 2023, Simon had concluded his estranged wife was responsible. He told Dr. Ford of cookies allegedly baked by their daughter, which he feared Patterson had tainted — possibly with antifreeze — and noted how she repeatedly called to ask if he’d eaten them.
Investigators never determined exactly what he may have been given, though rat poison was suspected in at least one incident. A file on Patterson’s computer contained information about the toxin. Afterward, Simon removed her as his medical power of attorney and quietly warned close family members.
His sister, Anna Terrington, said she even phoned their parents the night before the fatal mushroom lunch to warn them. “Dad said, ‘No, we’ll be ok.’” Days later, she was in a hospital chapel, her parents and aunt dying down the hall.
The jury also heard fragments of other odd details — a deleted food dehydrator, a fake Facebook post about a sick cat and wild mushrooms, visits to the local dump — much of which never made it to trial.
Patterson is scheduled to be sentenced on 25 August, when relatives and survivors will have their chance to speak. Even then, the full story of what happened — and why — may never be entirely clear.
