Erin Patterson stands trial for allegedly poisoning in-laws with death cap mushrooms in beef Wellington.

Morwell, Victoria — The courtroom sat in grim silence as Erin Patterson, the woman at the centre of one of Australia’s most chilling murder trials, took the stand to defend herself. The 50-year-old is accused of killing three people and attempting to kill a fourth after a family lunch went catastrophically wrong.

The fatal gathering, held on 29 July 2023, featured a beef Wellington lunch at Patterson’s Leongatha home. Within days, three of her guests — her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66 — were dead. The fourth guest, Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, 68, barely survived after undergoing a liver transplant.

Patterson has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder. She insists the tragic outcome was a terrible accident, not a deliberate act.

In court, Patterson revealed harrowing details of her personal life, particularly her long struggle with eating disorders. “I’ve never had a good relationship with food, a healthy relationship,” she admitted. Visibly shaken, she recounted how her mother weighed her weekly as a child and how, as an adult, she would binge eat and make herself sick in private. “It was a very private thing,” she added, her voice trembling.

She also told the jury about her fascination with foraging mushrooms — a hobby she picked up during the COVID pandemic. She claimed she had taught herself to identify edible varieties like field and horse mushrooms and had eaten them without falling ill. In fact, she said she sometimes chopped foraged mushrooms into meals she made for her children.

But it’s the fateful 2023 lunch that now threatens to destroy her life. According to the prosecution, the mushrooms used in the dish were death caps — a highly toxic variety often fatal when consumed. Prosecutors argue that Patterson served herself a separate plate and displayed suspicious behaviour in the aftermath.

Adding to the intrigue, Patterson’s Facebook messages following the incident surfaced in court. In them, she appeared to seek sympathy and claimed the incident had devastated her. She confessed to “playing up the emotion” online to gain support, describing Facebook group chats as a “safe venting space.”

The prosecution remains unconvinced, pointing out inconsistencies in Patterson’s story and suggesting she may have lied about the source of the mushrooms. But her defence team argues there was no motive — no financial gain, no bitter custody battle — only a tragic and accidental misjudgement.

Her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, has also featured in the testimony. Erin said she had hoped the lunch would help “bring the family back together.” She described Simon as emotionally distant, someone who “maybe doesn’t get feelings so well.”

As the trial continues at the Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court in Morwell, the public watches closely. Day 25 concluded with Patterson’s tearful account of her private struggles and the lead-up to the deadly meal.

Australia has rarely seen a case this bizarre — a homemade dish, a background in foraging, and a courtroom flooded with grief and suspicion. For now, all eyes remain on Erin Patterson, who insists she is not a killer — just a woman caught in a nightmare of her own making.