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Mum suspected of killing three people with toxic mushrooms 'faked cancer diagnosis to lure them to meal'

Erin Patterson, a 50-year-old mother-of-two from Leongatha, Victoria, is on trial for allegedly serving poisonous mushrooms at a family lunch on July 29, 2023, that killed three relatives and seriously harmed a fourth.
The incident occurred after Patterson invited family on the pretense she had cancer, and prosecutors argue the mushrooms in the beef Wellington caused fatal Amanita phalloides poisoning, though her defense says it was an accident.
Three former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson , died days after the lunch, while Ian Wilkinson survived following hospitalization and a liver transplant.
Prosecutors highlighted Patterson's lies about the cancer diagnosis, mushroom origin, and disposal of a food dehydrator containing death cap traces, but no specific motive is suggested in the trial.
Patterson pleads not guilty, maintains innocence, and her defense says she panicked after unintentionally poisoning the guests, framing the event as a tragic accident under intense scrutiny in a trial expected to last six weeks.

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‘Mushroom killer’s’ texts to ex-husband before serving deadly lunch revealed

Erin Patterson is charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder (Picture: AP) The last texts Erin Patterson sent to her ex-husband before she was accused of killing his family with poisonous death cap mushrooms have been revealed. Erin Patterson is charged with three counts of murder after her former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson died in hospital in July 2023. She has also been accus…

59 minutes ago·London, United Kingdom

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RTÉ

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Australian mushroom murder victim 'hunched' in pain

The husband of an Australian woman accused of triple murder with a toxic mushroom-laced beef Wellington has told a court that his father was "hunched" in pain before he died.

1 hour ago·Ireland

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Stuff

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‘I’ve spent a small fortune’: The text messages sent before Australia’s fatal mushroom lunch

The alleged killer cook told her estranged husband it was “really disappointing” when he said he wouldn’t be attending the lunch at her home in Victoria.

3 hours ago·New Zealand

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Denver Gazette

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The Straits Times

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Estranged husband of alleged Australian mushroom murderer tells of strained relationship

By Alasdair Pal

3 hours ago

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NZ Herald

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Mushroom poisoning trial: Patterson ‘put own lunch on a different-coloured plate’

An Australian woman accused of killing her in-laws with a poisoned beef wellington served her own lunch on a different-coloured plate to those used for her...

3 hours ago·Auckland, New Zealand

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