Erin Patterson charged with three murders, five attempted murders in mushroom death probe

Erin Patterson, the woman at the centre of an investigation into the mushroom meal that allegedly resulted in the deaths of three people in Victoria’s south-east, has been charged with three counts of murder and five of attempted murder.

Victoria Police said the murder charges and two of the five attempted murder charges related to the mushroom meal served in Leongatha on July 29.

The accused’s former in-laws Gail Patterson, 70, and Don Patterson, 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, all died in hospital days after the lunch, where beef Wellington was served. Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, 68 – also at the lunch – was released from Austin Hospital last month after seven weeks of treatment, most of which he spent in a coma.

Investigators believe the group ate death cap mushrooms.

The further three attempted murder charges relate to three separate incidents in Victoria between 2021 and 2022.

Police allege a 48-year-old Korumburra man – believed to be Erin’s estranged husband Simon Patterson – became ill after meals within these dates.

“Today’s charges are just the next step in what has been an incredibly complex, methodical and thorough investigation by homicide squad detectives,” said Detective Inspector Dean Thomas, from the homicide squad.

“I know that people will no doubt have many unanswered questions about this matter. However, I urge people to be especially mindful of unnecessary speculation and not sharing misinformation.”

Patterson, 49, was remanded in custody to appear at Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court in Morwell on Friday morning.

She was arrested on Thursday morning and taken to Wonthaggi Police Station for questioning in the afternoon after police searched her Leongatha home, where the family lunch was served.

Patterson was ushered into the back of a police vehicle and driven away through a roller door on one side of the police station about 8.15pm.

Patterson’s lawyer, Ophelia Hollway, left the police station about 7.20pm after five hours of questioning. Hollway refused to comment as she rushed past journalists, TV cameras and photographers to get to her car.

Earlier in the day at Patterson’s house, detectives were seen walking in and out of the garage with bags of evidence and leading specialist technology detector dogs to and from the property.

An armchair on the back deck and bushes close to the house received particularly close attention from the canines. Patterson’s red car was also searched several times.

Police had previously named Patterson as a suspect because she cooked the meal suspected of poisoning the group.

She strenuously denied wrongdoing and said she could not explain how the meal could have caused the group’s illnesses and deaths.

Patterson and her estranged husband Simon had been living separately for a number of years.

It has also previously emerged that Patterson’s estranged husband experienced serious gut problems that left him in intensive care for three weeks last year.

Patterson, a stay-at-home mum, gave a statement to police in August about the July lunch with her in-laws, documenting her version of events and refuting what she claims has been wildly inaccurate media reporting.

She said she had purchased the mushrooms from an Asian grocery store several months before the lunch and mixed them with button mushrooms from a local supermarket.

Patterson said she had also eaten the meal and developed gastro-like symptoms, but that they had subsided after she was given a liver-protecting drug in hospital. The mother of two said she had scraped the mushrooms off the dish and fed the leftovers to her children, who did not fall ill.

In the August statement, Patterson also said she had intentionally dumped a food dehydrator found by police in a skip bin at the Koonwarra Transfer Station after being named as a suspect.

Police conducted forensic testing of the dehydrator but have not released the results.

Investigators had previously interviewed Patterson in the days after the lunch, but released her without charge after searching her home.

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