Australian woman found guilty of murdering three family members with poisonous mushrooms

Sydney, July 7 (IANS) An Australian woman has been found guilty of murdering three family members, and attempting to murder a fourth, by deliberately feeding them poisonous mushrooms.

A Supreme Court jury in the Australian state of Victoria on Monday unanimously convicted Erin Patterson, aged 50, of murdering Don and Gail Patterson, the parents of her husband, as well as Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson.

All three victims died days after eating a lunch of beef wellington prepared by Erin at her home in Leongatha, a town 110 kilometers southeast of Melbourne, in July 2023.

The jury also found her guilty of the attempted murder of Heather Wilkson's husband, Ian, who survived after spending weeks in the hospital.

The 10-week trial heard that all four guests were diagnosed with amanita mushroom poisoning caused by consuming poisonous death cap mushrooms.

Patterson, who was charged in November 2023, pleaded not guilty to all charges and told the trial that the poisonous mushrooms were accidentally included in the meals.

The prosecution, which did not allege a motive, told the jury that she had deliberately picked death cap mushrooms before dehydrating them, blitzing them into a powder and concealing them in individually parceled beef wellingtons that were served to her guests, Xinhua news agency reported.

It was alleged in court that Erin Patterson had lied about a cancer diagnosis to lure the guests to lunch, claimed she was also ill from the food to avoid suspicion and destroyed evidence and lied to police when an investigation into the deaths commenced.

Simon Patterson, Erin's estranged husband, was also invited to the lunch but cancelled the day before.

The jury started deliberations on June 30. Patterson will be sentenced at a later date.

--IANS

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