When will the trial finish?

The short answer is that we don’t know.

The trial was initially estimated to run for six weeks but we’re now into that sixth week, and it is looking more likely that the case may drag on beyond that.

The prosecution case has called more than 50 witnesses and has taken up almost all of that time so far, with the defence starting their turn when Erin Patterson entered the witness box on Monday afternoon.

Her team will also have the opportunity to call other witnesses if they wish. The prosecution can opt to cross-examine any of them.

Once that’s finished, there’ll be closing arguments from each side before the judge gives final instructions to the jury.

They’ll then retire to deliberate, before returning a verdict.

An Australian woman on trial for the triple murder of her estranged husband’s relatives and the attempted murder of another has told the Supreme Court in the state of Victoria that she carefully planned the July 2023 lunch where her dinner guests were …

Woman on trial for mushroom murders says she was trying to fix a ‘bland’ lunch

Erin Patterson, the woman accused of serving her ex-husband’s family poisonous mushrooms, is photographed in Melbourne, Australia, on April 15, 2025. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)

Erin Patterson, the woman accused of serving her ex-husband’s family poisonous mushrooms, is photographed in Melbourne, Australia, on April 15, 2025. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)

Erin Patterson, the woman accused of serving her ex-husband’s family poisonous mushrooms, is photographed in Melbourne, Australia, on April 15, 2025. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)

Erin Patterson, the woman accused of serving her ex-husband’s family poisonous mushrooms, is photographed in Melbourne, Australia, on April 15, 2025. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Before Erin Patterson’s in-laws and their relatives arrived at her home for lunch, she bought pricey ingredients, consulted friends about recipes and sent her children out to a movie.

Then, the Australian woman served them a dish containing poisonous death cap mushrooms — a meal that was fatal for three of her four guests.

Whether that was Patterson’s plan is at the heart of a triple murder trial that has gripped Australia for nearly six weeks.

Prosecutors in the Supreme Court case in the state of Victoria say the accused lured her guests to lunch with a lie about having cancer, before deliberately feeding them toxic fungi.

But her lawyers say the tainted beef Wellington she served was a tragic accident caused by a mushroom storage mishap. She denies murdering her estranged husband’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and their relative, Heather Wilkinson.

The mother of two also denies attempting to murder Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson, who survived the meal. In a rare step for a defendant charged with murder, Patterson chose to speak in her own defense at her trial this week.

On Wednesday, she spoke publicly for the first time about the fateful lunch in July 2023 and offered her explanations on how she planned the meal and didn’t become sick herself.

No one disputes that Patterson, 50, served death cap mushrooms to her guests for lunch in the rural town of Leongatha, but she says she did it unknowingly.

Patterson said Wednesday she splurged on expensive ingredients and researched ideas to find “something special” to serve. She deviated from her chosen recipe to improve the “bland” flavor, she said.

She believed she was adding dried fungi bought from an Asian supermarket from a container in her pantry, she told the court.

“Now I think that there was a possibility that there were foraged ones in there as well,” she told her lawyer, Colin Mandy. Patterson had foraged wild mushrooms for years, she told the court Tuesday, and had put some in her pantry weeks before the deaths.

Patterson, who formally separated from her husband Simon Patterson in 2015, said she felt “hurt” when Simon told her the night before the lunch that he “wasn’t comfortable” attending.

She earlier told his relatives that she’d arranged the meal to discuss her health. Patterson admitted this week that she never had cancer — but after a health scare, she told her in-laws she did.

In reality, Patterson said she intended to have weight loss surgery. But she was too embarrassed to tell anybody and planned to pretend to her in-laws that she was undergoing cancer treatment instead, she said.

“I was ashamed of the fact that I didn’t have control over my body or what I ate,” a tearful Patterson said Wednesday. “I didn’t want to tell anybody, but I shouldn’t have lied to them.”

The accused said she believes she was spared the worst effects of the poisoned meal because she self-induced vomiting shortly after her lunch guests left. She had binged on most of a cake and then made herself throw up — a problem she said she had struggled with for decades.

Patterson also said she believes she had eaten enough of the meal to cause her subsequent diarrhea. She then sought hospital treatment but unlike her lunch guests, she quickly recovered.

At the hospital where her guests’ health was deteriorating, her estranged husband asked her about the dehydrator she used to dry her foraged mushrooms, she said.

“Is that how you poisoned my parents?” she said Simon Patterson asked her.

Growing afraid she would be blamed for the poisoning and that her children would be taken from her, Patterson said she later disposed of her dehydrator. She told investigators she’d never owned one and hadn’t foraged for mushrooms before.

While still at the hospital, she insisted she’d bought all the mushrooms at stores even though she said she knew it was possible that foraged mushrooms had accidentally found their way into the meal.

She was too frightened to tell anyone, Patterson said.

Also later, Patterson said she remotely wiped her cell phone while it sat in an evidence locker to remove pictures of mushrooms she’d foraged.

Prosecutors argued in opening their case in April that she poisoned her husband’s family on purpose, although they didn’t suggest a motive. She carefully avoided poisoning herself and faked being ill, they said.

The trial continues on Thursday with Patterson’s cross-examination by the prosecutors. If convicted, she faces life in prison for murder and 25 years for attempted murder.

From 8h ago 08.10 BST Recap Here’s a recap of what the jury heard today: 1. Patterson said her estranged husband, Simon, accused her of trying to poison his parents using a dehydrator the days after the lethal lunch. Patterson says Simon asked, “Is that how you poisoned my parents … using that dehydrator?” 2. The accused said she believes there is a “possibility” she unintentionally added foraged mushrooms to her beef wellington mix while trying to improve its “bland” flavour. 3. Patterson says she lied to her lunch guests about requiring cancer treatment because she was “embarrassed” to tell them about plans for weight loss surgery. “I was ashamed of the fact that I didn’t have control over my body or what I ate,” she said. 4. Patterson said she ate the remainder of a cake brought by her mother-in-law, Gail, to the fateful lunch. She says after consuming the cake in the evening, she felt “over-full” and “brought it back up again”. 5. Patterson also admitted she lied to Gail about requiring a needle biopsy the month before the lunch. She said when she mentioned a lump in her arm, her in-laws showed a lot of care, which “felt really nice”. “I shouldn’t have done it,” she said. ‘Is that how you poisoned my parents?’: Erin Patterson tells mushroom trial husband confronted her over dehydrator Read more Share Updated at 09.00 BST

8h ago 07.15 BST Court adjourns Mandy says the defence does not have long to go. He says he will finish questioning his client in the morning. The court has adjourned for the day. The trial will resume at 10.30am tomorrow. Share Updated at 07.18 BST

9h ago 07.06 BST Patterson fights back tears describing her son and father-in-law’s relationship as ‘very close’ Mandy asks Patterson about her children’s relationship with their grandparents, Don and Gail. “They were very close. Especially [my son] and Don. They were like two minds separated by 50 years,” she says. Patterson’s voice is trembling, and she fights back tears. “[My son] just loved him.” Share Updated at 07.12 BST

9h ago 06.59 BST Patterson says she had ‘really good’ relationship with her in-laws in 2022 Mandy asks Patterson about her relationship with her in-laws, who died after the beef wellington lunch. She asks his client about evidence Simon gave that she sent an “inflammatory” message in a group chat with his parents in 2023. Simon said this was in reference to him raising that their son was always tired when he stayed with him, the court hears. She says Simon suggested their son was tired because of her “poor parenting” and she was “hurt” by that. Patterson says she understood she sent the message to Simon and not in a group chat. Mandy shows the court messages between Patterson and her in-laws from 2022, including discussions about Don tutoring her son. She agrees this tone was indicative of how she spoke to her in-laws at the time. Patterson says she had a “really good” relationship with Don and Gail in 2022. Share Updated at 07.07 BST

9h ago 06.34 BST Erin Patterson tells court she was ‘baffled’ Nokia phone still in house after police search Patterson says when she returned home after being interviewed by police she found the Nokia phone and phone A on the windowsill. She says she took the sim card out of phone A and put it into the Nokia so she could use the phone. Patterson says she was “baffled” the Nokia was still in the house. Share Updated at 06.50 BST

9h ago 06.33 BST Patterson tells court Samsung phone police say is missing was on windowsill during search of her home Patterson says when police arrived to conduct a search of her Leonagtha home on 5 August 2023, a mobile phone referred to as “phone A” was on a windowsill near a charging station. The court previously heard from the lead detective on the case that there were three phones – two Samsungs and a Nokia – connected to Patterson. Det Leading Sen Const Stephen Eppingstall, the officer in charge of the investigation, said one of the Samsungs (phone A) had never been recovered. Patterson says she handed police phone B – the phone she had been using at the time. Mandy shows his client a photo, taken by police during the search, which shows a black case on a windowsill. Patterson says the photo shows “a black phone case with phone A inside.” During his cross-examination, Eppingstall said whether the photo showed phone A was a matter for the jury. Share Updated at 06.51 BST

9h ago 06.23 BST Erin Patterson tells court she performed three of four factory resets of one of her phones Mandy takes Patterson to a digital report, previously shown to the jury, which shows that four factory resets were performed on one of her phones. The court previously heard four resets – one in February 2023 and three in August 2023 – were performed on the phone Patterson provided to police during a search on 5 August 2023. Mandy asks Patterson if she is responsible for the factory resets. “I’m responsible for the last three,” she says. Paterson says her son did the first reset after he damaged his phone. The second factory reset, on 2 August 2023, was to remove her son’s information from the phone. She says the factory reset on 5 August 2023 was because she “panicked” and didn’t want detectives to see photos in the Google app of mushrooms and the dehydrator. Regarding the factory reset on 6 August 2023, Patterson says after the police search, she wondered if she could login to her Google account and see where the seized devices were. She says she also wondered if police were “silly enough to leave it connected to the internet”. “I hit factory reset to see what happened,” she says. Share Updated at 06.50 BST

10h ago 06.08 BST Erin Patterson says text messages from health department investigator made her ‘very anxious’ The court is shown text messages between Patterson and Sally Ann Atkinson, who was involved in the Department of Health’s investigation into the deadly lunch. Patterson says Atkinson’s messages and questions about the ingredients in the lunch made her feel “very anxious”. In the messages, Atkinson asks Patterson to provide a description of what the package containing the dried mushrooms looked like. She says by the Tuesday after the lunch she started to think that “perhaps they [foraged mushrooms] were in there too”. Share Updated at 06.16 BST

10h ago 06.00 BST Erin Patterson says she felt ‘frantic’ and ‘scared’ she would be blamed before dumping dehydrator at tip Patterson says when she was discharged from hospital and returned home, she felt “frantic”. “Child protection was coming to my house that afternoon, and I was scared of the conversation that might flow about the meal and the dehydrator,” she says. Patterson says she worried she would be blamed and went to dump the dehydrator at a local tip. The jury has previously been shown CCTV footage of Patterson dumping the dehydrator at the Koonwarra Transfer Station And Landfill on 2 August 2023 – four days after the lunch. Share Updated at 06.11 BST

10h ago 05.57 BST Erin Patterson says husband asked ‘is that how you poisoned my parents … using that dehydrator?’ Patterson recalls discussions she had with Simon while she was at Monash medical centre. The court previously heard that while in hospital, Patterson told him she conducted a blind taste test with muffins cooked using dehydrated mushrooms. Patterson says Simon later asked: “He said to me, ‘Is that how you poisoned my parents … using that dehydrator?’” Mandy asks what her response was. “I said, of course not,” Patterson says, her voice trembling. Patterson says the comment by Simon caused her to “reflect a lot on what might have happened”. “It got me thinking about all the times I had used it [the dehydrator] … and how I had dried foraging mushrooms in it weeks earlier, and I was starting to think what if they had gone in the container with the Chinese mushrooms. What if that happened?”

“I was thinking maybe that’s how this all …,” Patterson says as her voice trails off. Mandy asks how this made her feel. “Scared, responsible,” she says. She says she felt “really worried” because child protection was involved. “Simon seemed to be of the mind that this was intentional … I just got really scared.” Share Updated at 06.06 BST

10h ago 05.45 BST Erin Patterson says she asked doctor why ‘people think that it’s death cap mushrooms’ Patterson recalls wanting to pick up her children from the hospital when staff mentioned they needed to be tested. “I was their mother and they’re my children and I wanted to be responsible for them,” she says The court previously heard Simon picked up the couple’s children and drove them to Monash medical centre. Patterson says she told Simon that she wanted her children to be at the same hospital where she would be transferred. Patterson says in a discussion with a doctor, she asked, “Why do people think that it’s death cap mushrooms?” She says she was administered fluid saline and NAC – a liver function medication – at Leongatha hospital. On route to Monash medical centre in an ambulance, Patterson says she was given anti-nausea medication and fentanyl for a headache. She says the fentanyl made her feel “loopy” but helped the pain. Share Updated at 05.53 BST

10h ago 05.38 BST Erin Patterson says she told police leftovers were in a bin but she couldn’t remember which one Mandy asks Patterson about a phone conversation with police, facilitated by Webster, about where the leftovers from the meal were. She says she spoke directly to police at one point and told them the gate code to the property. She said she told police the beef wellington leftovers were in a bin, but could not remember if it was an outside bin or a kitchen bin. Patterson says Simon’s brother, Matthew, called her that morning and said someone from toxicology wanted to know where the mushrooms in the meal were sourced from. “I told him they came from Woolies and the grocer, the Asian grocer,” she says. Patterson says she may have mentioned Oakleigh as a suburb where the grocer was.

She says she was trying to convey that she didn’t remember but was mentioning “possible places” where she shopped. Share Updated at 05.48 BST

10h ago 05.26 BST Erin Patterson agrees she told hospital she would return in 20-30 minutes and that records indicate she took longer Mandy takes Patterson to when she left Leongatha hospital and went home. Patterson agrees she told medical staff she would return in 20-30 minutes and that her medical records indicate she returned after about an hour and a half. She recalls some of what she did: “I lay down for a little bit. I went to the toilet a couple of times.” Patterson says she did not leave the house during this time. She says she brought a phone charger, a toothbrush and toothpaste to the hospital, and staff told her she needed to be transferred to Melbourne. Recalling the urgent care area, Patterson says she got into the bed in the cubicle and waited to be assessed. She says the topic of her children and whether they had eaten the beef wellington came up in the conversation with Webster. “I would have told him not on the Saturday but on the Sunday they had the leftovers,” she says. Share Updated at 05.34 BST

10h ago 05.23 BST The jury has returned to the court room in Morwell. Share

11h ago 04.27 BST The court has adjourned for a lunch break. Patterson’s trial will resume from 2.15pm. Share

11h ago 04.25 BST Erin Patterson says she tried to argue against being transferred to Melbourne for treatment Mandy asks his client about what occurred next. Patterson says she was told she needed to be transferred to Melbourne for treatment. She says she had a water bottle, bag and a warm jumper with her at the hospital. She recalls trying to explain to medical staff why she could not go straight to Melbourne. She says she needed to make preparations for her daughter’s ballet and secure her pets at her house. Patterson says she could not move her brain away from what she thought “the day was going to look like”. She compares it to trying to “turn a really, really big ship”. Patterson says she lived about 10 mins away from Leongatha hospital and told staff she could return quickly. Share Updated at 04.33 BST

11h ago 04.19 BST Patterson tells court she was ‘shocked and confused’ when told of death cap mushroom fears Patterson was asked about the ingredients used in the beef wellington lunch. Webster expressed concern the lunch contained death cap mushrooms. Patterson says she was “shocked and confused”. “I didn’t see how death cap mushrooms could be in the meal,” she says. Share Updated at 06.53 BST

Erin Patterson testified Wednesday that she threw up the deadly mushroom lunch that killed three of her guests due to bulimia. Photo by James Ross/EPA-EFE

June 4 (UPI) — Erin Patterson testified Tuesday that she vomited up the deadly mushroom lunch that she served to family members in Australia.

Patterson testified that she had only eaten a small portion of the beef Wellington lunch she served the victims because she was deep in conversation, but later consumed a great deal of orange cake, which led to her regurgitation. She said that her throwing up expelled the poisonous food.

“[I ate] another piece of cake, and then another piece,” said Patterson, “I felt sick… over-full so I went to the toilets and brought it back up again.”

Patterson previously testified Tuesday that she had a habit of purging after binging that started in her 20s.

Prosecutors allege Patterson deliberately served toxic death cap mushrooms solely to her estranged husband Simon’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, his aunt Heather Wilkinson and his uncle Ian Wilkinson, but not to herself. The defense claims Patterson did in fact eat the poisoned food and suffered some ill effects.

Of her lunch guests, only Ian Wilkinson survived, but was hospitalized for some time. Patterson testified that she did feel sick to her stomach hours after the lunch and went to a hospital two days later. She said she was “shocked but confused” when the hospital staff asked if she could have eaten death cap mushrooms.

Patterson also said she purposely threw away a food dehydrator used to cook the mushroom meal, and deleted information from her phone out of concern she would be blamed for the incident. She told the court her estranged husband had accused her of poisoning them.

“Is that how you poisoned my parents?” she said Simon asked her, and that led her to toss the food dehydrator into her local dump.

“I had made the meal and served it and people had got sick,” said Patterson. “I was scared that they would blame me for it.”

Patterson has pleaded not guilty to three of murder and one of attempted murder in the case. She will take the stand again Thursday to testify on her behalf before the prosecution will have its opportunity to begin its cross-examination.

Erin Patterson, on trial for murder, claims she accidentally served toxic mushrooms, causing her relatives’ deaths, while binge-eating dessert afterward.

www.bbc.com

An Australian woman on trial for murder claims she vomited after a toxic mushroom meal that tragically killed her relatives. Erin Patterson, facing serious charges, insists the incident was an unfortunate accident rather than a deliberate act.

6 Key Takeaways Erin Patterson on trial for murder charges.

Toxic mushrooms allegedly served to guests.

Defense claims accidental contamination, not intent.

Patterson admitted to lying about cancer.

Three guests died after the lunch.

She struggled with bulimia and binge eating.

The trial, which began nearly six weeks ago, has captivated global audiences as Patterson pleads not guilty to three counts of murder and one of attempted murder. On June 4, 2025, she described how her guests fell ill after a beef Wellington lunch at her home, raising questions about her cooking choices and intentions.

Fast Answer: Erin Patterson’s trial highlights the dangers of foraged mushrooms, emphasizing the need for caution and awareness in culinary practices worldwide.

This case raises critical questions about accountability in food safety. How can we ensure that home-cooked meals remain safe for all? The implications of this trial extend beyond Australia, reminding US of the global risks associated with wild foraging.

The importance of identifying safe mushrooms cannot be overstated.

Home cooks should be aware of the risks involved in using wild ingredients.

Legal accountability in food-related incidents is a pressing issue.

Public awareness campaigns on food safety can prevent future tragedies.

This case serves as a warning about the risks of foraging and the potential consequences of culinary negligence.

As the trial continues, it is crucial for communities worldwide to engage in discussions about food safety and the responsibilities that come with cooking for others.