by & nbsprory sullivan & nbspwith & nbspAP
It’s published
An Australian woman accused of murdering three of her estranged husband’s parents, measured toxic mushrooms before serving fatal lunch, prosecutors claimed Thursday.
At a murder trial that began almost six weeks ago, prosecutors allege that two 50-year-old Elyn Pattersons deliberately awarded visitors Beef Wellington, which contains toxic fungi.
The meal took place in July 2023 at my home in a rural town in Leongatha, Victoria.
Her ex-partner parents, Don and Gale Patterson, as well as Gale’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, all died of mushroom poisoning.
Wilkinson’s husband, Ian, survived after receiving a liver transplant.
The defendant, who took him to the witness stands on Monday, deliberately refused to feed the cap mushrooms in the guest’s death, claiming that the deaths of the three were tragic accidents.
On his fourth day as a witness, Patterson said it was likely that a photo of the scaled mushroom found on her cell phone was taken at her home.
“We recommend that you weigh these death cap mushrooms so that you can calculate the weight you need to calculate the fatal dose of one person,” prosecutor Nanette Rogers told the court.
Patterson, who denied the proposal, told the court earlier this week that he thought he was adding dried mushrooms purchased from an Asian supermarket to his meal.
“Now I think there could have been something forged there,” she said, explaining that she deviated from her chosen recipe to improve the “bland” flavor of the dish.
The mother of two admits to repeatedly lying to police about foraging mushrooms and raising food dehydrators.
Patterson confessed that he dumped the food dehydrator after a fatal lunch, saying, “in the context that I think the mushrooms I foraged and the food I prepared are responsible for making people sick.”
The machine was later retrieved from a local garbage dump with fingerprints.
“It was this stupid knee response to dig deeper and keep lying,” she told the court. “I was just scared, but I shouldn’t have done it.”
If convicted, she faces life in prison for murder and will be 25 years of attempted murder.
