Brisbane, Australia
CNN
–
The lawyer for an Australian woman, accused of fatally poisoning three families with fatal mushrooms, told the ju judge that their death was a “severe accident.”
Erin Patterson is on the trial for the 2023 deaths of his mother-in-law Gale Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Gale’s sister Heather Wilkinson.
She is also charged with attempted murder of Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson.
Prosecutors allege that Patterson deliberately served a deadly mushroom to kill a lunch guest. Her lawyers argue that the death was a tragic accident.
During the start of discussion Wednesday, Patterson’s lawyers admitted that she was the first to lie to police when she said she hadn’t foraged for mushrooms and didn’t own a dehydrator. They said that when she learned how sick the guests got after eating their meal, she “panics” and acted in ways that might seem suspicious.
The Saga, which has seized the country for two years, began on a summer day in late July 2023 when Patterson said she wanted to host four relatives of her estranged husband at home and discuss medical issues. Her ex-husband was also invited but was not present.
The court heard that she told her guest she had cancer and asked them for advice on how she should break it for her two children. Prosecutors argued that she had no cancer and used a “medical issue” argument to prevent children from participating in the meal. The defense admitted that she lied about the diagnosis.
During the meal, Patterson served individual beef wellington to guests. Steak and pastry dishes with mushroom-infused steak and pastry dishes. Her guest got sick a few hours later and was admitted to a hospital where doctors suspected mushroom poisoning, prompting police to investigate. Patterson was arrested and charged several months later.
Prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC claimed that Patterson chose him as guest Deathcap Mushroom (a very toxic type of wild fungus).
Patterson herself went to the hospital and claimed she was feeling sick after meals, but her examination showed no severe illness and voluntarily discharged herself from doctor’s advice, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors allege that according to CNN Affiliate Seven News, cell data showed Patterson moved to an area where mushroom sightings were detailed online and posted online about dehydrated mushrooms a few months before lunch.
Patterson told police he didn’t own the dehydrator, but surveillance footage after his death showed the unit being disposed of at a local garbage dump.
Patterson claims she is innocent. Her defense attorney told the ju judge he would not object to the death of the guest from her meal, but insisted that she had not intentionally poisoned them.
“The defense case was that Erin Patterson intentionally did not provide poison to the guests at that lunch on July 29, 2023,” defense attorney Colin Mandy SC said.
“She had no intention of harming anyone that day. The defense incident was that what happened was a tragic, a terrible accident.”
Mandy admitted that Patterson lied about the dehydrator and about mushroom foraging, and that she simply panicked at the moment.
“The defense incident is that she was overwhelmed by the fact that these four people became so sick because of the food she served (them),” Mandy said. “Three people died from the food Erin Patterson served that day. So we need to think about this issue: how Erin Patterson felt about it in the days that followed.”
Patterson pleaded not guilty to all charges. The case is expected to last up to six weeks.
