THIS is the moment mushroom killer Erin Patterson tried to cover her tracks by dumping the food dehydrator she used in her twisted murder plot.
CCTV footage released by the Supreme Court of Victoria shows the 49-year-old discarding the kitchen device at a local tip just days after her in-laws were fatally poisoned.
AFPAuthorities have released CCTV of her dumping the food dehydrator used to prepare the toxic mushrooms[/caption]
AFPImages taken from inside a prison van, show Patterson flinching at the flash of a camera[/caption]
AFPLegal issues prevented the publication of the photos earlier in the trial[/caption]
AFPAn annotated photo of the samples of the beef Wellington meal laced with toxic mushrooms[/caption]
Wearing a long coat and sunglasses, Patterson is seen unloading the food dehydrator at the Koonwarra Transfer Station on August 2, 2023 – an apparent attempt to erase evidence linked to the deadly beef wellington meal.
And in a chilling image also released by the court, the meal that left her family dying in agony is laid out next to forensic evidence bags.
The annotated photo was taken during toxicology testing at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine.
It shows plates containing remnants of the now-infamous dish – prepared and served by Patterson in her Leongatha home.
The killer mushroom cook has since been found guilty of murdering her in-laws at a deadly lunch.
Patterson was accused of hiding deadly mushrooms in a meal to murder her estranged husband’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66.
She was also accused of attempting to murder Wilkinson’s husband Ian by serving a beef wellington laced with poisonous death cap mushrooms.
Patterson pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder for the July 29, 2023, incident.
The 12 jurors were sequestered during their deliberations and weren’t allowed to return to their homes, staying overnight instead in special accommodation new the Latrobe Valley law courts.
A sentencing date is yet to be scheduled.
Patterson’s three chilling words to her best friend after the guilty verdict stunned court observers.
As she was led back to the cells, she reportedly told Alison Rose Prior: “See you soon.”
The pal, in tears, vowed she would visit Patterson in prison, despite the damning verdict.
“I’m her friend and I’ll see her – I’ll visit with her,” she told reporters outside the courthouse.
In a bizarre prelude to the verdict, Patterson reportedly had black tarps installed around her Leongatha home just days before the jury returned with a decision.
And in the aftermath of the verdict, chilling new medical insight has emerged.
A leading US expert on amatoxin poisoning claims the victims never stood a chance — not because of the mushrooms alone, but due to Australia’s outdated treatment protocols.
The specialist, who asked not to be named, slammed the use of the drug silibinin.
They told the Daily Mail it is “virtually useless” without aggressive hydration and proper kidney function — both of which may have been compromised in the dying victims.
According to the expert, Australian physicians, unfamiliar with such rare cases, were forced to rely on “past wisdom” around the milk thistle-based drug.
But once patients’ organs began shutting down from severe dehydration, the drug couldn’t help.
“They went from sick to catastrophic in a short space of time,” he said.
They added that the silibinin treatment could have backfired if IV fluids were reduced to manage brain swelling — a common emergency response that may have sealed their fate.
News.com.au.Erin Patterson was accused of murdering three and the attempted murder of a fourth[/caption]
NineDeath cap mushrooms were found inside the beef Wellington Patterson cooked[/caption]
APPatterson arriving at court in Melbourne in April[/caption]
The expert went on to say the victims’ organs likely entered a rapid death spiral, especially once their kidneys stopped flushing out the deadly amatoxin.
“Lose the kidneys and all of the amatoxin in circulation gets taken up by the liver,” he warned.
Only Ian Wilkinson, the lone survivor, lived long enough for a liver transplant — a rare intervention that ultimately saved him.
Patterson claimed to have purchased dehydrated mushrooms at an Asian supermarket in Melbourne, Australia.
But she couldn’t remember exactly where she had bought them from.
Despite Patterson pleading not guilty, she did accept that death cap mushrooms were in the meal she served.
But she argued she didn’t intend to harm anyone and that the mushrooms were just a tragic accident.
All of Patterson’s victims were related to her estranged husband Simon and died from liver failure within a week of the fatal lunch.
Toxicologists discovered they had all been poisoned by death cap mushrooms, which grow under oak trees throughout the region of south Melbourne.
Patterson denied at first that she had foraged for wild mushrooms or that she had her own food dehydrator cops allege was used to dry them out.
But she later admitted both to foraging for mushrooms and to owning the dehydrator.
The jury was sent to reach a verdict after listening to 35 days of evidence and cross-examination.
ABC NewsA courtroom sketch of Patterson at Latrobe Valley Magistrates[/caption]
AlamyCops and dogs searched the premises[/caption]
AlamyThe exterior of the Leongatha home where Erin Patterson allegedly served up death cap mushrooms[/caption]
Patterson tried to persuade her estranged husband to come to the lunch over text
The judge also gave directions to the jury about Patterson’s alleged lies, like her wanting gastric bypass surgery, having an ovarian cancer diagnosis and the reason she invited the guests for lunch.
The prosecution alleged that Patterson lied to her relatives about a cancer diagnosis in order to persuade them to attend the deadly lunch, before poisoning them and faked an illness to cover her tracks.
The judge added: “If you find the accused lied about something you can use that fact to decide whether or not you believe the other things she’s said.
“It’s one factor to take into account. It’s for you to decide what significance to give these alleged lies, if you find them to be lies.”
The fatal lunch
On July 29, 2023 Patterson gathered her estranged husband’s relatives together for a Saturday lunch at her home.
She served up a beef wellington – allegedly containing death cap mushrooms and her guests soon became violently ill.
Her former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson all died within a week.
Pastor Ian Wilkinson was the only one who survived the deadly lunch.
But he was left in critical condition and spent almost two months being treated in the Austin Hospital – including time spent in a coma.
Doctors have confirmed all four of their symptoms were consistent with poisoning by death cap mushrooms, which grow wild in the area.
Patterson had also invited her husband to the lunch but he declined, reportedly texting her the night before that he felt “uncomfortable”.
In a return text minutes later, Patterson reportedly said she was “disappointed”, as she wanted to prepare a “special meal and that she may not be able to have a lunch like this for some time”.
Patterson has long denied any wrongdoing and and has always insisted she never meant to serve “my loved ones” the deadly mushrooms.
She pleaded not guilty to the murder charges in the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court in May 2024.
NineHeather Wilkinson died after the lunch while her husband Ian was left fighting for life[/caption]
NineGail Patterson, Erin’s former mother-in-law, died after eating the beef wellington[/caption]
NineGail’s husband Don Patterson was also killed by the toxic meal[/caption]
NineSurvivor Ian Wilkinson pictured at his wife’s funeral just after leaving hospital[/caption]
It was not the first time Patterson faced accusations of attempted murder.
On “three separate incidents” spanning across 2021 to 2022, police say Erin attempted to kill a 48-year-old Korumburra man.
It’s understood this man is Erin’s ex-husband, Simon Patterson.
Two of the dates are unknown, however in May 2022, Simon claimed to have suffered from a mystery illness that fighting for life in hospital.
And the case has not been short of its twists and turns.
In August 2023 a tradesman came forward to reveal that he had seen and photographed what he called a “death wall” inside Erin’s former home.
AFPFriends and family of the deceased arrive at Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court in Morwell on April 30[/caption]
GettyIan Wilkinson arrives in court on Monday[/caption]
ReutersA court sketch shows Erin Patterson at the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court in Morwell, Australia[/caption]
AlamyLawyers visited Patterson’s property where the deadly lunch allegedly took place[/caption]
The tradesman said he was hired to paint the inside last year so it could be flogged.
But he got more than he bargained for and discovered eerie drawings scrawled in blue and red markers.
Messages were also found over the wall – with one chilling note reading: “You don’t [have] long to live”.
That same day, a neighbour of Patterson’s claimed she was an experienced forager, who regularly picked her own mushrooms in the local area.
In March 2024 cops delved into Patterson’s Facebook accounts in the hope of bolstering charges against her.
Patterson had a number of profiles online and constantly used different names to post and interact with others, according to the Herald Sun.
She also allegedly took to Facebook to declare she was “very good at details” before the fateful lunch.
news.com.auA tradesman discovered eerie drawings and messages inside Patterson’s home[/caption]
ReutersThe Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court in Morwell where Patterson is on trial[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
