The woman at the centre of the Australian mushroom poisoning case that was in the news a while back is now on trial. She had served a beef wellington dish containing death cap mushrooms to her mother and father in law and aunt and uncle in law. All except the uncle in law died. She had invited her estranged husband, but he pulled out. She did not get ill and neither did her children, who didn't attend the dinner. The prosecution is saying that, according to the surviving uncle in law, she had eaten from a different coloured plate.

From the coverage before, it sounded very suspicious. She had claimed to have bought the mushrooms from an Asian grocery store, but was unable to say where it was. It was reported at the time that the chances of buying death cap mushrooms from a store were zero. It was also reported that her husband had previously been in intensive care over a mystery stomach illness (Erin Patterson’s husband suffered mystery illness a year before his family’s deaths in Leongatha).

Erin Patterson's mushroom murder trial jury hears opening addresses over alleged poisonings

www.bbc.com/news/live/c23054k1x05t

Not seen many Death cap mushrooms in the local greengrocers to be fair. Very sus. Never trust a dinner host with a different coloured plate. Lol.

Who knows?

But it doesn't make sense to me in terms of motive trying to wipe out all your adult relatives. Usually, it will be either a heat of the moment against one, or financially motivated.

If she is guilty will this make her the first serial killer targetting any known adult relatives!? And how goes that motive arise?

Not convinced.

Not sure if the people invited to the dinner were all her adult relatives. I haven't seen reports saying that.

Why the jury will never be told a reason for Erin Patterson's deadly mushroom meal

(2023) Mushroom chef an ‘experienced forager’

In a written statement sent to cops on Friday, Ms Patterson — who denies any wrongdoing — gave her first account of what happened before and after the fatal lunch.

She said she served the meal and allowed the guests to choose their own plates — and she also ate a portion of the beef wellington herself.

The mushrooms were a mixture of button mushrooms from a major supermarket chain, and dried mushrooms from an Asian grocery store in Melbourne months before, she added.
There's no way I'd eat anything containing wild mushrooms foraged by someone [the prosecution and defence apparently agree that she foraged the deadly mushrooms], no matter how experienced they might be, especially after this story!

Poison is normally the method used by women.

Jo wrote:
Not sure if the people invited to the dinner were all her adult relatives. I haven't seen reports saying that

Good job she didn't have a bigger house....

I think this woman must have wanted to harm her guests. The defence is apparently that it was all a terrible accident, but I can't see how someone can prepare a meal and accidentally add a lethal ingredient to four out of five servings. And it seems that it wasn't one big dish (logical if she wasn't poisoned herself) but individual beef wellingtons.

Mushroom meal survivor takes the stand in Erin Patterson's trial

Wilkinson said each plate had a serving of mashed potatoes, green beans and an individually-cased beef Wellington, which resembled a pasty.

"When you cut into it there was steak and mushrooms," he said.