Credit: Supreme Court of Victoria via DailyMail
The Australian woman who murdered her in-laws with poisoned beef Wellingtons was also accused of a calculated campaign to kill her estranged husband with poisoned curries, sandwiches and biscuits.
Erin Patterson, 50, was found guilty in July of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023 by lacing their lunch with lethal deathcap mushrooms.
Prosecutors initially sought to present evidence that she may have laced rat poison into a meal prepared for Simon Patterson, the father of her two children.
Simon had also discussed with his doctor the possibility that radiator antifreeze had been added to biscuits his ex-wife had baked for him in February 2023, five months before his parents and aunt died at Patterson’s home in Leongatha, south-east of Melbourne.
Police initially charged Patterson with four counts of attempting to murder Simon, which she denied.
Eventually police dropped those charges.
In pre-trial hearings, the court heard how Simon had become so concerned of falling ill from meals prepared by Patterson that he kept an Excel spreadsheet on his computer to document them.
“I had the idea I got sick from Erin’s food. I did not give it too much thought,” he told police in a statement read out to the court.
In November 2021 he ate a portion of Bolognese penne pasta from a Tupperware container.
Afterwards, he began suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea, and spent a night in hospital.
Six months later, in May 2022, he fell into a coma days after eating a chicken korma curry prepared by Patterson on a camping trip in the mountains of Victoria’s High Country region.
Surgeons were forced to remove a large part of his bowel to save his life.
In September 2022, while visiting a stretch of Victoria’s coastline, he would become unwell again after eating a vegetable wrap.
At first, he felt nausea and diarrhoea coming on, the court heard, before his symptoms escalated.
He started slurring his speech, gradually lost control of his muscles and began “fitting”.
“By the end of the journey [to hospital], all I could move was my neck, my tongue and lips,” he told the court.
The prosecution argued that Simon’s symptoms could be consistent with barium carbonate ingestion, a chemical compound that is used in rat poison.
Chris Ford, Simon’s GP, told the court that he had asked him to record his symptoms because he “couldn’t understand why” he had had three “near-death experiences”.
“It didn’t fit into any of my medical models that would account for all three of those things,” Dr Ford told the court.
“There was no other reasons that could fit all the different admissions, so it seemed feasible it [the food] could be a possible reason.”
The allegations were revealed on Friday after the Supreme Court of Victoria lifted a suppression order that had kept the details secret until the conclusion of one of the most high-profile murder trials in Australian history.
Patterson, 50, was found guilty of murdering Gail and Don Patterson, and Mrs Patterson’s sister Heather Wilkinson. She was also convicted of the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, the fourth lunch guest, who survived after undergoing a liver transplant.
Police on Friday released a 21-minute video of Patterson’s interview with detectives a week after the lunch, in which she portrayed herself as a loving daughter-in-law who was committed to helping with the investigation.
Simon’s family were “good, decent people that have never done anything wrong by me, ever”, she told police.
“I think Simon hated that I had a relationship with his parents,” she added.
She also told police she did not own a food dehydrator – a lie that would later be found out by CCTV showing her dumping one at a rubbish tip.
Forensic testing revealed the dehydrator contained traces of the Amanita phalloides fungi commonly known as the deathcap.
By the time police arrested Patterson, they had also raided her home and seized the phones and computers at the property.
On them, they found several pieces of evidence – allegedly including an article about barium carbonate.
They also found a social media post she allegedly made asking for advice on how to treat her cat after it ate poisonous mushrooms – even though she did not own a cat.
“My cat chewed on this mushroom just now. He is having a vomit. Was in grassland near trees, I’m in Victoria Australia,” she allegedly wrote.
Police included the post in their brief of evidence, but it was ruled as inadmissible.
Simon told the court that Patterson had invited him to the July 2023 lunch but he declined because “I thought there’d be a risk that she’d poison me if I attended”.
He had previously told relatives that he feared his estranged wife was trying to kill him after the series of unexplained medical crises between 2021 and 2022.
But he did not warn them against eating at her house because he never thought she would set out to harm them.
The pair had remained on friendly terms despite their separation but had started to argue over finances, including child support payments.
‘A lot’ of impact statements
Patterson’s defence lawyer told the court, however, that a medical expert who had analysed Simon’s medical records had concluded that his symptoms were consistent with low potassium levels.
Several possible explanations for Simon’s illnesses were raised, including gastrointestinal conditions, and doctors did not find poison in his system.
The allegations were never presented to the jury as the court-ordered prosecutors would need to pursue a separate trial to address claims Patterson had tried to kill Simon.
Patterson will face a two-day pre-sentence hearing on Aug 25 when relatives and friends of the Pattersons and Wilkinsons will have an opportunity to read victim impact statements.
Justice Christopher Beale asked prosecutor Jane Warren in court on Friday how many people planned to issue such statements.
“A lot,” Ms Warren said.
Patterson faces a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole. She is expected to appeal her convictions.
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