Overview

• A Victorian Supreme Court jury found Patterson guilty of killing her parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, and of attempting to murder Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson.
• Prosecutors introduced mobile-tower data, digital forensic analysis and survivor testimony to show Patterson foraged death cap mushrooms, dehydrated and powdered them before concealing the toxin in individual beef Wellington servings.
• The Crown detailed Patterson’s deceptions, including falsely claiming to have cancer, feigning illness after the lunch and disposing of a mushroom dehydrator before police could seize it.
• The nine-week trial in Morwell featured more than 50 witnesses and in excess of 120 exhibits under strict reporting restrictions, one of Australia’s most closely watched criminal cases.
• Patterson maintains the poisonings were a tragic accident and insists she believed her pantry mushrooms were safe, a defense the jury ultimately rejected.