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Prosecutors Probe Erin Patterson’s Dehydrator Disposal and Silence in Mushroom Poisoning Trial

Jurors have heard that the trial will extend for at least another fortnight with ongoing scrutiny of her digital logs, phone records.

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A handout sketch received from the Supreme Court of Victoria on April 29, 2025 shows Erin Patterson, an Australian woman accused of murdering three people with a toxic mushroom-laced beef Wellington, as she faces trial in a case that has grabbed global attention. Patterson, 50, who will be tried in the Latrobe Valley Law Courts in Morwell, south of Melbourne, is charged with three murders -- including both of her parents-in-law -- and one attempted murder. She has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Overview

  • The trial, held at Morwell’s Latrobe Valley Magistrates' Court, has entered its sixth week and is now expected to run for at least two more weeks as Patterson remains under cross-examination.
  • Patterson admitted discarding her food dehydrator at a local tip days after the July 29, 2023 lunch, saying she feared being blamed and facing child protection inquiries.
  • She acknowledged lying in her police interview about owning a dehydrator and foraging wild mushrooms, describing her falsehoods as a ‘stupid knee-jerk reaction’ driven by fear.
  • Patterson conceded she did not inform any authorities or medical personnel that the meal might contain foraged mushrooms despite her relatives receiving treatment for suspected death cap poisoning.
  • Prosecutors highlighted digital evidence, including iNaturalist records of death cap searches and photographs of mushrooms on kitchen scales, which Patterson said she could not recall conducting with harmful intent.