@Annabeth_Pottah of course.
The Erin Patterson mushroom poisoning case centres on a lunch held on 29 July 2023 at Patterson’s home in Leongatha, Victoria, where she served beef Wellington containing mushrooms to her former parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson and her estranged husband’s aunt and uncle, Heather and Ian Wilkinson; all four guests became seriously ill within a day, suffering organ failure consistent with death cap mushroom poisoning, and Don, Gail and Heather later died, while Ian survived after weeks in intensive care. Investigators determined the illness was caused by toxins from death cap mushrooms, which are extremely poisonous and not destroyed by cooking, and evidence later linked these toxins to leftovers from the meal and to a food dehydrator Patterson had disposed of. Police alleged Patterson deliberately sourced and used the mushrooms, served herself a separate non-poisoned meal, and then attempted to cover up her actions by lying about where the mushrooms came from, discarding evidence, and misleading authorities, including initially claiming the mushrooms were store-bought and denying foraging. The defence argued the poisoning was a tragic accident, suggesting the mushrooms were unintentionally mixed in, and that Patterson’s lies stemmed from panic rather than guilt. The case attracted enormous public attention due to the rarity of death cap poisonings and the domestic setting of the deaths, and after a lengthy Supreme Court of Victoria trial, Patterson was found guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, making it one of Australia’s most disturbing and closely followed criminal cases in recent history.
Ignore my reporter ass text there, i took it out of a project i had to do for school
