Deadly mushroom lunch cook tells court she threw up toxic meal

Erin Patterson, an Australian woman, is currently on trial for murder after a deadly lunch she prepared in July 2023 led to the deaths of three people. The meal included beef Wellington, a dish made with fillet steak, mushrooms, and pastry. Prosecutors claim Erin deliberately served poisonous death cap mushrooms to her guests, but Erin and her defense team argue that the contamination was a tragic accident. Erin told the court she only ate a small portion of the lunch but later consumed a large amount of cake, which made her feel overly full and caused her to vomit. Medical experts testified that Erin did not experience the same severe symptoms as the other victims. During her testimony, Erin admitted she lied about having cancer to convince her guests to come to her house, when in fact she was planning to have weight-loss surgery. She also revealed that she discarded a food dehydrator and wiped her phone clean after the incident because she feared being blamed for the deaths. Three people died in hospital after eating the lunch, including Erin's former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, both aged 70, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, aged 66. One guest, a 71-year-old pastor named Ian Wilkinson, survived after weeks of hospital treatment. The trial, held in the Victorian Supreme Court, has lasted nearly six weeks and attracted worldwide attention. Erin described inviting her guests under the pretense of discussing health issues. She spent a long time deciding what to cook and chose beef Wellington because it was a special dish her mother used to make for celebrations. Erin said she added some dried mushrooms she had bought months earlier from an Asian grocery store, but now believes there may have been wild mushrooms mixed in. She served the meal buffet-style, with guests taking their own plates, and said she did not eat much herself because she was busy talking. Erin admitted to lying about her cancer diagnosis to get help with childcare during her planned gastric bypass surgery, which she was embarrassed to share. After the guests left, Erin ate several pieces of cake brought by Gail and then vomited because she felt too full. The court also heard that Erin has struggled with bulimia since her teens, often binge eating and vomiting after meals. Erin began feeling sick hours after the lunch and went to the hospital two days later for fluids. She was shocked when doctors asked if she might have eaten death cap mushrooms. Erin said her ex-husband accused her of poisoning his parents, which she denies, but the accusation made her panic. She disposed of her food dehydrator and erased phone data to avoid suspicion. The trial will continue with more testimony and cross-examination of Erin.