The last time a woman accused of murder got this much attention in Australia was in 1980 when Lindy Chamberlain (immortalized by Meryl Streep in “A Cry in the Dark”) claimed a dingo stole her baby. This time, a very different Australian mom named Erin Patterson stands accused of poisoning her former in-laws by putting death cap mushrooms in a beef wellington lunch she served them in July. The case has transfixed Australia, sucking Ms. Patterson into a firestorm of speculation about whether she’s a cold hearted poisoner, or just very unlucky.  

Erin, 49, had served some family members beef wellington – a traditional British dish in which filet steak is coated with a mushroom pate, then wrapped in puff pastry – at her home in the small town of Leongatha last July. Within a week, three of her four guests had died and a fourth was hospitalized and gravely ill. The victims included the parents of Erin’s estranged husband, Gail and Don Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson. The fourth guest, Ian Wilkinson, a pastor, was Heather’s husband. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition but survived after two months of treatment. 

According to police statements at the time, the symptoms of all four of the beef wellington-eaters pointed to consumption of death cap mushrooms, “one of the most poisonous mushrooms in the world.” 

Death cap mushrooms can be found growing in Victoria, the Australian province where Erin lives. People unfortunate enough to eat them are usually asymptomatic for 12 hours, then become violently ill and die when the mushroom’s toxins attack the liver. In another notorious incident featuring the mushrooms in 2008, Nicholas Evans, author of “The Horse Whisperer,” accidentally picked and ate the mushrooms, tossed in butter, in Scotland. Mr. Evans survived only after his daughter donated a kidney.

Erin Patterson was arrested last Thursday and charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder. Two of the attempted murder charges refer to the July 29th lunch – one that would account for Ian and another that has not been explicitly explained.

The other three counts of attempted murder reportedly refer to three separate instances when Erin’s estranged husband, Simon Patterson (whose parents were to die), became ill after three meals in 2021 and 2022. Simon, 48, was invited to the deadly July lunch, though he declined at the last minute.

Consistently maintaining her innocence, Erin released a statement back in August to share her side of the story. She said she served her four guests, allowing them to pick their plates, and grabbed the last plate of beef wellington for herself. The mushrooms in question, according to Erin, were a mix of button mushrooms from a major grocery store and dried mushrooms from an Asian grocery store in the Australian city of Melbourne, about two hours from Leongatha.

Erin said her two children were not present for the deadly lunch but explained they ate the leftovers the following night. The difference in their meals, however, was that Erin had scraped the mushrooms off the beef wellington because, she said, the children didn’t like mushrooms. Additionally, Erin said she, too, was hospitalized after the lunch. 

“I am now devastated to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to the illness suffered by my loved ones,” Erin said in her statement. “I really want to repeat that I had absolutely no reason to hurt these people whom I loved.”

Police have thoroughly searched Erin’s modest home using “technology sniffing dogs” who can find objects like flash drives. Erin also faces some incriminating evidence in the form of a “food dehydrator” linked to her that was found in a dump after the deadly lunch. The kitchen device could have been used to process freshly picked mushrooms. Simon Patterson, Erin’s ex-husband, has publicly accused her of trying to poison him, twice, using foods dried out in the dehydrator.

Confronted with the dumped dehydrator, Erin admitted she had lied when she initially told investigators she had thrown it away a long time ago. She said the reason she tossed the dehydrator after the beef wellington lunch was because she feared Simon would accused her of using it to “poison” his relatives and she was worried she might lose custody of their children.

Erin, who has been jailed pending her trial, appeared in court on Friday, surrounded by security guards, and did not request bail. A detective on the case says the charges “are just the next step in what has been an incredibly complex, methodical and thorough investigation.”

“I think it is particularly important that we keep in mind that at the heart of this, three people have lost their lives. These are three people who by all accounts were much beloved in their communities and are greatly missed by their loved ones,” Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said in a statement. “I know that people will no doubt have many unanswered questions about this matter, however I urge people to be especially mindful of unnecessary speculation and not sharing misinformation.”