Berliner Tageblatt - Australian mushroom meal victim 'hunched' in pain, court hears

Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with three murders -- of the parents and aunt of her estranged husband -- and one attempted murder.

She has pleaded not guilty to all counts, with her defence saying the fatal beef-and-pastry meal, laced with death cap mushrooms, was the result of "a terrible accident".

On the second day of a trial that has drawn global attention, the accused woman's husband, Simon Patterson, described seeing his parents in hospital after they had been poisoned.

"Dad was substantially worse than mum. He was really struggling," he told the court.

"He was lying on his side, he was hunched", Patterson said, adding that his father's face was "really discoloured".

"He wasn't right inside, he was feeling pain".

Simon Patterson had been invited to the lunch in late July 2023 at his wife's home in the sedate Victoria state farm village of Leongatha.

But he told the court he declined, texting Patterson that he was "uncomfortable" with the invitation.

- 'Hope to see you there' -

She urged him to reconsider, saying she had cooked a "special meal" and spent a "small fortune" on beef eye fillet for the meal.

"I hope you will change your mind," said her text, read to the court.

"I hope to see you there."

Patterson had invited the guests under the guise of telling them she had a health issue to relate, the court heard.

Simon did not turn up to lunch but his parents, Don and Gail Patterson, did, along with his aunt Heather Wilkinson and her husband, local pastor Ian Wilkinson.

Within days, Don, Gail and Heather were dead. Ian, the pastor, survived after nearly two months in hospital.

During the lunch gathering, Patterson said she had cancer and asked for advice about how to tell her two children, crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers has told the court.

Medical tests later found no evidence she had the disease, according to the prosecutor.

Within 12 hours of the lunch, the four guests developed diarrhoea and vomiting, and were raced to hospital.

They were diagnosed by treating doctors with poisoning by death cap mushrooms.

- Guests dead within days -

At hospital, Simon said his father informed him of Patterson's claimed cancer diagnosis, which he had not previously heard of.

His parents were "really strong" in encouraging the couple to resolve their marital issues, Simon said.

The prosecutor says Patterson deliberately poisoned her guests, and avoided consuming the death caps herself.

Instead, it is alleged, she pretended to be suffering from similar symptoms as a "cover".

Though the jury may wonder about the reason, "motive is not something that has to be proven by the prosecution", Rogers said at the outset of the trial.

Patterson's lawyer Colin Mandy told the court the poisoning was a "tragedy and a terrible accident".

She ate the same meal with death cap mushrooms, but did not fall as sick as her guests, Mandy said.

Patterson is being tried in the Latrobe Valley Law Courts in Morwell, south of Melbourne.

The trial is expected to last about six weeks.

G.Schulte--BTB