- Written by Hannah Ritchie and Simon Atkinson
- In Sydney and Morwell
Heather Wilkinson was one of three people who died and her husband, Ian, became seriously ill
An Australian woman accused of killing her former in-laws and another woman with poisonous mushrooms has appeared in court for the first time.
Erin Patterson, 49, was charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder on Thursday.
The murder charges relate to a family lunch she hosted in July at her home in Leongatha, Victoria. Three of the five counts of attempted murder relate to incidents that occurred between 2021 and 2022.
Mrs. Patterson maintains her innocence.
She appeared briefly in court on Friday, where her case was adjourned until May 3 to give prosecutors time to analyze computers seized from her home during a police search.
About half a dozen TV crews lined up outside the hearing in the small town of Morwell, about 60 kilometers (37 kilometers) from Leongatha, a sign of the level of interest in the case.
But for cameras and local residents, there was no glimpse of Ms Patterson, who was taken from her police night cell to the courthouse via a connecting tunnel.
The allegations center on beef Wellington that Mrs Patterson served to her former in-laws Jill and Dawn Patterson, and Jill’s sister Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian Wilkinson.
Ms Patterson said she prepared the dish using a mixture of mushrooms bought from a supermarket and dried mushrooms bought from an Asian grocery store months before.
Police say all four of their guests were later taken to hospital due to a violent illness.
Within days, Patterson, 70, and Mrs Wilkinson, 66, died. Wilkinson, 68, was taken to hospital in critical condition but later recovered.
Police say they believe the four ingested death cap mushrooms, which are extremely deadly if ingested.
Ms Patterson was named as a suspect after she and her two children appeared unharmed after lunch.
But the 49-year-old maintains she never intended to poison her guests, and says she was taken to hospital after the meal and given medication to prevent liver damage.
“I am now devastated to believe that this fungus may have contributed to the illness my loved ones are suffering from,” she wrote in a statement in August.
As well as the three murder charges, Ms Patterson was charged with two counts of attempted murder relating to the July lunch.
Patterson also faces three counts of attempted murder connected to what police said were three separate incidents in which a 48-year-old man allegedly became ill after eating meals between 2021 and 2022. No further details were provided.
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