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MUSHROOM cook Erin Patterson has pleaded not guilty to murder after serving up a “deadly meal” to her ex-husband and her in-laws.
Wearing a blue jumper, Patterson reportedly showed no emotion as she answered “not guilty your honour” eight times via video link on Tuesday.
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The mum-of-two faces three counts of murdering her in-laws and a total of five counts of attempted murder including on her ex-husband.
But she pleaded not guilty to all of it during a hearing before the LaTrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court.
Patterson, 49, had wanted to run her preliminary hearing close to her local community.
But now a jury will decide her fate as she is set to appear before the Supreme Court of Victoria on May 23.
Patterson was expected to conduct a three-week preliminary hearing before being committed to the Supreme Court.
It is believed her ex-husband was one of the witnesses called at the court.
On July 29, her former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, died of suspected mushroom poisoning after eating a beef wellington dish allegedly prepared by Patterson at her Leongatha home.
Pastor Ian Wilkinson was the only one who survived the deadly lunch.
Patterson has long denied any wrongdoing.
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NineIn March, Patterson was reportedly set to be grilled over her internet usage and old Facebook posts in court as prosecutors look to bolster their evidence against the alleged triple murderer.
Detectives are said to be very interested in delving into Patterson’s Facebook accounts, say the Herald Sun.
The paper claims the woman had a number of profiles online and constantly used different names to post and interact with others.
Specialist teams were believed to be working alongside the cops in Australia to also reveal any suspicious or informative deleted searches from her devices.
They hoped this could lead to a quicker case in court as reports have already suggested the trial could last for some time with many unanswered questions left on the table.
A police source told the Herald Sun: “It’s not easy but it’s doable on most occasions.
“She might be involved in conversations or narratives where she has talked about this stuff on online forums… it could be the tiniest thing.”
The accused killer allegedly took to Facebook to declare she was “very good at details” before the fateful lunch.
Mushroom poison saga - a timeline
Here is a timeline of key events that led to Erin Patterson being charged with the mushroom murders.
2021-2022: On “three separate incidents” spanning across 2021 to 2022, police say that Erin attempted to kill a 48-year-old Korumburra man. It’s understood this man is Erin’s ex-husband, Simon Patterson.
JULY 29, 2023: Erin gathered her estranged husband’s relatives together for Saturday lunch at her home on July 29. She served up a beef wellington – allegedly containing death cap mushrooms – and soon after her guests became violently ill.
JULY 30, 2023: All four of the mushroom lunch attendees are admitted to hospitals with food poisoning-like symptoms.
AUGUST 4, 2023: Gail Patterson and her sister Heather Wilkinson die in hospital, while Heather’s husband Ian, a local pastor, is left in critical condition.
AUGUST 5, 2023: Don Patterson died in the hospital, becoming the third and final victim of the mushroom dinner. The same day, detectives secured a search warrant to Patterson’s home in Leongatha where the lunch was served. She is interviewed by homicide detectives and then released.
AUGUST 7, 2023: Victoria Police tell the press that Erin is a suspect in the case because “she cooked those meals”.
AUGUST 8, 2023: Cops conduct tests on a food dehydrator that they seized after Erin claimed to have dumped it in a skip.
AUGUST 10, 2023: A close friend of Simon Patterson claims Erin held the lethal lunch in a bid to try and win him back – but that he pulled out at the last minute.
AUGUST 14, 2023: Erin releases another statement to the press explaining her version of events and again denying any wrongdoing. But in a sudden twist, the mum announced that she was in fact very ill after eating her beef wellington dish and was briefly hospitalised. She also confirmed that she had dumped her food dehydrator in a skip.
AUGUST 15, 2023: A tradesman came forward to reveal that he had seen and photographed what he called a “death wall” inside Erin’s former home. The same day, a neighbour of Patterson’s claimed she was an experienced forager, who regularly picked her own mushrooms in the local area.
AUGUST 31, 2023: Hundreds of mourners attend the funeral for Don and Gail Paterson in Korumburra.
SEPTEMBER 22, 2023: Ian Wilkinson, who survived the mushroom lunch, is finally discharged from hospital after making “significant progress”.
SEPTEMBER 28, 2023: Forensic tests reportedly reveal mushroom poisoning was the official cause of death of the three victims.
OCTOBER 4, 2023: Ian Wilkinson is seen for the first time looking frail on a walking frame as he attends the funeral for his wife of 44 years.
NOVEMBER 2, 2023: Police arrested and charged Erin with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.
MARCH 2024: Detectives were said to be very interested in delving into Patterson’s Facebook accounts in the hopes of taking her to court.
MAY 7, 2024: Patterson pleads not guilty to murdering her in-laws and attempting to murder her estranged husband during a hearing before the LaTrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court.
MAY 23, 2024: Patterson is expected to face the Supreme Court of Victoria
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