May 17, 2025
Mushrooms, Alleged Murder, and Scientific Evidence: Australia's Beef Wellington Trial
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The Mushroom Murder Trial Podcast is covering the latest developments from the Supreme Court of Victoria hearings in Morwell, where Erin Patterson is charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder after allegedly serving beef wellington containing deadly death cap mushrooms at a family lunch.
- A juror was removed after allegedly discussing the Erin Patterson case details outside the jury room
- Chief toxicologist Dr Dimitri Gerostamoulos testified that amatoxins from death cap mushrooms were found in some of the victims' samples. Expert explained that a lethal dose is approximately 50 grams (three tablespoons) for a 70kg adult. DNA evidence showed a 99% match to death cap mushrooms in samples from Erin Patterson's dehydrator
- Child protection worker testified about Erin Patterson's strained relationship with her husband and feeling isolated from his family.
- Sign up for our exclusive Mushroom Murder Trial Podcast newsletter at mushroommurdertrialcom for comprehensive coverage of every twist and turn in this trial. If you'd like to support our work, you can buy me a coffee through our account where you pay $5 as a thank you.
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Here it is in summary.
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Welcome to the Mushroom Murder Trial Podcast.
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I'm Lisa and I've been tracking this case since 2023.
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Most weekdays, we deliver detailed coverage of one of Australia's most closely watched legal dramas.
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Here's everything you need to know from last week's Supreme Court of Victoria hearings in Morwell.
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Quick reminder if you haven't signed up to our newsletter, it's at mushroommurdertrialcom.
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You get exclusive things breakdowns.
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I'm going to expand it, so please get there and subscribe so you don't miss an edition.
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Now we'll just quickly go into the case background and the legal disclaimers.
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The defendant is Erin Trudy Patterson, age 50, of Leongatha, victoria.
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The charges are three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, and the plea is not guilty to all charges.
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The plea is not guilty to all charges.
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As we know, there was a tragic family lunch on the 29th of July 2023, where she served a homemade beef wellington containing the deadly toxins.
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Now, today is Science with Lisa, and it's also Appalling Pronunciation with Lisa, so you have to bear with me.
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Okay, apparently, the court was told well, I heard it that Beef Wellington contained the deadly toxins from the Amanita filates, commonly known as the death cap mushroom.
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Now, within days, three family members died Don and Gail Patterson, both aged 70, and Heather Wilkinson, aged 66.
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Heather's husband, ian Wilkinson, fell critically ill but survived after an extended stay in intensive care.
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This trial is gripping the nation not only because of the tragic loss of life, but due to the, I tell you, the scientific complexities surrounding mushroom toxins, compounded by the questions about how samples were handled and analysed.
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Now, firstly, on Thursday a juror was removed.
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Day a juror was removed.
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Justice Christopher Beale formally discharged a juror amid allegations he had discussed the case details outside the jury room with friends and family.
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The bench had operated under a reporting ban until late Thursday, which is now listed, and we can talk about what happened Now.
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Justice Beale found a quote, reasonable possibility that the juror's conduct could have compromised confidentiality, so he stopped short of declaring actual misconduct, but his honour reminded the remaining jurors.
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I want to remind you of my directions you should only discuss the case with your fellow jurors in the privacy of the jury room.
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Any breach risks the integrity of these proceedings.
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So the juror was sent home.
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Now here's our toxicology deep dive Victoria's chief toxicologist, dr Dimitri Gerastamoulos.
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What can I say?
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I'm an animal, dr Dimitri Gerastamoulos, that's it.
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I'm sorry.
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My pronunciation's terrible.
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Spent two days on the stand this week.
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His testimony pivoted on chemical assays.
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Now I'll look these up for you.
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That's the testing of metal or ore to determine its ingredients and quality, detecting alpha and beta aminotins, the protein synthesis inhibitors responsible for liver failure.
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So, as we know, two of the lunch attendees had situations with their liver.
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Now there were also the bin samples, scraps of the beef, wellington and mushroom paste.
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They were seized from Ms Patterson's outside bin by police.
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These tests were conducted roughly one month after the July lunch, demonstrating that toxins can persist in food debris longer than previously thought.
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Now, human samples blood and urine from Ms Patterson taken on the 31st of July showed no traces of amanitans, suggesting she either did not ingest the mushrooms or that detection windows vary by individual metabolism.
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The highly toxic amatoxins found only in death cap mushrooms, including alpha-amitin and beta-amitin, were detected in urine samples provided by one of the victims, and that was Don Patterson, when he was at Dandenong Hospital.
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There'd also been positive results from Ian Wilkinson's blood serum and urine from the beta-amitin toxin.
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I'm really stuffing that up.
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I'll try better.
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Okay Now, don and Ian both registered significant toxin levels.
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Conversely, post-mortem analyses of Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson those showing advanced liver damage consistent with poisoning returned negative for detectable amanitins Under cross-examination.
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The expert conceded that sample timing is critical.
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Evidence of toxins degrade over time and the ideal sampling occurs within 24 to 36 hours of ingestion.
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He also confirmed that combining leftovers from two different collection points into one evidence bag was not procedural breast practice, potentially complicating chain of custody questions.
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The toxicologist was quizzed by Mr Mandy SC that's Colin Mandy.
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He's Erin's barrister on the estimated fatal dose of the amatoxins found in death cap mushrooms.
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He said it was about one milligram per kilogram of body weight.
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So it's a quote, very small amount, but he told the jury that for a 70 kilo adult a lethal dose was about 50 grams or three tablespoons.
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But he agreed variables could affect whether a dose was lethal, such as age, weight, health care received and the toxic response of an individual.
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Next we had Dr David Lovelock.
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He's now the Diagnostics Manager at Plant Health Australia and he provided additional analysis.
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He detailed how he received multiple food items in August 2023, ranging from gravy in Ziploc bags to fragments from a home dehydrator.
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In terms of the beef wellington DNA, the only common button mushroom DNA, was identified.
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Now, with the dehydrated debris, genetic sequencing returned a 99% match to Amanita falades, strongly suggesting that death cat mushrooms had been processed in the dehydrator prior to the fatal meal, allegedly.
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Dr Lovelock said analysis of the seven vials he'd received found two of the seven dehydrator samples contained material genetically identified as death cat mushroom.
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We were able to detect Amanita filatus in two of the seven test tubes.
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The genetic code we got out of those two samples was more than 99% similar to a reference sample of Amanita filatis.
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Amid the science, there was emotional testimony at which added some human texture to the trial.
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Child protection worker Katrina Cripps spoke of interviewing Ms Patterson at her Lee and Gaffer home on August 2, 2023.
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The mother of two said she had aimed to cook something quote new and special for her extended family.
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She followed a recipe Tin Eats Beef Wellington recipe which has come up before.
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That's the book.
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I had a look at it the other day.
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Some of the recipes look amazing.
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Now Ms Cripps also recounted Ms Patterson's account of her strained marriage to Simon Patterson.
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According to the witness, erin expressed feeling isolated.
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Simon had become quote distant and was allegedly restricting her access to his parents, her primary emotional support.
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She, quote, felt that he was isolating her from his family, the child protection worker said.
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Ms Cripps added Ms Patterson had told her a quote about feeling like in brackets Simon was controlling and emotionally abusive, allegedly in that he would say things to her that would make her doubt herself as a parent, as a mother, and it would impact her self-esteem.
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She also told Ms Cripps about hosting her parents-in-law for lunch with her children earlier in 2023, and she'd invited them because quote she just wanted to reconnect with them and see them.
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So what's next?
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The trial's resuming tomorrow, with further expert witnesses scheduled to appear.
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We'll continue to track every debate, legal manoeuvre and witness account as this case heads towards closing arguments.
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We don't have a date on that yet, so stay tuned.
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Subscribe, sign up for our newsletter, mushroommurdertrialcom, for the comprehensive coverage of every twist and turn in this trial.
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And, if you feel like thanking me for all my hard work on this, I have a buy me a coffee account where you pay $5, I get a coffee as a thank you.
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I would love that.
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Anyway, have a fabulous week coming up and I will speak to you very, very soon.
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Thank you, bye.
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