On 29 July 2023, Erin Trudi Patterson murdered three of her relatives and seriously injured a fourth by serving beef Wellingtons containing highly toxic death cap mushrooms, during a lunch at her home in Leongatha, Victoria, Australia. Within 24 hours, all four victims were admitted to hospital and subsequently diagnosed with severe liver failure. Three died within six days (in one case despite receiving a liver transplant), and one recovered seven weeks after the lunch. Patterson was arrested on 2 November and charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder of her in-laws and their relatives, including four counts of attempted murder of her estranged husband Simon. After the charges of attempted murder of Simon were dropped, Patterson was tried before a jury in the Supreme Court of Victoria, sitting in Morwell, commencing on 29 April 2025. On 7 July 2025, the jury convicted Patterson on all remaining charges. On 8 September 2025, Justice Christopher Beale sentenced her to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 33 years. It was the first sentencing hearing in Victoria to be broadcast live. The case received extensive media coverage, both in Australia and around the world. A book about the murders and the trial published in 2025, titled The Mushroom Tapes, co-authored by Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper, and Sarah Krasnostein, won the 2026 ABIA General Nonfiction Book of the Year. In August 2026 Patterson's lawyers argued for a retrial on several grounds including jurors mingling with hotel guests while being sequestered, alleged "unfair and oppressive" cross-examination, and evidence claimed to be irrelevant and prejudicial. Prosecutors also appealed the sentence given, calling it "manifestly inadequate" and arguing for the removal of the parole period in Patterson's sentence due to the seriousness of her crimes. Both appeals are ongoing.
Background
Early life and education Erin Trudi Patterson (née Scutter; born 30 September 1974) grew up in the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverley. Her father was a civil servant and her mother worked as an academic and lecturer. In 1992, Scutter was accepted for a science course at the University of Melbourne and later switched to accounting. She also trained to be an air traffic controller and graduated in 2001.
Early career Following her graduation, Scutter worked as an air traffic controller with Airservices Australia in Melbourne between February 2001 and November 2002. By 2004, Scutter worked as an animal management employee for RSPCA Australia at the Monash City Council's headquarters. In the same year, she began dating Simon Patterson, who worked as an engineer at Monash City Council.
Marriage and family life In July 2006, Scutter inherited AU$2 million from her grandmother, which was paid to her over an eight-year period commencing in 2007. Scutter married Simon Patterson in 2007 and they moved to Western Australia, living in Perth, York, and Pemberton. Scutter, now Patterson, ran a second-hand bookshop in Pemberton while her husband worked for the local council. While living in Western Australia, Patterson gave birth to their son. Patterson subsequently testified that she bonded with Gail and Don Patterson, her parents-in-law, during this period. Prior to the birth of their daughter, the Pattersons relocated to Koonwarra, Victoria, to be closer to her in-laws. According to Simon Patterson, Erin had bonded with Don over a "shared love of knowledge and learning" and that she liked his "gentle nature". Erin attended a Baptist church whose pastor, Ian Wilkinson, was married to Gail Patterson's sister, Heather. Patterson's father died from cancer c. 2011, and, in 2019, her mother also died from cancer. Erin Patterson and her sister inherited her parents' estate, which included a A$900,000 beachfront retirement home in Eden, New South Wales. Patterson's share of her parents' estate allowed her and Simon to provide interest-free loans to his three siblings and their spouses to buy homes.
Family conflict Erin's relationship with Simon began to deteriorate following the birth of their first child. The couple underwent several short-term separations before reaching a financial settlement and long-term split in 2015. Following their separation, Erin and Simon shared custody of their two children and remained on friendly terms, including going on holidays together. In 2022, Erin and Simon's relationship deteriorated after he filed a tax return which listed himself as single. Due to this change in his relationship status, Erin became ineligible for government child support payments, with Simon being told by a federal government agency to stop paying his children's school fees and medical bills. While Simon claimed that this change in status was the result of a mistake by his accountant, the incident damaged the couple's relationship. Between November 2021 and September 2022, Simon was hospitalised three times with gastrointestinal symptoms, with the second incident resulting in a coma and requiring life-saving surgery. A medical expert's report commissioned for the trial stated that Simon's symptoms were consistent with the ingestion of barium carbonate, an ingredient in rat poison. These details were suppressed for the duration of Erin's murder trial. In the two years leading up to the family lunch on 29 July 2023, Erin's relationship with her in-laws had become estranged. According to her brother-in-law Matthew Patterson's court testimony, Erin missed several family events and attended some others only briefly. During her testimony, Erin alleged that she had been snubbed when she received a late invitation to her mother-in-law Gail's 70th birthday celebration around May 2023. Erin had also posted several social media messages to her online friends criticising her estranged husband and her in-laws.
Lunch and deaths
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