‘Mushroom killer’s’ texts to ex-husband before serving deadly lunch revealed
The last texts Erin Patterson sent to her ex-husband before she was accused of killing his family with poisonous death cap mushrooms have been revealed.
Erin Patterson is charged with three counts of murder after her former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson died in hospital in July 2023.
She has also been accused of attempting to murder Heather’s husband Ian, who was the only one to have survived the meal.
They were suspected of eating poisonous mushrooms after eating a beef wellington meal cooked by Patterson at her home in Leongatha, Victoria.
Patterson’s ex-husband Simon Patterson had also been invited to the lunch but did not attend.
Just before the meal, he sent a message to his ex-wife, informing her he will not be attending, much to her disappointment.
Simon wrote in a text: ‘Sorry I feel too uncomfortable about coming to lunch with you, mum, dad, Heather and Ian tomorrow but am happy to talk about your health and implications of that at another time.
‘If you’d like to discuss on the phone just let me know.’
But Patterson responded: ‘That’s really disappointing. I’ve spent many hours this week preparing lunch for tomorrow which has been exhausting in light of the issues I’m facing and spent a small fortune on beef eye filet to make beef Wellingtons because I wanted it to be a special meal as I may not be able to host a lunch like this again for some time.
‘It’s important to me that you’re all there tomorrow, and that I can have the conversations that I need to have.
‘I hope you’ll change your mind. Your parents, Heather and Ian, are coming at 12.30, and I hope to see you there.’
Simon gave evidence at the trial for the first time yesterday.
After the meal the group then ‘bantered’ over how much of the meal they had eaten, before Patterson told them she had cancer, and was looking for advice on telling her children.
Their symptoms were described as being consistent with poisoning by death cap mushrooms, which is a dull green fungus known scientifically as Amanita phalloides and can cause serious organ failure within 24 to 48 hours.
But prosecutors announced in the Supreme Court they have dropped the attempted murder charge relating to him.
In 2022, he suffered a mystery illness and nearly died after being served a meal by Patterson, from whom he had split ‘amicably’ several years earlier.
In a Facebook post seen by The Herald Sun, he wrote: ‘I collapsed at home, then was in an induced coma for 16 days through which I had three emergency operations mainly on my small intestine, plus an additional planned operation.
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