Erin Patterson: Poison mushroom cook ‘tried to kill her ex-husband FOUR times’ as she’s charged with murdering in-laws

POISONOUS mushroom chef Erin Patterson tried to kill her ex-husband four times, police claim.

The 48-year-old faces three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.

Erin Patterson was arrested and charged with murdering three of her cousins at a luncheon in JulyCredit: Nine

Patterson’s ex-husband Simon was reportedly due to attend the deadly mushroom lunch – but pulled out at the last minuteCredit: Facebook

The moment when the accused murderer is taken to prisonCredit: 7News

The house of the alleged mushroom killer was raided by the police today Credit: AP

Detectives are seen at Patterson’s home as they try to find answers to the mysterious deaths that have gripped AustraliaCredit: Alamy

In any case, a 48-year-old man from Korumburra – believed to be Erin’s ex-husband Simon Patterson – fell ill after the meal.

Simon was supposed to go to the fateful lunch with his parents and Patterson, but sources claim he pulled out at the last minute.

Despite this, both of his parents still went because Patterson served up a deadly beef Wellington that allegedly contained death cap mushrooms.

Gail and Don Patterson, both aged 70, later died in hospital.

READ MORE ABOUT ERIN PATTERSON

An alleged killer was arrested and charged today after officers raided her home in eastern Victoria, Australia.

With the help of trained dogs, the police took several items from the house, but they did not say what they had.

Patterson has always denied any wrongdoing.

She is accused of murdering her ex-husband’s parents and his aunt Heather Wilkinson (66).

The mother-of-two also faces five charges of attempted murder, three of which relate to “separate incidents” between 2021-2022, Victoria Police said.

All three victims of the mushroom meal died within days of eating the poisonous beef wellington cooked by Patterson at her home in Leongatha on July 29.

A fourth victim, Wilkinson’s husband, Ian, remained critically ill and spent months in hospital.

Doctors said their symptoms were consistent with poison ivy, which grows wild in the area.

The other two charges of attempted murder relate to the mushroom meal, police said.

Patterson’s ex-husband Simon was reportedly due to attend the fateful lunch – but sources claim he pulled out at the last minute.

“Today’s charges are just the next step in an incredibly complex, methodical and thorough investigation by homicide detectives,” said Detective Inspector Dean Thomas.

He added that the investigation “is not over yet.”

“I know people will no doubt have many unanswered questions about this topic, but I urge people to be especially careful about unnecessary speculation and not sharing misinformation.”

Police were seen searching Patterson’s home with the help of “tech detector dogs” who will sniff out any electronic devices that may be hidden.

Dogs were seen combing cars and her home as multiple officers removed items from her home.

Patterson will remain in custody and appear in court Friday morning.

In the days after the fatal lunch in July, officers quickly launched an “unexpected death” investigation and Patterson immediately denied any wrongdoing.

Her home was searched on August 5 and homicide detectives quickly made the 48-year-old a person of interest in the case.

Questions soon arose as to why Patterson didn’t get sick herself – despite claiming to have eaten the same food.

But in a police statement two weeks later, she claimed she became ill and was taken to hospital.

She also claimed that she served the leftovers to her children who did not get sick.

There were also conflicting reports about whether her children were at the lunch.

Initially, it was said that her son and daughter were there, but she later claimed that they had gone to the cinema before the gathering began.

Their father and Patterson’s ex, Simon, was reportedly due to join his ex-wife and his parents for lunch at their former family home.

But friends said the dad pulled out of the reunion at the last minute for unknown reasons.

In May 2022, Simon claimed to be suffering from a mysterious illness after collapsing and being placed in an induced coma.

He described his ordeal in a post on social media, writing: “I collapsed at home, then was in an induced coma for 16 days during which I had three emergency operations, mostly on my small intestine, plus an additional scheduled operation.

“My family was called twice to come say goodbye to me because I wasn’t expected to survive. I was in intensive care for 21 days…”

In initial statements to police, Patterson claimed to have bought the deadly mushrooms at an Asian supermarket in Melbourne several months before the fatal incident.

But her neighbor claimed that she is an experienced forager and that she regularly picks mushrooms herself.

However, Erin later claimed that she got the mushrooms from two different stores in Victoria.

But despite her claims, Victoria’s Health Department had no health warnings for any mushroom sales.

Asian stores and mushroom growers in the area have also not been reported with any problems and none of their mushroom products have been recalled.

In other statements, Patterson claimed she deliberately threw her food dehydrator – believed to have been used to prepare the mushrooms – into the bin.

Police later seized the dehydrator to conduct forensic tests and have not yet released the results.

In August, a dealer also came forward to reveal he had found what was described as a “wall of death” at her former home.

Red and blue markers were used to scribble gruesome drawings and messages on the wall – with one chilling message: “No [have] live long”.

In public statements made after the fatal lunch, Patterson said: “I am now devastated to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to the illness my loved ones suffered from.

“I really want to reiterate that I had absolutely no reason to hurt these people that I loved.”

68-year-old mushroom lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson was filmed attending the funeral of his wife Heather last month, just days after being released from a long hospital stay.