Australian woman convicted on all counts in mushroom murders case

An Australian woman on Monday was convicted of murdering three elderly relatives of her estranged husband with a meal laced with poisonous mushrooms, in a case that has gripped the country.

An Australian woman was on Monday convicted of murdering three elderly relatives of her estranged husband with a meal laced with poisonous mushrooms, and attempting to murder a fourth, in a case that gripped the country.

After a week of deliberation, the jury found Erin Patterson lured her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, to lunch at her home and poisoned them with individual servings of Beef Wellington that contained death cap mushrooms.

They also found the 50-year-old guilty of the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, Heather’s husband, who survived the 2023 meal at Erin Patterson’s home in Leongatha, a town of about 6,000 people some 84 miles southeast of Melbourne.

Erin Patterson arriving in the back of a prison transport vehicle at Latrobe Valley Magistrate's Court in Morwell, Australia on May 12, 2025.Martin Keep / AFP - Getty ImagesPatterson had pleaded not guilty to the four charges, saying the deaths were accidental.

The mother of two will be sentenced at a later date and faces a maximum life sentence. She can appeal against the verdict.