On September 8, the Supreme Court of Victoria, in an unprecedented move, live-streamed the sentencing of the Erin Patterson murder case for the very first time. Remarkably, the judgment was posted on the official website almost immediately.
What made it even easier for the public to follow was that Judge Christopher Beale didn’t have a heavy Australian accent this time. His wording was clear and straightforward, making it easy to understand why he handed down a life sentence in this case.1
Simply put, Erin Patterson used poisonous Death Cap mushrooms to make Beef Wellington, killing her ex-husband’s parents as well as his aunt and uncle. Her ex-husband, by sheer luck, didn’t attend and narrowly escaped. What kind of grudge could be so big that she would poison her ex’s family?
The full course of events is available on Wikipedia.2
source: The Guardian
Death Cap Mushroom
Its scientific name is Amanita phalloides, a highly toxic fungus. Just half of one mushroom, around 30 grams, is enough to kill an adult. Because its appearance is similar to ordinary edible mushrooms, poisoning incidents occur worldwide.
Death Cap mushrooms are common in Victoria, South Australia, and the ACT. They can even be found in the Melbourne metropolitan area.3
The main toxin in Amanita phalloides is amatoxin. Amatoxins are heat-stable and highly water-soluble, so simply cooking the mushroom does not remove the toxin. This toxin primarily attacks the liver and kidneys. Amatoxins severely inhibit protein synthesis and affect cell division, leading to cell death. Patients also experience severe vomiting and diarrhea, dehydration, impaired blood clotting, and possibly serious brain hemorrhages. Usually, liver failure occurs about 36 hours after ingestion, and death from multiple organ failure typically occurs about a week after consuming a Death Cap mushroom.
There is no antidote for amatoxins. Silibinin is one drug that can help prevent liver failure and enhance liver cell regeneration. The mortality rate after consuming a Death Cap mushroom is roughly 10–30%, depending on dosage, age, and overall health of the patient. In this case, 3 out of 4 victums died, giving a mortality rate of 75%.
The Truth is out there
It turns out that in mid-June, Erin had already hosted her ex-husband’s parents at her home for a meal. Then, on July 29, she prepared the toxic Beef Wellington, inviting her ex’s parents, aunt, and uncle. It seems she deliberately tried to lower their guard, making them feel comfortable enough to eat the poisoned dish.
Mobile phone signal triangulation
There’s a website called iNaturalist where people report locations of poisonous mushrooms to help protect public safety. Erin learned about the location of the toxic mushrooms through this site. The police tracked her mobile phone signals and found that Erin had been in several places near the toxic mushroom sites the day after someone had reported poisonous mushrooms on the website.
Food Dehydrator
Erin also purchased a food dehydrator and even filmed herself using it to process Death Cap mushrooms. It seems her intention was to preserve the poisonous mushrooms for use at a later, suitable time.
After the deadly meal, before her arrest, Erin discarded the dehydrator at a recycling facility. Of course, CCTV captured her disposing of it. The police were able to retrieve the dehydrator and even detected traces of Death Cap mushrooms inside.
Beef Wellington leftover
Additionally, the police found the remaining Beef Wellington in Erin’s home, which also tested positive for traces of Death Cap mushrooms.
The surviving uncle and the deceased aunt both remembered that Erin had used separate plates to serve the Beef Wellington slices. At the time, Erin served pre-cut slices rather than a whole loaf, showing she deliberately intended to poison them.
After her ex’s family began showing symptoms from eating the toxic Beef Wellington, Erin falsely told hospital staff that her two children had also eaten the remaining slices the next day, but that she had removed the pastry. Of course, neither she nor her children experienced any symptoms, completely disproving the idea that the poisoning was accidental.
In fact, while one could fake stomach upset or vomiting, liver failure cannot be faked. Even if Erin had consumed the toxic Beef Wellington herself, it would not absolve her of the charges for deliberately poisoning others.
Contradictory statements
Before her arrest, Erin Patterson told medical staff that the mushrooms she used to make the Beef Wellington were purchased from an Asian grocery around Dandenong, but she couldn’t specify the exact location. She later changed her story, claiming she bought them at Woolworths. After her arrest, she again altered her account, saying she had foraged wild mushrooms near the Korumburra Botanical Gardens and claimed she was unaware that the wild mushrooms included Death Cap mushrooms.
When police questioned Erin, she also denied ever owning a food dehydrator. She destroyed her regularly used phone, and the police only found another, rarely used phone at the scene.
The poisonous Beef Wellington
Interestingly, the police found a cookbook by the famous chef Nagi in Erin’s home. Erin testified that she had used this cookbook to prepare the toxic Beef Wellington. After the incident, Nagi issued a statement expressing her regret and distress that her recipe had been used to commit murder.4M
Making a Beef Wellington is not simple 5 . It needs around 500g of mushroom
Finely chop the mushrooms， fry in a hot pan …… continue to cook over a high heat for about 10 minutes until all the excess moisture has evaporated and you are left with a mushroom paste.
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Wrap the beef in mushroom paste and ham, Place the beef in the middle and roll the mushroom and ham over the beef.
I believed that Erin choose to make poison Beef Wellington but not other dishes as to make sure everyone eat and swallow all the death cap. Because meat and pastry are mixed with mushroom paste and it seems the only way to avoid is not to eat at all.
If she is doing it again …
Most criminals aren’t actually very clever — Erin is downright stupid. Maybe she thought her plan was foolproof. Or maybe she knew she’d get caught; if so, why not just confess? If it’s the former, she really should watch more Hollywood crime shows like CSI, Vera, and the like.
In Heat 1995 , one of my favorite movie, Neil said:
Assume they got our phones, assume they got our houses…
…assume they got us right here, right now as we sit.
Everything. Assume it all.
Be prepare for the worst situation.
Mobile phone and computer
The triangulation technology is so easy to identify one’s location, by the mobile phone signal. If Erin is forging death cap, best to avoid bring a mobile phone. Get a untraceable GPS navigation shouldn’t be too difficult.
And investigators cannot prove that she was following iNaturalist website to look for death cap if she erase her computer browsing history and cookies.
However, even clearing browsing history and cookies, Internet Service ISP has detail log of the internet activities. And VPN is another way to hide the digital trace.
Not to mention, register a free new email address to login iNaturalist webpage.
Survilleance Cameras
Erin drive her own can to forge the death cap and it can be easily traced by Survilleance Cameras. Cameras are everywhere. Shops, home, even streets and intersections has a lot of cameras. But, if Erin is familiar with local roads, it is still possible to hide her trail.
Best to avoid public transport including Uber. They can be traced. Walking, bicycle or e-scooter plus avoiding Survilleance Camera probably is another way to avoid tracing and hence, evidence of her whereabouts.
Evidence
What on earth a person who commit crime not to destroy the evidence ? Unless Erin wants everyone know she was the killer, why she did not destroy the Beef Wellington ? Without the evidence (death cap), all the charges were merely speculations and wild guess.
The best place to dispose evidence is rubbish bin in public place such as busy street and shopping center. However, these place always have survilleance Camera. Reserves and playgrounds also have rubbish bin and there are less likely to have cameras. Afterall, find a “middle of nowhere” to dispose the evidence is easy. Australia is a HUGE country !!
***Don’t bring your mobile phone***
Also, Food Dehydrator is another piece of evidence.
First, why took picture when she was making dry death cap ? and sent it to a friend ? WTF
Second, why dispose the dehydrator in a public recycle facility? There must be cameras and easily recovered by the authorities. To dispose in “middle of nowhere” shouldn’t be too difficult, right ?
Third, why not wash the dehydrator before disposal to destroy evidence of death cap ?
Common sense is not common
Statement
Erin’s story kept changing — first she said she bought them at an Asian grocery, then at Woolworths, and later that she’d foraged wild mushrooms. Those flip-flopping answers just make you suspect she’s lying. If she’d already decided to kill someone, why didn’t she have a prepared police statement? Or was she just too panicked to think straight? Only she knows.
But even if someone were extremely meticulous, there’s a major problem: how do you convince investigators that a murder was ‘just an accident’? Imagine a dinner with five people, four fall seriously ill, three die, and one survives a major medical emergency — while one person, you, remains completely unharmed. How could anyone make that scenario look like an innocent mistake without raising huge suspicions?
Disclamer: I am not teaching how to be a criminal or avoid being caught. Please remember: common sense.
- https://austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/vic/VSC/2025/557.html ↩︎
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leongatha_mushroom_murders ↩︎
- https://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/science/herbarium/death-cap/ ↩︎
- https://www.theage.com.au/goodfood/recipetin-eats-founder-upset-recipe-altered-to-murder-three-people-20250709-p5mdo7.html ↩︎
- https://www.gordonramsay.com/gr/recipes/beef-wellington/ ↩︎
