Erin Patterson, an Australian woman, has been accused of killing three people and attempting to kill her ex-husband four times by eating poisonous mushrooms.
The British media BBC reported in a report that police charged 49-year-old Erin Patterson with three murders and five attempted murders on Thursday.
Police say the killings are linked to a family lunch at his home in Leongatha, Australia, last July. Erin, however, has denied all responsibility for the murders and has claimed innocence.
Erin appeared in court on Friday local time. His case was adjourned until May 3 to give prosecutors time to analyze computers and other equipment seized from his home. However, Erin did not apply for bail.
Erin was not brought in front of the cameras and curious locals as several TV channels crowded outside the court in the small town of Morwell, about 60 kilometers from Leongatha. He was shifted overnight from the police cell to the court building through a connecting tunnel.
Police allege Patterson tried to kill her ex-husband three times between November 2021 and September 2022, according to court documents released to local media on Friday.
According to the charges against Erin Patterson, 70-year-old Gail and Don Patterson and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson had lunch at her home in Leongatha, Australia on July 29. They were the parents and aunts of Erin’s ex-husband.
Meanwhile, Erin gave them a meal of beef and mushrooms. All three of them became seriously ill after eating it. They later died in the hospital. But husband Ian Wilkinson survived. Who has recovered somewhat after receiving treatment in the hospital for about two months.
Erin Patterson said she made the dish using a mixture of mushrooms she bought at a supermarket and dried mushrooms she bought a few months earlier at an Asian store.
The police say that the four people were later taken to the hospital in critical condition.
The police believe that the four had eaten the death cap mushroom. Which is very deadly to eat.
But Erin Patterson says she never intended to poison her guests. He claimed that after eating, he was also taken to the hospital and given medicine.
Earlier in a statement in August, he said, “I am now devastated to think that these mushrooms were a danger to my loved ones.”
