Host accused of poisoning guests with deadly mushrooms charged with murder

globalnews.ca:

Australian police have charged Erin Patterson, 49, with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.The case gained international attention this summer after police said the four diners’ symptoms were consistent with poisoning by death cap mushrooms.Erin’s guests included her former husband’s parents Gail and Don Patterson, both aged 70, Gail Patterson’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, and her husband Ian Wilkinson, 68. Ian was the only guest to survive.Erin is additionally accused of trying to murder her former husband, Simon Patterson, who was not present at the lunch that day.Police allege that Erin’s husband became ill following three separate meals between 2021 and 2022.

She faces an attempted murder charge for each of these three incidents.Simon wrote on Facebook that he nearly died in the summer of 2022 from “serious gut problems.” He said he collapsed at home and spent 16 days in an induced coma. After three surgeries, mostly on his small intestine, and a month in the hospital, he recovered.“My family were asked to come and say goodbye to me twice, as I was not expected to live,” Simon wrote at the time.It’s unclear if this incident gave rise to one of the attempted murder charges against his former wife.Erin will remain in police custody until she appears in a local court on Friday, when she can potentially apply to be released on bail.

Bail for murder is usually a decision referred to a higher court.She has publicly denied any wrongdoing.“I’m devastated. I loved them.

I can’t believe that this has happened and I’m so sorry,” she tearfully told reporters days after her lunch guests died.Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported that Erin Patterson had written in a statement that she cooked a beef