Erin Patterson, an Australian woman accused of killing three relatives with the eating of death hats mushrooms baked at the south of beef Velington, was found guilty of calculations of three murders and an attempt to kill a single survivor.
After about six days of consideration, after 10 weeks of trial in Morwell, a small town, about an hour’s drive, about an hour away from the suburban canteen in Leongatha, Victoria, where a deadly lunch was served in 2023. In July
Dozens of media crews were racing to court when the jurors were pronounced a sentence in a case that fascinated the audience worldwide and tied four podcast to unpacking each day’s evidence.
Within a few weeks, the testimony Patterson was accused of deliberately lunch with the mushrooms of death hats, the very toxic fungi, which she chose to see their place on a public website.
Days after her former parents Don and Gail Patterson died along with Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson. Heather man Ian, their local pastor, survived after a long week at a stay at the Hospital.
Her defense lawyers said the deaths were a “terrible accident” that occurred when Patterson tried to improve the taste of the dish and that she had repeatedly lied to the police when she realized she might have added to the mixture.
Patterson sat in court listening to the prosecutors calling the witness after the witness whose testimony, they said, told a convincing story of triple murder that the jurors had finally satisfied the legal standard of doubt.
Under Australian laws, none of those of the jurors can be publicly identified and are prohibited from disclosing the deliberations of the sworn room even after the court.
It will never be known which evidence influenced the decision of each juror, but all 12 had to agree on the verdict.
Fateful lunch
The agreed facts were that Patterson asked for five people in the south of 2023. July 29th.
Within a few hours after eating, four southern guests – Simon’s parents Don and Gail, his aunt and uncle Heather and Ian Wilkinson – became ill by vomiting and diarrhea. They went to the hospital, where a comas were caused because doctors tried to save them.
Gail and Heather died on August 4th. From a multi -organized failure, followed by Don on August 5, after he did not respond to the liver transplant. Ian Wilkinson survived and, after almost two months of intensive treatment, was finally discharged from the hospital.
Death cap mushrooms contain amanite toxins that prevent protein from producing liver cells, resulting in about two days after ingestion, cell death and possible liver failure.
The native Europe, fatal mushrooms, were found in the growing several Australian states, and at around the lunch, they were spotted on a short trip from the village of Victoria at Patterson’s home.
During the trial, the prosecutor’s office stated that Patterson had the opportunity to choose deadly mushrooms after seeing their place published on the Citizen Science Inaturalist website.
The guilty judgment shows that the jurors made a prosecution argument that it was likely to go to two places in 2023. April and May
Death hats fungi are very toxic and can cause liver failure and death. – William West/AFP/Getty Images/File
Patterson admitted that on April 28, the same day the mobile phone signals were next to the Death Cap mushroom, she bought a dehydrator, which later on 2 August. Published at the waste recycling center.
It contained her fingerprints and was the remains of the death hats of the mushroom.
The prosecution argued that patters falsified illnesses on days after serving lunch and trying to cover its tracks by disposing of the dehydrator and re -establishing its devices to delete evidence.
The prosecution of prosecution did not prove the motive.
Prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC accused pattors of having two faces: one she showed the world who offered her to make good relationships with patters, her stranger’s parents’ parents and a hidden face she showed only to her Facebook friends who offered her to stop connecting with them.
Facebook messages sent in 2022 In December, Patterson expressed anger and frustration about Don and Gail’s reluctance to engage in the division of his son’s marriage.
“I’m sick of this shit, I don’t want to do anything with them,” she wrote. “I thought his parents would want him to behave right, but their concerns seem to not feel uncomfortable and not want to get involved in his son’s personal matters, the most important thing is that so f *** em.”
And another message was written, “This family swears that God needs.”
Simon Patterson’s parents Don and Gail and Aunt Heather Wilkinson died within a week of eating poisoning. – Martin Keep/AFP/Getty Images
During the eight days of the testimony, including a cross -examination, patters have constantly claimed his innocence, claiming that she accidentally included in the mushrooms.
In his instructions, judge Christopher Beale, who was judge, stated that Patters’ confession that she had been told to lie and commit to evidence should not lead to their prejudice.
“This is a court court, not a court of morality,” he said.
“The question is not whether it is in a sense responsible for the tragic consequences of the South, but whether the prosecution has undoubtedly proved that it is criminal for these consequences,” he said.
The jury found Patterson intended to kill all four southern guests and lied several times on the bench to claim that he had not.
Patterson will be convicted later.
This is a developing story. Will come more
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