GUILTY Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 *Arrest* #18

[LinasK]

I'm wondering if the judge can take into account as an aggravating factor, and in terms of evaluating the danger she poses, that it does seem probable, based on her testimonial admissions, that she had formed the intent to murder Simon at the lunch too (as argued by Nanette Rogers). Two birds with one stone, saving costs of a further trial.

She should never be released. This was planned for months, she did not relent and try to save the lives of any of them, the attempted murder charge proven for Ian shows she wanted them all dead as opposed to harmed, her victims died slow and terrible deaths lasting days, Ian has lasting health deficits, all because she is vengeful, devious, wicked, depraved and cruel. She is irredeemable. She led them to pray for her, knowing they were already dying. She took delight in serving up death to harmless people, causing so much pain to their family members.

MOO

Post in thread 'Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #14 *Arrest*'

Jun 16, 2025

Leftover beef Wellington was made for estranged husband, jury told​

ByMarta Pascual Juanola
Prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC, has told jurors they should reject Erin Patterson’s suggestion she served her children leftovers of beef Wellington with the mushrooms scraped off, and that instead the leftovers were found by police in a bin at her Leongatha home.

“The prosecution suggests that this is the beef Wellington that the accused [went] to the trouble of making [and] was intended for Simon Patterson,” Rogers said in her closing address.

Rogers said Erin Patterson gave evidence that if her...

• Detechtive

• 

"Prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC, has told jurors they should reject Erin Patterson’s suggestion she served her children leftovers of beef Wellington with the mushrooms scraped off, and that instead the leftovers were found by police in a bin at her Leongatha home.

“The prosecution suggests that this is the beef Wellington that the accused [went] to the trouble of making [and] was intended for Simon Patterson,” Rogers said in her closing address.

Rogers said Erin Patterson gave evidence that if her estranged husband had attended lunch on July 29, 2023 she would have served him a beef Wellington too.

“The prosecution case is had Simon Patterson changed his mind and decided to attend the lunch after all, he too would have been served that sixth, poisonous beef Wellington,” the prosecutor said."

If her intent was only to harm them and then play nursemaid Erin to nurse them all back to health, she wouldn't have chosen Death Cap Mushrooms. Their very name implies the nature of them. She would have chosen a different poison, or would have alerted authorities when she went to the hospital. She wanted them to die- she texted that she was "done" with this family and she meant it. She held the grudge. It wasn't some "dodgy" text purely out of frustration in the moment as others have suggested.

 

[LinasK]

On what ground did they diagnose her with Munchausen syndrome?

Is it because she lied about ovarian cancer when whe invited Patterson/Wilkinson's families for her beef Wellington, sauce Amanitoise dinner?

Or is it because she pretended to also have symptoms of mushroom poisoning when her victims fell ill?

Or was Erin's primary motivation of poisoning her relatives to gain their attention and sympathy?

She is not insane. She perfectly well understood that what she was doing was wrong. She got rid of the dehydrator. Mostly, she is a horrible menace to any community.

She wasn't officially diagnosed. This article is making that assumption, but I believe that they are doing it based on the Cancer lie. That presumes that her motive was simply to get sympathy and attention from his familly- not to harm/murder them. Since she was convicted of murder, it's false.

 

[LinasK]

When people say things like "Did she just try to gain their sympathy and attention", or "maybe she just tried to make them sick" I can't bear it. This is because;

1. The mushrooms are called Death Caps. Not "Sick caps".
2. Erin knew the lethal dosage, and obviously overkilled them.
3. When Erin had an opportunity to gain sympathy and attention and swoop in being the hero, she instead lied, hid evidence, and obstructed her "loved ones" getting medical aid.
4. She is a convicted murderer. By law, this was intentional and anything pointing otherwise is to diminish the legal system and the rule of law. It is actually egregious and minimising to suggest it was an accident when a jury has found her guilty of murder, IMO.

This!!!!^^^

 

[LinasK]

We don't need to be, though. She is clearly self absorbed, cold, lacking empathy, and a calculated mass killer. This can only really lead to ASPD, IMO.

She lies about illness to gain sympathy - this means she fits the diagnostic criteria for Munchausen’s Syndrome (properly known today as factitious disorder imposed on self), not Munchausen's by proxy (where the perpetrator commits acts upon others to glean sympathy and attention).

All you need to do is look up the DSM IV to see the diagnostic criteria to see what her behaviours fit - as they are all behaviourally based, that's all psychologists do to tick the boxes of these diagnosis' IMO.

Factitious disorder imposed on self - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Okay, but then is there any credence to what the Daily Mail article is claiming that because of Munchausen's it might affect her sentencing?

 

[LinasK]

I understand where you’re coming from Detechtive, and I agree it can be said that she thought the lies she told in inviting her lunch guests were chosen in a bid to garner sympathy.

However I don’t believe this to be the same sort of ‘sympathy garnering’ that suffered of Munchausen’s Syndrome exercise.

Those with Munchausen’s do so in order to gain attention & sympathy in order to build a sense that people care about them. They often plague their medical professionals with symptoms , new ones appearing as the tests for previous turn up negative; they often chase medications, and go so far as to ‘take things’ to make themselves sick. … it’s a form of self-harm, as opposed to Munchausen’s by Proxy, where the same practices are inflicted on another.

In Erin’s case, she knew the way to the heart of these very good & caring people was to hint to them that she was seriously unwell, and once there she had to back that up so she told them she had cancer ( confident that it wouldn’t go past the lunch table as they would all soon be dead)

But Erin was seeking their sympathy in order for make them care for her & to build her sense of worth.

She was using their empathetic hearts to drive them to her murderous lunch.

IMO, she does not have Munchausen’s Syndrome. Most of us will say she must have some sort of mental illness, because we can’t fathom the fact that a ‘normal person’ would ever do something so horrific.
I don’t know, that’s way outside my space - and to be honest I don’t care. IMO someone who acts in this way has lost their right to a place in our society.

Just my opinion.

And another big factor that I've learned about both Munchausen's and Munchausen's By Proxy is that when said person DOESN'T get the medical diagnosis or validation they are seeking from medical professionals or a medical professional starts to question their motivation- they will doctor shop or hospital shop until the get the answer they want.

 

[Deleted member 363451]

And another big factor that I've learned about both Munchausen's and Munchausen's By Proxy is that when said person DOESN'T get the medical diagnosis or validation they are seeking from medical professionals or a medical professional starts to question their motivation- they will doctor shop or hospital shop until the get the answer they want.

I don't rule out that she may have Munchausens, but she might just be a hypochondriac if anything. You would need to know more of her medical history to confirm that condition.

 

[Deleted member 363451]

 

[Detechtive]

I don't rule out that she may have Munchausens, but she might just be a hypochondriac if anything. You would need to know more of her medical history to confirm that condition.

She is definitely at least a hypochondriac, but, she doesn’t just exaggerate, she makes up complete illnesses.

IMO

 

[Detechtive]

Okay, but then is there any credence to what the Daily Mail article is claiming that because of Munchausen's it might affect her sentencing?

I don’t trust anything from the DM anymore, however, there’s pretty strict rules about publishing people’s medical diagnoses, so it’s probably right? Who knows!?

Muncheausens isn’t the reason she killed them so I don’t think it would affect sentencing.

IMO

 

[Deleted member 363451]

I don’t trust anything from the DM anymore, however, there’s pretty strict rules about publishing people’s medical diagnoses, so it’s probably right? Who knows!?

Muncheausens isn’t the reason she killed them so I don’t think it would affect sentencing.

IMO

She is definitely at least a hypochondriac, but, she doesn’t just exaggerate, she makes up complete illnesses.

IMO

Yes, that's true. It does point to possible Munchausen’s. Maybe she got attention as a child doing that?

 

[Charlot123]

We don't need to be, though. She is clearly self absorbed, cold, lacking empathy, and a calculated mass killer. This can only really lead to ASPD, IMO.

She lies about illness to gain sympathy - this means she fits the diagnostic criteria for Munchausen’s Syndrome (properly known today as factitious disorder imposed on self), not Munchausen's by proxy (where the perpetrator commits acts upon others to glean sympathy and attention).

All you need to do is look up the DSM IV to see the diagnostic criteria to see what her behaviours fit - as they are all behaviourally based, that's all psychologists do to tick the boxes of these diagnosis' IMO.

Factitious disorder imposed on self - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

We can’t diagnose her even with ASPD, because none of us ever saw her.

But, it is not important. Surely it could be interesting to know what type of a person might choose homicide by poison, but more scientifically so than legally.

“Not guilty by the reasons of insanity” implies that at the time when the crime was committed, Erin was so mentally impaired that she either did not know right from wrong, or could not understand the consequences of her actions.

Nowhere in her story do I see even a shred of such evidence. It was a planned murder.

She has the right to have all diagnosable mental conditions in the world, IMHO. However, it would seem that she was, and is functioning very well and just chose murder to get rid of her husband and his family.

 

[Scooby-Doo]

We can’t diagnose her even with ASPD, because none of us ever saw her.

But, it is not important. Surely it could be interesting to know what type of a person might choose homicide by poison, but more scientifically so than legally.

“Not guilty by the reasons of insanity” implies that at the time when the crime was committed, Erin was so mentally impaired that she either did not know right from wrong, or could not understand the consequences of her actions.

Nowhere in her story do I see even a shred of such evidence. It was a planned murder.

She has the right to have all diagnosable mental conditions in the world, IMHO. However, it would seem that she was, and is functioning very well and just chose murder to get rid of her husband and his family.

Interesting, when poison is used in homicides, it's more likely to be by a woman than a man.

For example, one study found that women account for roughly 40% of poisonings, while men account for 60%.

 

[Tortoise]

I would argue that the last thing Erin wanted was the attention that she received when her lunch guests died after eating her food. She was not comfortable with the media crew camped outside her house and she tried to cut off contact with Simon shortly after the murders.

Neither would she continue to receive attention for her health from her victims because they would die with that false knowledge she imparted to them.

Both dead ends for her.

I say no to Munchausen's for EP.

IMO

 

[Monstradamus]

I would argue that the last thing Erin wanted was the attention that she received when her lunch guests died after eating her food. She was not comfortable with the media crew camped outside her house and she tried to cut off contact with Simon shortly after the murders.

Neither would she continue to receive attention for her health from her victims because they would die with that false knowledge she imparted to them.

Both dead ends for her.

I say no to Munchausen's for EP.

IMO

I agree.

Kids getting older and not so reliant on her, loss of control.

Change in financial circumstances, loss of control.

Socially isolated and feeling that she was losing her only family, loss of control.

Simon regaining his independence and setting clear boundaries, loss of control.

Poisoning them was a way to regain her power.

JMO

 

[Susjay]

I don’t trust anything from the DM anymore, however, there’s pretty strict rules about publishing people’s medical diagnoses, so it’s probably right? Who knows!?

Muncheausens isn’t the reason she killed them so I don’t think it would affect sentencing.

IMO

For most of these diagnoses the symptoms have to be sustained and displayed often across contexts - observable over a long period time and in many situations. I think yes she could tick some boxes. She does have a history of poor me - I have many things to suffer from… but many attention seeking peeps, who think they should be centre of universe, present like this too. Some of these diagnoses have to be “compelling” as well. Like the person is compelled to act like this and cannot stop or change. I do think she could be safely diagnosed in Aus colloquial terms as “a real piece of work” though. But maybe to the 100th power.

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

I would argue that the last thing Erin wanted was the attention that she received when her lunch guests died after eating her food. She was not comfortable with the media crew camped outside her house and she tried to cut off contact with Simon shortly after the murders.

Neither would she continue to receive attention for her health from her victims because they would die with that false knowledge she imparted to them.

Both dead ends for her.

I say no to Munchausen's for EP.

IMO

100% this IMO

She wasn't looking for love or attention, she was making up lies to lure people to their certain death.
Whether in her mind that would have been more slowly over time or quickly, she knew they would die significantly prematurely due to organ failure and the effects of the deadly mushrooms.

JMO MOO

 

[LinasK]

Interesting, when poison is used in homicides, it's more likely to be by a woman than a man.

For example, one study found that women account for roughly 40% of poisonings, while men account for 60%.

Um, I'm confused, your two statements seem to contradict each other. Can you explain better?

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

Um, I'm confused, your two statements seem to contradict each other. Can you explain better?

I'm not the poster your question is directed at but I think they were using statistics to disprove the notion that women are more likely to be a poisoner than a man. The first sentence being someone else's belief and the second sentence being the stats. Maybe I'm wrong.

Anyhow, now I'm curious re statistics and also reference and context of how they've been gathered and compiled, ie is that for convicted cases and if so, in what country / countries and what time frame.

JMO MOO

 

[katydid23]

Erin planned her poisonous lunch for 5 victims. She also tampered with evidence and lied. Three victims died, one miraculously survived and one refused her invite. How could she ever be set free?? The judge heard her words showing disregard for what she did. She scares me. IMO

If she somehow got out on a legal technicality, she'd kill again, given the opportunity. IMO

 

[katydid23]

She does clearly have some form of factitious disorder / which is muncheausens - because she uses fake illness for sympathy / manipulation.

Not to be confused with muncheausens by proxy.

And yet, her 4 lunch guests could be victims of 'Muncheausens by Proxy. It fits the definition perfectly. Secretly harming others then claiming to be their caregivers/loved ones.
That is the diagnosis for Nurse Lucy Letby too, IMO.

And it’s diagnosed behaviourally, there’s no objective blood test or mri scan. If you lie about illnesss to get attention or some other favour, you meet the criteria for this disorder, therefore, the diagnoses seems reasonable.

However.

This diagnosis does not diminish using false illness to lure people to your home in order to murder them. And it’s not mutually exclusive with psychopathy. In fact, people with ASPD lie pathologically to meet their goals, so It won’t have any affect on her sentencing IMO because it’s not relevant, and I also think the DM is a clickbait bonanza and they’ve got no credibility, imo.

Speaking of which, did anyone else see Wayne Flowers saying he was a victim of Erin because his wife of 24 years left him during his covering of this trial?

IMO only