Melbourne, Australia — A woman accused of serving her ex-husband's parents and an aunt with poisonous mushrooms met lunch appeared in an Australian court on Monday charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.
Erin Patterson, 49, appeared briefly before the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court via video link from a Melbourne prison where she has been held since her death. arrested last November.
Magistrate Tim Walsh said he would announce on May 7 whether Patterson would face a hearing in the same court in Morwell or in Melbourne. Morwell is a rural town near Patterson's home, about 150 kilometers east of Melbourne, the capital of the state of Victoria.
Committal hearings determine whether prosecutors have sufficient evidence to bring charges to a jury in a trial in the Victorian Supreme Court.
It was Patterson's second appearance in court on the charges. She has not yet entered any pleas or requested bail.
Anita Lester /AAP image via AP
She is accused of killing her former parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail Patterson's sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66.
All three died in hospital days after enjoying a meal at Patterson's home last July.
She is also charged with the attempted murder of her ex-husband, Simon Patterson, at that lunch and on three previous occasions dating back to 2021. Simon Patterson did not accept an invitation to attend the lunch.
She is also charged with the attempted murder of Wilkinson's husband, Ian Wilkinson, 68.
Ian Wilkinson spent seven weeks in hospital after lunch.
Police say the symptoms of the four sick family members were consistent with poisoning by wild Amanita phalloides, known as death's cap mushrooms.
The potential maximum penalty in Victoria for murder is life imprisonment, and for attempted murder 25 years in prison.
Patterson appeared in court Monday wearing a blue jail sweater.
Walsh asked at the beginning of the hearing if Patterson could hear, and she replied, “Yes, thank you.”
Her lawyer, Colin Mandy, said his client wanted the hearing to take place in Morwell even if it meant postponement until next year.
“If it happens next year, Mrs. Patterson would like to wait for that,” Mandy told the magistrate.
Mandy said she wanted the hearing to take place close to her home.
Defense attorneys have provided prosecutors with a list of witnesses expected to be called during the hearing, which Mandy expected to last three weeks.
