A 50-year-old Australian woman, Erin Patterson, has had her fate left undecided after a jury retired for deliberations in her high-profile murder trial. Patterson is accused of knowingly including toxic death cap mushrooms in her beef Wellington lunch, which killed three members of her family and injured another.
Patterson pleaded not guilty to four charges: three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. The prosecution alleges she lied to police about a cancer diagnosis to convince her relatives to attend the fatal lunch, poisoned them, and then faked an illness to cover her tracks.
However, Patterson’s defense team argues that she accidentally included the poisonous fungi in the dish and only lied because she panicked after hurting people she loved. They claim there was no motive for the alleged crime, as Patterson had a good relationship with her family.
The trial has been marked by over 50 witnesses and almost two months of deliberations. In her closing arguments, prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC said Patterson’s lies were too numerous to keep track of, and she came up with a carefully constructed narrative to fit the evidence.
Patterson told the jury she was close to her in-laws and never intended to harm them. She claimed she added mushrooms from a container in her pantry that may have included both store-bought and foraged mushrooms. The defense team argues this explains why Patterson did not become sick like others who ate the meal.
The jury has now been sequestered, meaning they will stay in supervised accommodation while deliberating until they reach a decision.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn86y31vql5o