Melbourne, Australia — A woman accused of serving poisonous mushrooms to her ex-husband’s family pleaded not guilty in an Australian court on Tuesday to three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.
Erin Patterson, 49, appeared briefly in Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court via video conference from a Melbourne prison, where she has been held since her arrest in November last year. She is accused of killing her former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail Patterson’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66.
All three died in a hospital days after consuming a meal at Patterson’s home in July.
She has pleaded not guilty to all charges and will make her first appearance in the Victorian State Supreme Court in Melbourne on May 23.
The process was expedited after Patterson waived a hearing where a magistrate would have reviewed the prosecution’s case to ensure there was enough evidence to justify a jury trial.
She did not request release on bail during any of her four court appearances.
Erin Patterson is also accused of attempted murder of her ex-husband, Simon, at that lunch and on three previous occasions dating back to 2021. Simon Patterson did not accept the invitation to attend the lunch.
She was also charged with the attempted murder of Wilkinson’s husband, Ian Wilkinson.
Ian Wilkinson spent seven weeks in hospital after lunch.
Police say the symptoms of the four sick family members were consistent with poisoning from wild Amanita phalloides, known as death mushrooms.
Erin Patterson faces up to 25 years in prison for each count of attempted murder, while the murder in the state of Victoria carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
