MORWELL, Australia: An Australian woman promised a “special meal” for her in-laws before dishing up a beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms that killed three of them, jurors heard Wednesday.
On the opening day of a trial that has drawn global attention, Erin Patterson, 50, faced a jury accused of three murders – including her parents-in-law – and one attempted murder.
She has pleaded not guilty to all counts, with her defense saying it was all “a terrible accident.”
Patterson “deliberately poisoned” her guests, Crown Prosecutor Nanette Rogers told the jury.
The accused served “individual beef Wellingtons, mashed potatoes and green beans,” with the guests eating from four large grey dinner plates, while she ate from a smaller, orange plate, Rogers said.
Patterson invited her guests to the lunch in late July 2023 at her home in the sedate Victoria state farm village of Leongatha, telling them she had a health issue to relate, the prosecutor said.
Her estranged husband Simon Patterson declined, texting her the night before that he felt “uncomfortable” going.
In a return text minutes later, Patterson said she was “disappointed,” as she wanted to prepare a “special meal and that she may not be able to have a lunch like this for some time,” Rogers said.
But her husband’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, decided to go, along with his aunt Heather Wilkinson and her husband, local pastor Ian Wilkinson.
During the lunch, Patterson claimed to have cancer and wanted their advice about how to tell her two children, the prosecutor said.
Medical tests later found no evidence she had cancer, Rogers said.
Within hours of the lunch, the four guests developed diarrhea and vomiting, and were raced to hospital.
All were diagnosed by treating doctors with poisoning by death cap mushrooms, Rogers told the court.
Within days, Don, Gail and Heather were dead.
Ian, the pastor, survived after nearly two months in hospital.
Patterson went to the hospital two days after the lunch and complained she, too, was unwell, the prosecution said.
She initially refused medical assistance and left the hospital, but relented and returned for treatment, the court heard.
Patterson said her children had eaten leftovers of the beef Wellington.
But she claimed to have scraped off the mushroom paste and pastry because they were “fussy,” Rogers said.
When medical staff demanded to see her children, Patterson resisted saying she did not want them to “be panicked and stressed.”
“She did not appear to be concerned about children’s health but rather about stressing them out,” Rogers said.
The children eventually received medical attention but did not have any symptoms of poisoning.
Rogers said Patterson knew that neither she nor her children had consumed the deadly mushrooms.
Police located beef Wellington remnants at Patterson’s home, which were found under forensic investigation to have traces of death cap mushrooms, Rogers added.
Patterson allegedly told doctors she used fresh mushrooms from a supermarket and also dried mushrooms from an Asian grocery – but she did not remember which one.
A Department of Health investigation was unable to trace any shop selling death cap mushrooms.
Patterson discarded a food dehydrator in the days after the lunch, which was later found to contain traces of death cap mushrooms, prosecutors said.
Patterson’s lawyer Colin Mandy said the poisoning was a “tragedy and terrible accident.”
“She didn’t do it deliberately, she didn’t do it intentionally. The defense case is that she didn’t intend to cause anyone any harm on that day,” he said.
Patterson is being tried in the Latrobe Valley Law Courts in Morwell, south of Melbourne.
The trial is expected to last about six weeks.
Australian triple-murder suspect allegedly cooked ‘special’ mushroom meal
https://arab.news/pd9r7
Australian triple-murder suspect allegedly cooked ‘special’ mushroom meal
- ‘Special meal’ for her in-laws was Beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms
- Within hours of the lunch, the four guests developed diarrhea and vomiting
Rohingya refugees hope new leaders can pave a path home
- Some 1.7 million Rohingya Muslims displaced in Myanmar's military crackdown live in squalid camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh: Rohingya refugees living in squalid camps in Bangladesh have elected a leadership council, hoping it can improve conditions and revive efforts to secure their return home to Myanmar.
Spread over 8,000 acres in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, the camps are home to 1.7 million members of the stateless group, many of whom fled a 2017 military crackdown that is now subject to a genocide probe at the UN court.
In July, the refugees held their first elections since their influx began eight years ago, resulting in the formation of the United Council of Rohang (UCR).
“They are working to take us home,” said Khairul Islam, 37, who back home had a thriving timber business.
The new council has brought him a glimmer of hope amid an uncertain future.
“We can hardly breathe in these cramped camp rooms... all our family members live in a single room,” he said.
“It’s unbearably hot inside. Back in Myanmar, we didn’t even need a ceiling fan. In summer, we used to sit under tall trees,” Islam said, his eyes welling up.
More than 3,000 voters from across 33 refugee camps cast their ballots to elect an executive committee and five rotating presidents to focus on human rights, education and health.
Addressing a gathering at one of the camps, UCR president Mohammad Sayed Ullah urged refugees not to forget the violence that forced the mostly Muslim group to flee Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
“Never forget that we left our parents’ graves behind. Our women died on the way here. They were tortured and killed... and some drowned at sea,” said Sayed Ullah, dressed in a white full-sleeved shirt and lungi.
“We must prepare ourselves to return home,” he said, prompting members of the audience to nod in agreement.
A seat at the table
“UCR wants to emerge as the voice of the Rohingyas on the negotiation table,” Sayed Ullah later told AFP.
“It’s about us, yet we were nowhere as stakeholders.”
The council is not the first attempt to organize Rohingya refugees.
Several groups emerged after 2017, including the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, once led by prominent activist Mohib Ullah.
But he was murdered in 2021.
And even before that, many organizations were shut down after a major 2019 rally, when the Rohingya said they would go home only with full rights and safety guarantees.
“Some newspapers misrepresented us, claiming we wanted to stay permanently in Bangladesh,” Sayed Ullah said.
“Many organizers were detained. The hardest blow was the assassination of Mohib Ullah.”
But trust is slowly building up again among the Rohingya crammed in the camps in Cox’s Bazar.
“Of course we will return home,” said 18-year-old Mosharraf, who fled the town of Buthidaung with his family.
“UCR will negotiate for better education. If we are better educated, we can build global consensus for our return,” he told AFP.
Security threats
Many refugees have started approaching the body with complaints against local Rohingya leaders, reflecting a slow but noticeable shift in attitudes.
On a recent sunny morning, an AFP reporter saw more than a dozen Rohingya waiting outside the UCR office with complaints.
Some said they were tortured while others reported losing small amounts of gold they had carried while fleeing their homes.
Analysts say it remains unclear whether the new council can genuinely represent the Rohingya or if it ultimately serves the interests of Bangladeshi authorities.
“The UCR ‘elections’ appear to have been closely controlled by the authorities,” said Thomas Kean, senior consultant at the International Crisis Group.
Security threats also loom large, undermining efforts to forge political dialogue.
Armed groups like the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army and Rohingya Solidarity Organization continue to operate in the camps.
A report by campaign group Fortify Rights said at least 65 Rohingyas were killed in 2024.
“Violence and killings in the Rohingya camps need to stop, and those responsible must be held to account,” the report quoted activist John Quinley as saying.
