SYDNEY: An Australian woman accused of triple murder with a toxic mushroom-laced beef Wellington had rarely invited her four guests to eat at her home before, a court heard Friday.
Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with murdering the parents and aunt of her estranged husband in July 2023 by serving them the pastry-and-beef dish with death cap mushrooms.
She is also accused of the attempted murder of her husband’s uncle, who survived the meal after a long stay in hospital.
Patterson has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
In a trial that has seized international attention, prosecutors played a recording of a police interview with Patterson’s son, then 14, following the lunch.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said his mother had hosted his paternal grandparents at her house “once before.”
And she had “never” previously hosted Heather and Ian Wilkinson, his father’s aunt and uncle, the boy said.
His mother’s relationship with the couple was “not a negative one, but it is not strong,” the youngster told police.
The accused’s estranged husband, Simon Patterson, had declined the invitation to lunch at her home in the sedate Victoria state farm village of Leongatha.
Four members of his family attended: his parents Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt and uncle.
While the guests had lunch, Patterson’s children went to a McDonald’s and the cinema.
Within hours after eating, the four guests developed diarrhea and vomiting and were taken to hospital, where doctors diagnosed death cap mushroom poisoning.
Days later, three of the guests were dead. Ian Wilkinson, a local pastor, lived after weeks of hospital treatment.
On the morning after the lunch, Patterson’s son said she was “a little bit quieter” than usual, complaining of “feeling a bit sick and had diarrhea,” the court heard.
The family had missed their local church service because “mum was feeling too sick,” he said.
That night, Patterson and her children ate the purported leftovers of the beef Wellington.
The defendant has said she scraped off the mushrooms because her children were picky eaters.
“It was probably some of the best meat I’ve ever had,” her teenage son said.
“Mum said it was leftovers.”
Jurors also heard a recording of a police interview with Patterson’s daughter, then nine, who said her mum was a good cook.
“We make cupcakes and muffins,” she said.
The girl, who also cannot be named for legal reasons, said she did not get sick from eating the claimed leftovers.
The prosecution alleges Patterson deliberately poisoned her lunch guests and took care that neither she, nor her children, consumed the deadly mushrooms.
Her defense says it was “a terrible accident” and that Patterson ate the same meal as the others but did not fall as sick.
The trial is expected to last another five weeks.
Poisoned guests rarely invited before deadly mushroom lunch, Australia trial hears
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Poisoned guests rarely invited before deadly mushroom lunch, Australia trial hears
- An Australian woman accused of triple murder with a toxic mushroom-laced beef Wellington had rarely invited her four guests to eat at her home before, a court heard Friday
Eating snow cones or snow cream can be a winter delight, if done safely
- As the storm recedes, residents of lesser-affected areas might be tempted to whip up bowls of “snow cream”
- Fassnacht said he tried “snow cream” for the first time last year when some students made him some
WASHINGTON: Take two snowballs and call me in the morning?
Dr. Sarah Crockett, who specializes in emergency and wilderness medicine, doesn’t explicitly tell her patients at New Hampshire’s Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center to swallow snow, but she often prescribes more time outside. If that time includes eating a handful of ice crystals straight or adding ingredients to make snow cones and other frozen treats, she’s all for it.
“To stop and just be present and want to catch a snowflake on your tongue, or scoop up some fresh, white, untouched snow that’s collected during something as exciting as a snowstorm, I think that there’s space in our world to enjoy that,” Crockett said. “And while we need to make good choices, I think these are simple things that can bring joy.”
Getting outdoors to enjoy simple pleasures is unlikely to be front of mind for people in a 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) stretch of the United States where a massive weekend storm brought deep snow and bitter cold. Freezing rain and ice brought down power lines and tree limbs, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes without power or heating in the South, while snow upended road and air travel from Arkansas to New England.
As the storm recedes, residents of lesser-affected areas might be tempted to whip up bowls of “snow cream” — snow combined with milk, sugar and vanilla — after seeing techniques demonstrated on TikTok. Others might want to try “sugar on snow,” a taffy-like confection made by pouring hot maple syrup onto a plate of snow.
Despite its pristine appearance, snow isn’t always clean enough to consume. Crockett and other experts shared advice for digging in safely while digging out.
The science of snow
Whether it’s rain or snow, precipitation cleans the atmosphere, picking up pollutants as it falls, said Steven Fassnacht, a professor of snow hydrology at Colorado State University. But snowflakes pick up more impurities because they fall more slowly and have more exposed surface areas than raindrops, he said.
That means snow that falls near coal plants or factories that emit particulates into the air contains more contaminants, said Fassnacht, who was in Shinjo, Japan, last week studying the salt content of snow. He said he wouldn’t have hesitated to take a taste there because there weren’t any big industrial complexes upwind.
“Snow can be eaten, but you want to think about the trajectory. Where did that snow come from?” he said.
Timing is another consideration, according to Crockett. The first wave of snow holds the most particulate matter, she said, so waiting until a storm is well underway before putting out a bowl to collect falling snow is one precaution to take.
Ground contamination is an additional factor, experts say. Avoiding yellow snow, which may be tainted by urine or tree bark, is conventional wisdom, but it’s also a good idea to stay away from any snow pushed by snowplows and packed with road salt, deicing chemicals and debris.
Snack versus survival
What about eating snow to survive? Crockett, who oversees the wilderness medicine program at Dartmouth College’s Geisel School of Medicine, says that’s a bad idea.
The energy it takes to melt snow in your mouth as you’re eating it essentially counteracts the hydration benefit, plus it decreases your core body temperature and increases the risk of hypothermia. While outdoor enthusiasts who plan to spend days in the mountains often melt and boil snow to purify it for drinking, it shouldn’t be viewed as an immediate hydration source, she said.
“If you are disoriented on a local hike, I would say your number one priority is to try to reach out for help in any way you can, ... not ‘Can I eat enough snow?’” Crockett said.
Focus on rewards, not risks
Fassnacht, who has studied snow for more than 30 years, said he tried “snow cream” for the first time last year when some students made him some. He described it as a fun experience that got him thinking about flavors and textures, not contaminants.
“It’s a whimsical thing,” he said. “It made me think about what are the characteristics of that freshly fallen snow, and how does that change the taste sensation?”
Crockett likewise is a fan of finding inspiration and wonder in nature. She worries that overprotective parenting has contributed to anxiety in some young people, and that excessive warnings about eating snow could add to that.
“We have to strike that right balance of making sure we’re avoiding danger while not being so protective that we encourage this ‘Everything is going to harm me’ mentality, particularly for children,” she said.
Crockett has four children, including a daughter she described as a “passionate snow eater.” As the recent winter storm got underway, she asked her why she liked eating snow so much and was told, “It makes me feel connected to the Earth.”
“That is actually something that’s really important to me, that we all have this connection to nature,” Crockett said.
