In a chilling moment that reverberated through the courtroom and hospital alike, Dr. Chris Webster realised Erin Patterson had deliberately poisoned her lunch guests with death‑cap mushrooms—when she claimed the mushrooms were from Woolworths. On July 29, 2023, Patterson invited four relatives for beef Wellington at her home in Leongatha, Victoria. Within days, three guests—her estranged husband’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson—died from amanita phalloides poisoning. At the same time, a fourth, Ian Wilkinson, survived after intensive care.

Dr Webster, the first to treat Heather and Ian at Leongatha Hospital, initially suspected gastroenteritis. But when Patterson presented herself claiming the same symptoms and asserted the mushrooms came from Woolworths—despite its strict safety standards—his suspicion turned into conviction. “If she said she picked them, it would have been… a tragic accident,” he later told investigators.

“But once she said Woolworths… my thoughts were, ‘You did it.’” 

Surveillance footage strengthened his suspicion: it captured Patterson dumping a food dehydrator—later found to contain toxic mushroom residue—from which she derived the poison. Furthermore, she had served individual Wellingtons on different‑coloured plates, ensuring she didn’t ingest the toxin herself. During the two‑month trial, prosecutors presented a web of lies: a faked cancer diagnosis, contradictory sourcing stories, and digital evidence showing she had located death‑cap mushrooms shortly before acquiring the dehydrator.

After six days of deliberation, the jury delivered a unanimous verdict on July 7, 2025: Patterson was guilty of three murders and one attempted murder. Sentencing is forthcoming. Dr Webster’s single pointed moment—when “Woolworths” slipped from Patterson’s mouth—proved pivotal, shifting the narrative from tragic accident to cold‑blooded crime. His intuition, backed by forensic and digital evidence, sealed the case against the “mushroom cook” murderer.