The Murders of Heather Wilkinson, Don and Gail Patterson and the Attempted Murder of Ian Wilkinson: Erin Patterson (Part 2)
REDRUM true crime
redrumpodcast
4.6 • 532 Ratings
🗓️ 16 April 2026
⏱️ 31 minutes
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Summary
Part 2/2
In July 2023, a quiet lunch in rural Leongatha would become the centre of one of the most shocking and disturbing criminal cases in recent Australian history, when 4 guests sat down at the home of Erin Patterson, unaware that the meal placed in front of them would soon leave 3 of them dead and another fighting for their life.
What began as a supposed ordinary family gathering, quickly spiralled into a medical emergency that baffled doctors and horrified investigators. Symptoms consistent with deadly mushroom poisoning began to emerge, leading authorities to suspect the involvement of the highly toxic death cap mushroom... one of the most lethal fungi in the world, responsible for the majority of mushroom-related deaths globally.
As the case unfolded, attention turned to Erin herself, the host of the lunch, whose relationship with the victims, including her former in-laws, added a deeply personal and complex layer to the investigation, raising unsettling questions about motive, intent, and what may have really happened inside that home on that winter afternoon.
With conflicting accounts, alleged inconsistencies, and growing public fascination, the case has sparked intense debate across Australia and beyond, with many asking the same chilling question: was this a tragic accident… or something far more deliberate?
Because behind the headlines, the courtroom arguments, and the forensic evidence, lies a story that is still unfolding... and one that may ultimately reveal that the truth of what happened that day is far darker than anyone first imagined.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the second part of the Mushroom Murders, Erin Patterson. |
| 0:12.9 | If you haven't already, pop back and listen to episode one, where we cover everything up to the trial. |
| 0:18.9 | This episode, episode two, will be covering everything that went on |
| 0:22.0 | inside the trial, including the sentencing. Now, the trial for this case, it goes ahead. It begins |
| 0:28.2 | on the 30th of April. And I listened to the trial podcast on this case, which it covered |
| 0:34.7 | the trial as it was happening. Reporters were going in and out. |
| 0:38.8 | And it really took you inside the daily happenings in the court as it was happening. |
| 0:44.0 | It truly is an amazing listen with incredible journalistic work. |
| 0:49.0 | Now that is where a lot of the sources for this week's episode comes or episodes. |
| 0:53.8 | I don't know if this will be a two-parter |
| 0:55.1 | or one-parter, but that's where a lot of this information has come from. So anyway, the |
| 1:00.0 | prosecution's case was that Erin Patterson deliberately poisoned her in-laws with a beef |
| 1:06.7 | Wellington containing death cat mushrooms. She intended to kill or seriously injure them. |
| 1:13.5 | They presented toxicology reports, medical expert testimony, and evidence of prior suspicious |
| 1:21.7 | incidents to show this kind of pattern of deliberate harm. The defence's case was that Erin claimed the deaths were |
| 1:30.0 | an accident, arguing she had unknowingly used these poisonous death cat mushrooms and that she |
| 1:36.5 | panicked afterwards and that's why she got rid of all that evidence. The defence sought to |
| 1:42.9 | cast doubt on intent, emphasising a lack of direct evidence that |
| 1:48.0 | she actually meant to kill her in laws. I want to start with the reason for the lunch and something |
| 1:54.1 | that is very much disputed by Erin, but it is what Ian, because he wasn't supposed to survive, |
| 2:03.1 | it is what he relates to the court. |
| 2:10.7 | So, Erin faces intensive questioning throughout this about what her lunch guests were told about her health. |
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