What the Jury Never Heard in the Erin Patterson Mushroom Murder Trial
The Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial has been one of the most closely watched court cases in recent Australian history. Over months of hearings, jurors sat through testimony from Patterson herself, survivor Ian Wilkinson, and multiple experts, along with a steady stream of photos, charts, and forensic reports. In the end, she was found guilty of murdering her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, as well as Heather Wilkinson, and of the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson — all stemming from a July 2023 lunch where deadly death cap mushrooms were served.
But much of the story was never laid out before the jury. Whole strands of evidence and significant events were ruled inadmissible, leaving the public — and now, in retrospect, observers of the case — aware there was a shadow trial happening out of view.
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One major omission was the existence of other attempted murder charges that prosecutors had once pursued against Patterson, linked to incidents in 2021 and 2022 involving her estranged husband, Simon Patterson. These were dropped before the “lunch trial” began. Jurors also never heard claims that Patterson may have made more than one trip to the local tip. They saw footage of her dumping a food dehydrator containing mushroom traces days after the fatal lunch — but they weren’t told prosecutors believed she’d also been to the landfill on the very day of the meal, or that she allegedly paid to dispose of other items. That information was excluded in pre-trial rulings that remain under wraps.
The courtroom itself was carefully choreographed to hide certain facts. Jurors never learned Patterson had been in custody since late 2023, nor did they witness the emotional or off-guard moments that occurred when they were out of the room — from her tears before the trial began to a moment of laughter shared with guards. Witnesses, too, had behind-the-scenes interactions and media-savvy exits that the jury didn’t see.
Another intriguing piece of ruled-out evidence was the so-called “cat post” — a 2020 Facebook entry from one of Patterson’s accounts to a mushroom identification group, claiming her cat had vomited after chewing on a mushroom. Prosecutors alleged she didn’t own a cat and argued the post revealed an interest in poisonous fungi. But the judge deemed it irrelevant, given how far removed it was from the 2023 events.
Even the structure of the case was shaped by legal decisions. Prosecutors had wanted all seven charges — the lunch-related ones and the Simon Patterson allegations — tried together, citing similarities in circumstances. The judge disagreed, fearing prejudice, and ordered separate trials. The second set of charges was abandoned on the eve of the first.
In the end, the jury decided Patterson’s fate based only on what they were allowed to hear. The public, however, now knows there was far more to the story — a web of alleged actions, earlier incidents, and personal details that never made it into their deliberations, but which continue to fuel the intense public fascination with this case.
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