Erin Patterson: Convicted mushroom murderer held a party hours before police arrested her for murder

The bizarre circumstances surrounding mushroom murderer Erin Patterson’s movements before and after the fateful beef Wellington lunch continue to come to light following her conviction.

Only hours before police arrived to charge Patterson with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, the Morwell mother of two held a party at her home with a group of her closest friends.

Speculation that Patterson knew her time was almost up and authorities were about to come knocking was confirmed by neighbours who witnessed the small group arrived at her rural Victorian property near Leongatha.

The Daily Mail reports that four female friends, including Alison Rose Prior, who was a close ally during Paterson’s trial, attended the get-together along with her two children, the night before her arrest on Wednesday, November 1, 2023, for murder.

Doctor who spoke up could lose job

The doctor who alerted police to Erin Patterson prior to her arrest, and provided important testimony in court, now fears he may lose his job.

Dr Chris Webster, a key medical witness in the 11-week trial, testified that he first encountered Patterson at Leongatha Hospital on the morning of July 31, 2023, just two days after she served a beef Wellington meal laced with deadly death cap mushrooms to four family members.

Dr Webster called triple zero after Patterson abruptly discharged herself within five minutes of arriving at the hospital, despite medical advice to stay and receive treatment.

At the time, Patterson’s former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, were in critical condition at Dandenong Hospital. Ian and Heather Wilkinson were receiving treatment at Leongatha Hospital after also consuming the meal.

Speaking to the Herald Sun, Dr Webster said he became suspicious when Patterson claimed she had purchased the mushrooms from Woolworths.

“If she said she picked them, it would have been a very different mindset for me because there would have been an instant assumption it was all a tragic accident,” he said.

“But once she said that answer, my thoughts were, ‘holy f**king shit, you f**king did it, you crazy bitch, you poisoned them all’.

“The turning point for me was that moment.”

Dr Webster said Patterson was a “disturbed sociopathic nut bag”.

“She wasn’t freaking out about the safety of her children,” he said.

“Looking into her eyes, I thought ‘I don’t know what planet you’re on but you’re not on earth.”

The clinic where he works has received formal complaints, including accusations of misogyny, which could be escalated to the medical board for investigation.

“I’m not that at all, that’s not me,” Dr Webster told the Daily Mail.

“I stand by what I’ve done, this is very important. I’m happy to do all the media but it’s become all too much now and I have engaged a lawyer and am now gagged from any future media (in the short term).

Patterson likely to appeal murder convictions

The convicted killer is anticipated to challenge her convictions following her return to prison, where she possibly faces life behind bars.

Patterson has been held in a protected unit at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Ravenhall, just outside of Melbourne, since her arrest in November 2023.

Legal experts have revealed that Patterson is planning to appeal the conviction; however, the exact basis of her appeal is not yet known.

The 50-year-old has 28 days from the date of sentencing to formally lodge her case with the court, according to the Supreme Court of Victoria.

Her legal team can challenge either the guilty verdict itself, the sentence imposed, or both.

“If in cases where the sentence is considered to be too lenient, the prosecution can appeal the severity of the sentence, but they can’t appeal a not-guilty verdict,” University of Newcastle criminology researcher Xanthe Mallet told the ABC.

There are several grounds the defence can appeal on.

Renowned barrister Robert Richter KC said the most common ground was that the verdict was unsatisfactory.

“The Court of Appeal might find that it isn’t sufficient to justify a conviction,” Mr Richter told the ABC.

“But that on its own is a very difficult ground to get home, because it sort of does not usurp the function of the jury, but what it does is it looks at what a jury ought to have concluded or should have concluded.”

If an application to appeal is granted, the matter will go before the Court of Appeal, though it could be months before a hearing date is confirmed.

All eyes will be on Patterson after her sentencing as she considers her next move.