Erin Patterson: Police release chilling footage of first interview after fatal mushroom meal

A chilling video of Erin Patterson’s first police interview has been released after the mushroom murderer lost a bid to keep it under wraps, with a judge ruling “justice should be seen to be done”.

The video is the first look at the calculated lies spun by the woman later convicted of murdering three people and attempting to murder a fourth with a death cap mushroom-laced beef Wellington lunch.

Patterson instructed her lawyers to oppose the release of the video. they argued among other things that it could be sensationalised by the media and may deter other suspects from participating in police interviews in the future.

But, on Friday, Justice Beale ruled the interview be released, saying it would allow people to make their own judgments.

The 50-year-old mother of two was taken in for questioning on August 5, 2023, just one week after the deadly meal at her home in Leongatha, Victoria.

By the time she sat across from Detective Leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall, two of the guests who attended Patterson’s lunch, Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson, had already died.

A third, Don Patterson, was just hours from dying.

Patterson remains calm throughout the interview, looking down and avoiding eye contact when the condition of the three family members was explained to her.

“I’ve never been in a situation like this before and I’ve been very, very helpful with the health department through the week, because I wanted to help that side of things as much as possible, because I do want to know what happened,” she told Constable Eppingstall.

Patterson initially claimed she had never foraged for mushrooms and did not own a dehydrator — statements she would later admit were lies, made in a panic.

“Forraging for mushrooms, is that something you’ve done in the past?” Constable Eppingstall asked.

“Never”, Patterson responded without hesitation.

However, later when facing a jury charged over the murders, she told a different story and delivered the first of many admissions.

“Did you have an interest in wild mushrooms?” defence barrister Colin Mandy SC asked on the killer’s second day in the witness box.

“Yeah, I did,” Patterson replied.

Asked in the police interview why she invited her in-laws to lunch, Patterson appeared emotional.

“I want to maintain those relationships in spite of what’s happened with Simon, I love them a lot,” she said.

“They’ve always been really good to me and they always said to me that they would support me with love and emotional support even though Simon and I were separated.

“I really appreciated that.”

One of the most bizarre pieces of evidence that did not make it to the trial that also emerged on Friday was a Facebook post to a poisons help page.

Prosecutors alleged Patterson uploaded a photo of a cat eating mushrooms about 18 months before Simon claimed he was first poisoned by his estranged wife, in November 2021.

“My cat chewed on this mushroom just now,” the post said, according to pre-trial evidence.

“He is having a vomit. Was in grassland near trees, I’m in Victoria Australia.”

Patterson owned a dog but did not own a cat.

Prosecutors alleged the post was fake and they planned to use it in the trial to show the killer’s long-held interest both in poisons and wild mushrooms.

Patterson was found guilty of murdering three members of her husband’s family and the attempted murder of fourth on July 7.

Don and Gail Patterson and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson died from death cap poisoning in the week following the lunch while Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, survived.

Patterson will face a pre-sentence hearing on August 25.