With mushroom in the food

Woman allegedly poisoned in-laws

An Australian woman is alleged to have given her parents-in-law and two friends the highly poisonous green button mushroom (pictured) to eat.(Bild: Igor Kramar)

An Australian woman is accused of poisoning four people at a family dinner. The 49-year-old woman served a fillet of Wellington which, according to the police, contained highly poisonous mushrooms. The woman will stand trial on May 7.

The 49-year-old has been in custody since November. The amateur chef had cooked for her parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson as well as Baptist pastor Ian Wilkinson and his wife Heather on July 29, 2023. The dish is said to have contained highly toxic green button mushrooms. According to experts, just one of these mushrooms contains enough poison to kill a healthy adult. It can lead to liver and kidney failure.

Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson did not survive the incident. They all showed symptoms of severe food poisoning. Only the pastor survived, but had to be treated in hospital for almost two months.

The green button mushroom is sometimes confused with button mushrooms (photo).(Bild: FomaA - stock.adobe.com)

Confusion with edible mushrooms?
The hostess, however, survived the meal unscathed. The case caused a stir both in Australia and internationally. The 49-year-old woman is charged with three counts of murder and attempted murder. She was married to Don and Gail Patterson's son, but had been living apart from him for some time. 

After the death of her guests, the Australian woman protested her innocence: she had bought the mushrooms in a grocery store and had no reason to harm her guests. In fact, the green button mushroom, which grows in many parts of Australia, resembles edible mushrooms. Tuesday, May 7, is the preliminary hearing in court.