Australian woman Erin Patterson convicted of mushroom murders

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00:00After six days of deliberations, a verdict in the Baroque murder trial that has gripped Australia.

00:06Erin Patterson was found guilty by a Victoria court of murdering three of her estranged relatives

00:11by deliberately serving them poisonous mushrooms for lunch in July 2023. Her mother-in-law Gail

00:17Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson all died of organ

00:23failure within a week. Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson survived after a long stay in hospital.

00:29Patterson's estranged husband Simon was due to attend the lunch but declined the previous day.

00:35Fifty-year-old Patterson had served them death cap mushrooms in a beef wellington dish. She claimed it

00:40was a terrible accident but prosecutors say she knowingly destroyed evidence. It's a verdict that

00:47left one of Patterson's friends devastated as she exited the court. How are you feeling? I'm saddened

00:53and it is what it is. Thank you. Did you have a chance to talk to Erin though? No. Did you think

00:59Erin was capable of something like this? She's a triple murderer. Were you expecting your friend

01:04to be found not guilty? I didn't have any expectations. It's the justice system and it has to be what it is.

01:10The lurid nature of the case has made Patterson a cult figure in Australia with her likeness adorning a

01:16mural in Melbourne. Passers-by say they understand how difficult it must have been to decide on a case

01:23that nearly everyone has an opinion on. I'm certainly glad I was never asked to be on it

01:28because I reckon I would struggle to um to find a decision and I understand that they picked 16 or

01:34they picked more jurors in case people you know went wrong so I'm glad I'm just watching it on the

01:40sidelines. The 12 final jurors had to come to a unanimous decision to secure a conviction.

01:47Patterson, who will be sentenced at a later date, faces life in prison.

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