'You've poisoned them all': Moment doctor realised 'heinous' mushroom murderer Erin Patterson was guilty of poisonings
A doctor who treated some of the victims of the 'mushroom murderer' explains the moment he realised Erin Patterson committed the deadly crime.
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On Monday, Erin Patterson, 50, was found guilty of triple murder, and of attempting to murder a fourth guest, Pastor Ian Wilkinson, who survived.
Patterson had pleaded not guilty to the murders of Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson.
Patterson now faces the prospect of life behind bars for her crimes.
The 50-year-old previously said she added the deadly fungi to the lunch in a bid to improve a 'bland' meal but maintains that the presence was not deliberate and was a tragic accident.
She has denied measuring out a 'fatal dose' after she was asked in court if pictures of mushrooms on weighing scales were proof that she did.
Doctor Chris Webster said he knew Patterson was a cold-blooded killer when she visited the small hospital in rural Victoria where he worked.
"I thought, 'Okay, yep, you did it, you heinous individual. You've poisoned them all'," he told the BBC.
Dr Webster had spent the morning treating two of the four people Patterson had intentionally fed toxic mushrooms to.
When two of the victims, Heather and Ian, presented to Leongatha Hospital with intense gastroenteritis-like symptoms, Dr Webster thought it was a case of mass food poisoning.
The physician told the trial that Heather had told him about a "lovely" afternoon at Patterson's house.
"I did ask Heather at one stage what the beef Wellington tasted like and she said it was delicious," Dr Webster said.
Dr Webster sent off blood samples but soon received a call from the doctor treating two other victims, Don and Gail, at another hospital, about a 90-minute drive away, who told him about the toxic mushrooms.
The doctor realised the victims were on an irreversible path to death so he made preparations to transfer them to a bigger hospital where they could access specialist care.
Patterson presented at the small rural hospital claiming she was also suffering from gastro problems.
Dr Webster explained to Patterson that he suspected she and her guests were all suffering from life-threatening poisoning from toxic mushrooms, and asked here about where the fungi in the dish came from.
Patterson told him the fungi had come from Woolworths - a major supermarket chain in Australia.
The doctor said at this point "it all just suddenly coalesced in my brain."
He said it was immediately suspicious that Patterson told him the mushrooms came from a major supermarket and that she did not seem concerned that her relatives were desperately sick.
"I don't know if she even acknowledged their presence," he said.
It comes after reports that Patterson was given a job in the kitchen of maximum security Dame Phyllis Frost Prison - despite the nature of the accusations that landed her there in the first place, a Corrections Victoria source told Daily Mail Australia.
According to local news reports, an inmate in the same unit of the women's prison in Deer Park, Victoria, Australia, became ill following a dispute with Patterson and allegedly blamed her for the sickness.
Supporters of the 'mushroom murderer' have hit back, claiming the accusations are baseless.
Images of the deadly fungi that poisoned the victims has been revealed in photo exhibitions released by the court.
Pictures show specimen carrier bags, containing samples of the Beef Wellington meal prepared by Patterson.
"I suggest that you were weighing these death cap mushrooms so that you could calculate the weight required for the administration of a fatal dose for one person. Agree or disagree?" barrister Nanette Rogers asked.
"Disagree," Patterson replied.
The jury returned guilty verdicts for all her charges.
Patterson remained 'silent' and 'composed' as the verdicts were delivered.
The verdicts mean she could spend the rest of her life behind bars.
During the court appearance, Patterson admitted to consuming the mushroom meal before vomiting it up shortly after the guests left her home - something she says saved her from the worst effects of the poison.
She told the court that the self-induced vomiting came after eating nearly a whole cake, with the accused stating she had faced a decade-long battle with bulimia.
Patterson's lawyer earlier told the Supreme Court trial that the poisoning was a tragic accident but prosecutors said it was deliberate.
Long queues formed outside the Latrobe Valley Courthouse in June after Patterson took the stand, which was the first time she had spoken publicly since the deaths.
During several hours of evidence at the trial in June, Patterson, 50, told the court she began foraging fungi during the Covid-19 lockdown of March 2020, witnessed only by her children.
"I cut a bit of one of the mushrooms, fried it up with some butter and ate it," she said.
"They tasted good and I didn't get sick."
Patterson said she also fed foraged mushrooms to her children, chopped up "very, very small" so they could not pick them out of curries, pasta and soups.
She developed a taste for exotic varieties, joined a "mushroom lovers" Facebook group, and bought a dehydrator to preserve her finds, Patterson said.