Alleged mushroom killer has some charges dropped on trial’s eve

Prosecutors have dropped some of the charges against an Australian woman accused of killing three relatives and seriously injuring another with a toxic mushroom lunch.

Erin Patterson will not face trial over allegations she also attempted to murder her husband, after those charges were withdrawn.

She still faces four charges: three counts of murder and one of attempted murder.

The 50-year-old has always maintained her innocence and has pleaded not guilty, with her trial to begin in the Supreme Court of Victoria on Wednesday.

Three people died in hospital days after the July 2023 lunch, including Patterson’s former in-laws, Don Patterson, 70, and Gail Patterson, 70, as well as Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66.

Heather’s husband, 68-year-old Baptist pastor Ian Wilkinson, survived after weeks of treatment in hospital.

The jury has been picked and is receiving instructions from the judge ahead of opening statements, which are expected Wednesday.

Justice Christopher Beale told the jury that most if not all them would probably have been aware of the previous charges in relation to Patterson’s husband, but said that the Director of Public Prosecutions had dropped them.

“In other words… you must put them out of your mind,” he said.

He also urged them to “dispassionately” weigh the evidence in the case, using their heads and not their hearts.

The trial is being held at a small courthouse in Morwell, about 60km (37 miles) from Leongatha, Victoria, where prosecutors allege the lunch took place.