Sometimes, there are true crime stories that will truly blow your mind. When you hear about their crimes, you think, “How could they have done something like that?” The reason for the crime may be the thing that shocks you, or perhaps it’s the way in which they went about it. If you’re looking for a true crime story that will truly blow your mind, it’s the “mushroom murders.” In 2023, Erin Patterson of Australia was arrested after three of her in-laws died. It was discovered that they all died after eating beef Wellington prepared by Patterson, who had added poisonous mushrooms to the dish. Now, she has been sentenced to life in prison and is the subject of a new documentary, Death Cap: The Mushroom Murders.
In July 2023, Patterson invited relatives for lunch, NPR reported. They included her husband’s parents, Donald and Gail Patterson, and his aunt and uncle, Heather and Ian Wilkinson. Her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, whom she separated from in 2015, was also invited but pulled out the night before.
For lunch, she served her guests individual beef Wellingtons. Typically, the dish is made with beef covered in a mushroom paste and then wrapped in pastry and baked. A day after the meal, Patterson’s four guests went to the hospital, complaining of gastrointestinal symptoms.
A week later, both Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson died. The following day, Donald Patterson also died. All had altered liver function and multiple organ failure, NPR reported. Ian Wilkinson, the sole survivor, needed a liver transplant.
Toxicology reports done by doctors showed the victims’ symptoms were indicative of “serious toxin syndrome caused by ingestion of amanita phalloides mushrooms.”
During her trial, Erin Patterson admitted the mushroom paste in the Wellingtons contained death cap mushrooms, which are among the most poisonous mushrooms in the world. She alleged that she also got sick, but she never received medical treatment, leading to speculation that she hadn’t also ingested the poisoned dish.
Chris Webster, the doctor who treated the victims, told the BBC he immediately knew that Patterson was guilty of the crime. “I knew. I thought, ‘Okay, yep, you did it, you heinous individual. You’ve poisoned them all,’” he told the outlet. He suggested his reasoning was because of where she said she got the mushrooms.
“And it all just suddenly coalesced in my brain,” he said, adding that if she had told him she foraged for the mushrooms, it would have made her look less suspicious.
Ultimately, Erin Patterson was convicted of three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder and was sentenced to life in prison in September 2025. It will be 33 years before she is eligible for parole.
“Not only did you cut short three lives and cause lasting damage to Ian Wilkinson’s health, thereby devastating extended Patterson and Wilkinson families, you inflicted untold suffering on your own children, whom you robbed of their beloved grandparents,” Judge Christopher Beale told Patterson during sentencing, according to NPR. “Only you know why you committed them. I will not be speculating about that matter,” Beale added.
According to the report, Patterson showed very little emotion during sentencing.
The judge also acknowledged during sentencing that Patterson was classified as a “notorious” prisoner because of the public attention surrounding her case. Her classification means she is kept isolated from the other inmates and spends 22 hours in her cell.
“I infer that, given the unprecedented media coverage of your case, and the books, documentaries and TV series about you which are all in the pipeline, you are likely to remain a notorious prisoner for many years to come, and, as such, remain at significant risk from other prisoners,” Beale said.
