By Alasdair Pal
MORWELL, Australia (Reuters) -The trial of an Australian woman accused of murdering three of her estranged husband’s elderly relatives using toxic mushrooms entered its final stages on Wednesday, with the jury soon to begin its deliberations in a case that has gripped the nation.
Erin Patterson, 50, is charged with the murders of her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, along with the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, Heather’s husband, in July 2023.
The prosecution accuses her of foraging for poisonous death cap mushrooms and knowingly adding them to individual portions of Beef Wellington that she served to her guests at her home in Leongatha, a town of about 6,000 people some 135 km (84 miles) southeast of Melbourne.
Patterson denies the charges, which carry a life sentence, with her defence calling the deaths a “terrible accident”.
Justice Christopher Beale, the presiding judge, began his second day of instructions to the jury on Wednesday at the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court in Morwell, a former coal mining town whose best known tourist attractions until the trial were a rose garden and a regional art gallery.
Beale has said the process will take until at least the end of the day, meaning the 14-member jury will retire to consider their verdict on Thursday at the earliest. Their decision must be unanimous.
Outside, despite the winter cold and rain, members of the public began queuing for the limited seats in the court hours before proceedings began.
“I am a true crime fanatic,” said Philip Mayers, a social worker who got up at 5am and drove two hours from Melbourne, the state capital, to get his place in the court.
“It’s the uniqueness of it, you don’t hear it every day.”
‘MEDIA FRENZY’
The trial has caused a sensation in Morwell, where Patterson requested to be tried rather than Melbourne.
Laura Heller, the owner of Jay Dee’s Cafe across the road from the modest two-storey court building, said business had tripled since the trial began on April 29.
“Even though it’s not great circumstances, it has been very good for our community because it’s brought people from outside the area,” she said.
Journalists, podcasters and documentary crews from domestic and international media have descended on the town for the proceedings, which British magazine The Spectator dubbed “Australia’s trial of the century”.
Public broadcaster ABC’s daily podcast on the trial is currently the most popular in Australia, while streaming platform Stan says it will soon be airing a documentary on the trial and “media frenzy” surrounding the case.
The Cedar Lodge Motel next to the court is fully booked, unusual outside the peak summer season, duty manager John Nicoll said.
“It has been a bit of a boom for the motel and for the area in general,” he said.
(Reporting by Alasdair Pal and Cordelia Hsu in Morwell; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
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