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Australian woman guilty of murder in toxic mushroom trial
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Erin Patterson killed three relatives with a beef dish containing death cap mushrooms
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Will Vernon
This is the global news podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Will Vernon and at 13 hours GMT on Monday 7th July. These are our main stories. A conviction for Erin Patterson, the Australian woman who murdered her relatives with poisonous mushrooms, tear gas and roadblocks in the Kenyan capital as pro democracy protestors take to the streets and memorial services in London, marking 20 years since the 77 suicide bomb attacks on the capital. Also in this podcast. For so long, I felt like it was more important to belong to others than to belong to myself. How people who call themselves third culture kids are using food, art and writing to reclaim who they are. It was a murder trial that fascinated Australia and the world. Erin Patterson was accused of killing her relatives with a beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms. The key question, did Ms. Patterson poison her lunch guests on purpose or as she claimed, by accident? In a unanimous verdict today, a jury decided it was deliberate, finding her guilty of the murder of her in laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, guilty too, of attempted murder of Gail's husband, the only survivor. Following the verdict, the judge released dozens of exhibits used during the trial. They included CCTV footage which showed Ms. Patterson disposing of a food dehydrator containing traces of mushrooms at a local dump days after the deaths. Moments after the verdicts were handed down, Detective Inspector Dean Thomas from Victoria Police, who led the murder investigation, made this plea. It's very important that we remember that three people have died and we've had a person that nearly died and was seriously injured as a result, and that has led to these charges. I ask that we acknowledge those people and not forget them. Well, the BBC's Shaima Khalil was in the courtroom in the small town of Morwell to hear the verdict. What was really interesting about today was everyone had come in in the morning, we'd all laid out our things and by lunch break, everybody felt safe to leave the media room, which is right next to the small courtroom, to just go and grab something and come back. And in the middle of break, everyone's phones started pinging, including mine, and it said supreme Court, you know, and that they, they reached a verdict and then the whole energy around that place changed him. You could see cameramen running all around, people grabbing their jackets, their coats, everyone trying to get through security, climb those stairs, get in line to try and get into that courtroom. And obviously all of us journalists fighting for space because it's a small courtroom with, you know, one side for the jury. You're faced by the judge on a higher platform. And then Aaron is in the dock behind us. So we all line up, most of us get in the room and all that kerfuffle then turns into hushed tension. It was so quiet in that courtroom, you could hear a pin drop. And at the back is Erin, starting with a bit of discussion among her counsel and among her lawyers. You could see a bit of a smile. She was sitting in the middle of two security personnel, she was smiling with them as well. And then the judge walked in and it was just whole hush tension. And then the jury came in and you could sense that everybody was holding their breath. And I turned around to look at Aaron as that verdict was being delivered. Guilty, guilty, Guilty on all murder charges, guilty on the attempted murder charge. And her face was just completely blank, no expression, nothing. It just didn't move. But her eyes were square in the direction of the jury. It was almost like everyone else didn't, wasn't there and she was just looking in the direction of the jury as she heard her fate. Throughout this trial she'd maintained that this was a terrible accident, that she, she didn't mean to do this. But in that moment everyone was clear that the jury didn't believe her. That unanimously they had decided that she deliberately poisoned her relatives. That was the BBC's Shaima Khalil. Well, as journalists and members of the public descended on the small town of Morwell, every twist and turn in the nine week trial was closely scrutinized. The jury were shown many pieces of evidence, including Erin Patterson's Internet search history which which showed she'd used a website to view sightings of death cat mushrooms. Mobile phone data suggested she travelled to locations where the deadly fungi had been sighted. Our Australia correspondent Katie Watson looks at the background to one of the highest profile criminal cases the country has seen in years. I'm devastated. I love them and I can't believe that this has happened and I'm so sorry. Erin Patterson made out it was all a terrible accident. And throughout the trial she kept up the charade. But the jury just didn't believe her. Erin Patterson murdered three of her relatives and attempted to kill a fourth. She'd invited her in laws, Don and Gail Patterson for lunch. Also sat around her kitchen table were Gayle's sister Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian. He was the only survivor and gave evidence at this trial. So too did Patterson's estranged husband Simon. He'd also been invited to the lunch but decided not to go, saying he felt uncomfortable. Aaron Patterson was originally accused of Attempting to murder him as well. On three occasions, those charges were dropped. Ahead of the trial, Erin Patterson had lured the guests to her house on the pretense of a cancer diagnosis that was a lie. On the menu, individual beef Wellingtons, a recipe chosen from one of Australia's best loved cookbooks, only with an alternative ingredient, Death cap mushrooms. Hours later, the guests fell ill and rapidly got sicker. Within days, Don, Gail and Heather were dead. From the very beginning of this murder trial, it was made clear to the jury that there was no dispute that Erin Patterson used Death cap mushrooms in preparing her beef Wellington. The question was whether she knowingly used them to poison her relatives. The prosecution said she intended to kill and the jury agreed. While her relatives lay dying, Erin Patterson was covering her tracks. Caught on CCTV discarding a dehydrator she used to prepare the mushrooms, Erin Patterson was accused of telling so many lies, it was hard to keep track of them. In court, she claimed to have worried that deadly foraged mushrooms had got into the meal by accident, but but had stayed quiet. You told police you loved Don and Gail, the prosecutor put to her during cross examination. Surely if you'd love them, then you would have immediately notified the medical authorities. Instead, you got up, drove your children to school and then came home. And then you got rid of the dehydrator. That was Katie Watson reporting to Kenya. Now the sound of tear gas fired by police in Nairobi today as the Kenyan capital is once again rocked by protests. Demonstrators have gathered to mark Saba Saba Day. That's the anniversary of an uprising in 1990, when Kenyans marched for democracy. Police have closed roads to stop people getting to the city center. And in one incident, they opened fire on a charging crowd of protesters. Young Kenyans have repeatedly taken to the streets in recent months, angered by corruption, economic stagnation and allegations of police brutality. The BBC's Ian Wafula is in Nairobi. We've just come from a part of Nairobi CBD where police have been engaging protesters and we've actually been able to see evidence that police are using live bullets against the protesters. I remember that this has been a concern, especially from civil groups and also family members who've lost their loved ones after the protests that have been happening over the last couple of months, which began building momentum since the June 25 anniversary last year. So police at the moment are trying as much as possible to keep protesters outside of the central business district, because we've seen some of these protests actually get violent to a point where they've been infiltrated by goons who take advantage of the situation and to some extent actually beating up protesters. We've also seen civil rights groups also say, you know, they have accused police of, in some cases walking alongside the goons. But these are allegations that police have through time denied. Will. Right. I mean, Ian, as you know, protesters have been gathering on the streets, haven't they, for, for quite some time now. And many of them have been angry by the, these allegations of police brutality, allegedly violent responses by the police. How are the police's tactics today going to be received by those demonstrators? Well, unlike the past where, you know, last, during the June 25 anniversary protest, police had actually cordoned off a section of the central business district, rather a tight circle within the city. But what they've done, the strategy today which appears to have worked for them, is to actually barricade as far off from the CBD as much as possible. Now, yesterday the government had said that today is actually a normal working day. But what's interesting, with all the major roads being closed into the cbd, which houses quite a number of government offices as well as corporate offices, many people have not been able to go to work. WILL that was the BBC's Ian Wafula in Nairobi. Now let's hear some sound from St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Well, that memorial Service marking the 20th anniversary of the 7 July bombings in the capital, one of the worst attacks on British soil. 52 people were killed in the Islamist suicide attack on three underground trains and a double decker bus. As the name of each victim was read out at St. Paul's White Pieces of torn paper fluttered down from the ceilings and balconies. The, the faces of those attending lit up by candlelight. Benedetta Chiacchia, Richard Ellery. Richard Martin Gray, Anne Moffat, Fiona Stevenson. Well, as you can hear there, some of the speakers struggled to control their emotions as they paid tribute to those killed. The BBC's Rob Watson was security correspondent at the time of the attack 20 years ago and he told me about the day and how it changed the face of counter terrorism policing in the uk. My recollections, will, are that the early moments were very much like the early moments of 911 when I happened to be a Washington correspondent for the BBC on 77 and that is, you get those initial explanations, it's an accident, a plane had flown into the World Trade center by mistake or in the case of the 77 attacks, that there was a surge of power on the underground. And then you get this sort of creeping sense that it's not that that it's something far more sinister at Paddington Station, which is just one stop away from where one of the bombs went off at the Edgware Road underground station. So I was very close by, could have been on the train, had my own train from Oxford, not been late. So I made my way there to be greeted by those dreadful sights that you get in mass casualty attacks. That is people walking around dazed, covered in blood, emergency vehicles everywhere. And that sense of chaos and confusion. And of course, those big questions that weren't really settled till later, and that is, who did this? And are they going be more such attacks? And Rob, how do you think 77 changed the way that counterterrorism was conducted in Britain? Well, it was already changing because of the 911 attacks which I. Which I mentioned a second ago, in other words, that the British state their counterterrorism efforts had thought had identified Islamic extremism as perhaps the biggest threat that Britain faced. But it did change markedly after 7 7. The government came up with a program known as Prevent. And essentially what that did and in fact still does is identify those, whether they're Islamic extremists or people on the right who might be sort of susceptible to violent ideology and taking that violent ideology further and actually carrying out violent attacks. And that continues to this day. It's a controversial program. Some see it as the sort of securitization of the Muslim communities. But it goes on today. That was the BBC's Rob Watson there at the time of recording this podcast. More than 80 people are dead and dozens are still missing in Central Texas after flash flooding hit the area early Friday morning. Officials say the numbers are almost certain to rise. Well, a major focus of the search has been Camp Mystic. That's a popular Christian summer camp. It's thought more than 700 girls were staying there when the Guadalupe river burst its banks and water overwhelmed the site. Ten girls and a staff member are still missing. Well, Angelica Casas is in Kerrville in the affected area and has been speaking to residents. Man, this is crazy. Did you see what happened? Anthony moved to Kerrville just three months ago for a fresh start. He rented the cheapest apartment he could find, a small studio down on the Guadalupe River. Now that dream has turned into a nightmare. Almost everything he owns was destroyed in Friday's flash floods. I just bought that bed. Just bought that bed. I wonder if this is all my baby pictures and stuff that my aunt been holding on for years and I wonder if it's messed up. No. Wow. We met Anthony at A local shelter where he came to pick up clothes and get a fresh meal. He's one of thousands in this region whose lives have been upended by these flags. Floods on Friday, heavy rains caused the Guadalupe river to rise more than 26ft in less than an hour, sweeping away mobile homes, vehicles and holiday cabins where people were spending the fourth of July holiday weekend that used to all be trees. This is bad. Oh my gosh. Rescue workers and volunteers have been racing ever since to search for the missing, many of whom are children from an all girls Christian camp along the river. Just down the road from the camp, volunteers tread down to the river to help with search efforts and to clear debris. When you're out here in the middle of it, it's devastating. Rick McRae has lived in the area for more than four decades. His daughters in laws own the property right next to Camp Mystic. Wearing a cowboy hat, shorts and rain boots, he hops into his tractor and works to clear a path for rescuers. It's very traumatizing as a local or anybody else to realize how many people's been taken. My grandkids have gone to these camps. I don't think there's nothing in this valley that hadn't been touched in some way, form or anything. But with each hour that passes, the hope of finding any of the missing alive is falling. Nimkid, who heads Texas Emergency Response Response, announced that the state will begin recovery operations. That is debris cleanup, that is opening roads. That does not mean we are no longer doing search for live victims because we still are. We are still out there and very much hopes, very much fueled by the compassion that we show for these families that we're doing everything we can to find their missing loved ones. God bless all of the people that have gone through and God bless the state of Texas. It's an incredible place. President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration surging federal resources to Texas and said he's planning to visit the scene on Friday. But critics have asked if the president's cuts to the federal workforce, including at the National Weather Service and his plans to eliminate fema, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have impacted the early warning alert system and disaster response, a question reporters put to Mr. Trump as he came off Air Force One. Well, FEMA is something we can talk about later, but right now they're busy working, so we'll leave it at that. Go ahead. On the ground in Texas, the focus has remained on how the community can help those most affected. As we were leaving Camp mystic, we saw two women hugging on the side of the road. One of the women, Alma Garcia, had driven in from San Antonio to hand out home cooked meals. Anma took off the shirt she was wearing and gave it to the other woman. She was all wet. I said, you're going to need it later here. Angelica Casas in Texas. Bradley Blackburn is a CBS News correspondent in New York. He's been monitoring the search in Texas. They are looking miles downstream because there have been reports in cases some of these survivors were swept into far downstream and they were able to survive. That's why these families are holding out hope that some of these girls, other victims, may still be alive. But it's increasingly less likely as time goes on. But this search and rescue effort is still very much underway. I am a native Texan and we know about the power of these flash floods. The water can rise so quickly and even a few inches of water are enough to sweep cars away. And certainly we saw structures, entire structures that were demolished. And so this is a wide scene along the Guadalupe River. So the recovery effort will be long. And we know that part of the problem here was that this flooding happened in the early morning hours over the weekend. And so the water rose so quickly, people were unaware of what was happening around them. And by the time they realized what was happening, it was too late to get to higher ground. That was Bradley Blackburn from cbs. Still to come in this podcast, why hundreds of musicians from all over the world met up on a rainy day in Germany. Indirect talks between Hamas and Israel are continuing today in Qatar's capital, Doha. On the table is a 60 day ceasefire and hostage release deal. A Palestinian official told the BBC there were no breakthroughs during discussions on Sunday. Setting off for Washington today to meet Donald Trump is the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Domestic pressure is growing on him to end the war in Gaza and bring home the hostages. President Trump is keen to be seen as a peacemaker and bring an end to the fighting. Here's our international editor, Jeremy Bowen. I would not be at all confident about any ceasefire negotiation until you see it not just signed but happening because there have been so many false dawns and also the last ceasefire, don't forget, which was signed off by all concerned, including the Americans, was broken by the Israelis in March when they decided to go back to war. However, there are lots of indications that something is brewing here, something significant. Hamas have registered some stipulations. They want changes in this. They say they're not against a ceasefire, but they want some changes. They want the UN Instead of the so called GHF to start distributing the aid in Gaza. They want bigger withdrawals of Israeli troops than have been suggested. And they also want a guarantee, for what it's worth, that at the end of the ceasefire period that will be the end of the war. The Israelis have not been prepared to grant that. That was Jeremy Bowen. In an announcement that shook world markets in April, Donald Trump declared he would impose sweeping trade tariffs on most countries. Those levies are expected to come into effect on the 1st of August after several delays. Now the President has said the US will begin delivering what he called tariff letters and ordeals from midday Washington time today. Mr. Trump also said he'd bring in an additional 10% levy on any countries aligning themselves with the so called BRICS group which has been holding a summit in Brazil. Well, our business reporter David Waddell joined me earlier. He started by explaining what this might mean for global trade. These letters are being presented essentially as a fait accomplishment plea. Donald Trump says they'll go out to 10 to 15 countries possibly with more to follow on Tuesday or Wednesday this week. Wednesday indeed is the is the deadline that was had been announced 9 July. But the tariffs would come in according to these letters. That's been pre announced according to these letters. The tariffs will come in on the 1st of August and they could be up to 70% on import from lots of countries around the world. They may may raise billions of dollars for the US Public finances if the broader economic doesn't wipe out those gains. But this is largely about reshaping the global world order and protecting US businesses. And what about this additional 10% on countries aligning themselves with the BRICS? Why is he doing that? Well, let me first just outline who the brics are. This is Brazil, Russia, India, China. That's the original group. South Africa was later added. Last year the list expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. And these are countries without a global world view that is much like the United States. Indeed, at the BRICS summit that's been taking place over the past couple of days in Brazil, the group criticized the US over its recent strikes on Iran and also the US Tariffs regime. So Donald Trump looks at these countries not positively and is inclined to impose this additional 10% tariff. He says there will be no exceptions to this policy. He's been very critical of China, for example, for dumping goods cheaply and India for high tariffs. Now I spoke to India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal last month. He told me where they have high tariffs in place. It's there to protect his economy against predatory pricing. David Waddell, speaking to me earlier, where are you from? For many, this is a question we can answer without a second thought. But for so called third culture kids, children raised between cultures due to migration, it often triggers their struggles with identity. Some are finding creative ways to turn that cultural confusion into strength. Our reporter Mesa Alsasi meets women in the UK who are using food, art and writing to reclaim their stories and reshape what it means to belong. In a small kitchen in London, aromas of cumin and onions fill the room. Here you'll often find Dina Maki preparing dishes inspired by her Arab and East African heritage. Born in the UK to Omani Zanzibari parents, Dina grappled with a sense of belonging. So I definitely, by normal standards, don't look like any of the cultures I'm technically from. I'm either too dark skinned for the English side, for the Omani side, I don't have the right hair. I have very curly hair. And then for the Zanzibari side, I'm way too light skinned. I look too Arab. Growing up in the uk, Dina was desperate to hide who she was. I was constantly trying to fit in at school, everything. So most of my friends were blonde, blue eyed. I was constantly straightening my hair, plucking my eyebrows as thin as possible. It's the story of many third culture kids, children of migrant parents who grew up between cultures, between cities, between languages, never fully belonging anywhere. At about 26, I realized that I had to write the story that I needed to read. Alia Moro is an Egyptian author who spent most of her life moving around from Egypt to Switzerland, then to London. One of the first things that made me really realize that I was other was when this boy had a crush on me. We were like eight and the girls in my class were like, why does he like you? You're brown. Alia turned that sense of being other to fuel her writing. Years of in betweenness became stories in her book the Greater Freedom, written not just for herself, but for women like her, also trapped in societal expectations of them. For so long, I felt like it was more important to belong to others than to belong to myself. And I think, yeah, a big part of my unlearning has been realizing that that is not the case. While Alia found clarity through her writing, others have sought connection through community. Like Aisha Erkin, who is of Turkic and Arab heritage. She founded the Brown Girls Food Club to create a space for People like her searching for a sense of belonging. I think the thing with being a third culture, kid, is you have to learn who actually am I, and what's the most important thing about my roots. People want to have a community, but they don't know where to start. And I always say, like, the best way to make friends is sharing a meal. And that, like, kind of eases you into conversation. I am technically making my breakfast, just like Aisha. Food also became a way for Dina to understand her identity. It started when she moved away from university and struggled to find meals during Ramadan. She began calling her family back home for help with cooking the dishes she grew up eating. And at that time, I couldn't even say the dishes in Swahili or Arabic. I started cooking those recipes, feeding my housemates, and that's when I started to fall in love with it. And I was like, wow, our food has so much history. That spark lit a fire. Today Dina's an author with a published cookbook. I would tell younger Dina, don't be embarrassed. Tell them that your hair is beautiful. Invite them over to your skin, smelly house. Of all the curries. Speak the language. Tell everyone you speak another language. You're not going to know any of them when you're older, and you're going to be completely fine. In a world quick to demand allegiance to just one identity, these women are crafting their own through food, through stories, through art. Mesa Asassi reporting. And finally, musicians of all ages gathered in the German town of Recklinhausen on Sunday with just one mission in mind. They were determined to break the record for the largest string orchestra in the world, performing Beethoven's Ode to Joy, which is also the official European anthem. Wendy Urquhart reports. They arrived by the hundreds with cellos, violins, and other string instruments tucked under their arms, many dressed in water proofs to keep the drizzle off. 13:53 Performers answered the call, and they came from all over the country, determined to smash the previous record of 1,201, which was set in Hong Kong in 2018. Dozens of performers took their place on stage, while hundreds of others were seated in Rachlinhausen town square. Westphaln Philharmonic Orchestra general music director Rasmus Baumann conducted the event. We're playing Ode to Joy. It's the last part of Beethoven's ninth Symphony, which has become the European anthem. The idea that music connects people is ideal for such an occasion. It's a fitting choice. Ludwig van Beethoven was born in the German city of Bonn in December 1770. He became one of the most revered composers of all time and first performed Ode to Joy live on stage in Vienna in 1824. Musicians of all ages helped break the record on Sunday, and participant Rutte Kutkin said such a show of intergenerational unity bodes well for the future of classical music in Germany. I'm glad that so many young people are still here, he says. Thank goodness there's a new generation emerging. We could be really proud that we've managed to get this off the ground. Ads and it was a really good initiative and great fun. When the concert came to an end, a huge cheer went up as the audience and participants were showered with confetti. Wendy Urquhart reporting. And that's all from us for now. But there'll be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcastbc.co.uk. you can also find us on XBCWorldService. Use the hashtag globalnewspod. This edition was mixed by Adrian Bhargava and the producer was Stephanie Prentice. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Will Vernon. Until next time. Goodbye.