Erin Patterson told friends she was ‘hiding powdered mushrooms in everything'

Erin Patterson has been charged with three counts of murder (Picture: Reuters)

A woman who is accused of poisoning her family members with mushrooms described how she was ‘hiding’ them in dishes – including brownies,a court has heard.

Erin Patterson faces three murder charges after her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson,and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson,died in the hospital in July 2023.

The mum is also accused of attempting to murder Heather’s husband Ian,who was the only survivor of the meal allegedly prepared by Erin.

They are thought to have eaten poisonous mushrooms after enjoying a beef wellington dish cooked by Patterson at her home in Leongatha,Victoria.

Erin’s ex-husband Simon Patterson was meant to have attended the meal,but he cancelled last minute,saying he felt ‘too uncomfortable’ about the gathering.

A woman who met Erin through a true crime forum on Facebook has said the accused killer was a ‘bit of a super sleuth.’

Christine Hunt told the court today how the pair met around six years ago through a group formed to discuss the trial of Keli Lane,which first had about 2,000 members.

The group chatted about current affairs,royalty,politics – and more intimate topics like their families while Erin also opened up about being a single mum,DailyMail Australia said.

Some of Patterson’s Facebook posts to the group were shown in court,including photos of a dehydrator that she had bought.

‘I’ve been hiding powdered mushrooms in everything. Mixed it into chocolate brownies yesterday,the kids had no idea’ Patterson said in one message to the group,The Guardian reported.

Daniela Barkley,one of the members of the group who also gave evidence in the hearing this morning,said soon afterwards Patterson asked if anyone had cooked beef wellington,and if they had advice for the dish.

She added that Patterson posted a lot about her children,adding: ‘That’s all she cared about in life,I think … yeah,I thought she was a wonderful mother.’

The group was later reduced to around 30 people following ‘disagreement and disharmony,’ Christine said.

Erin’s usernames included her full name,‘Erin Erin’ and later ‘Erin Erin Erin’

Christine said: ‘She was well-regarded,’ Ms Hunt said of Patterson. ‘She was a really good researcher. She was a bit of a super sleuth.

‘Patterson shared lots about the kids,Lego,buying the house at Leongatha.

‘Information about herself,her husband,the challenges she was facing,the difficulties she had as a single mum.’

She felt her relationship with Erin was always ‘good’ and there weren’t ‘any problems with her at that time,’ Christine added.

Don,Gail and Heather’s symptoms were described as being consistent with poisoning by death cap mushrooms.

It is a dull green fungus known as Amanita phalloides and can lead to serious organ failure within 24 to 48 hours.

Erin’s ex-husband Simon was questioned in court about her behaviour as his parents were dying in hospital.

Simon denied that Erin had asked about the health of his parents during a phone call,which he said he thought ‘that would be something that she’d be interested in asking about.’

He said he thought at the time that it is ‘odd.’

The trial continues.