Global News Podcast - Australian woman guilty of murder in toxic mushroom trial

Episode Date: July 7, 2025

Australian Erin Patterson guilty of murdering three relatives with a beef wellington laced with death cap mushrooms. Also: 20 years since the London 7/7 bombings, and the latest on rescue efforts after Texas floods.

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A conviction for Erin Paterson, the Australian woman who murdered her relatives with poisonous mushrooms. Tear gas and roadblocks in the Kenyan capital as pro-democracy protesters take to the streets. And memorial services in London, marking 20 years since the 7-7 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, Dawn 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. Well, 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 Shyamakaleel was in the courtroom in the small town of Morewell 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 that break, everyone's phones started pinging, including mine. And it said, Supreme Court, you know, and that 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 one side for the jury, you're faced by the judge on a higher platform and then Erin 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 Erin 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 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 didn't mean to do this. But in that moment, everyone was clear that the jury didn't believe 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 Shai Mechalil. Well as journalists and members of the public descended on the small town of Morewell, 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 showed she'd used the website

to view sightings of death cap 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.

How are you? I just can't believe it. 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 Gail'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. Erin 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 love cookbooks, only with an alternative ingredient, death cap mushrooms. Hours later, the guests fell ill and rapidly got sicker. Within days, Dawn, G 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 had stayed quiet. You told police you loved Don and Gail, the prosecutor put to her during cross-examination. Surely if you'd loved 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. 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 Sabah Sabah 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 centre 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 25th 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, 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 quite some time now, and many of them have been angry by 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 25th anniversary protests, police had actually cordoned off a section of the central business district rather a tight circle within the city. But what they've got 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 with. That was the BBC's Ian Wafoola 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 7th 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 faces of those attending lit up by candlelight. Benedetta Ciaccia, 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 9-11 when I happened to be a Washington correspondent for the BBC on 7-7, and that is you get those initial explanations, it's an accident, a plane had flown into the World Trade Centre by mistake, or in the case of the 7-7 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 and I was at Paddington station which is just one stop away from where one of the bombs went off at the Edgeware 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 there going to be more such attacks? And Rob, how do you think 7.7 changed the way that counter-terrorism was conducted in Britain? Well, it was already changing because of the 9-11 attacks, which I mentioned a second ago. In other words, the British state, their counter-terrorism efforts had thought and 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 programme known as Prevent and essentially what that did and in fact still does is try to identify those, whether they're Islamic extremists or people on the rise, 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 programme. Some see it as the sort of securitisation 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. But 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. I just bought that bed. I wonder if this is all my baby pictures and stuff that my aunt been holding on for years. 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 floods. On Friday, heavy rains caused the Guadalupe River to rise more than 26 feet in less than an hour, sweeping away mobile homes, vehicles, and holiday cabins where people were spending the 4th 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 odd 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 daughter's 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 have 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 or form or anything."

But with each hour that passes, the hope of finding any of the missing alive is falling. Nim Kidd, who heads Texas' emergency 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 in 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 so much 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. Alma 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 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. 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 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 on this podcast. Why hundreds of musicians from all over the world met up on a rainy day in Germany. This podcast is brought to you by Wise. Wise is the fast, affordable way to get the currency you need at your fingertips. Tap the WISE Multi-Currency Card to spend pounds in London

or download the app to move pesos to Mexico City. WISE always gives you a fair exchange rate with no markups and no hidden fees. So when you send, spend or receive money with WISE, you'll get the real deal for your money anywhere in the world. 12 million customers managing their international money with WISE can't be wrong. Download the WISE app today or visit WISE.com. T's and T's apply. Looking to reassure your operations? Global conversations about tariffs make now the time to act. Puerto Rico is the ideal place, a US jurisdiction with lower costs, made in USA labelling and unmatched incentives. Join global leaders like Amgen and Eli Lilly in US investpr.org slash resure to get started. 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. We're 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 the 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. And 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

or deals 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 accompli. 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 deadline that had been announced, the 9th of 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 imports from lots of countries around the world. They may raise billions of dollars for the US public finances if the broader economic harm 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 bricks? Why is he doing that? Well, let me first just outline who the bricks 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 worldview that is much like the United States. Indeed at the BRIC Summit that's been taking place over the past couple of days in Brazil the group criticized the US over its recent strikes at 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. World Finance Minister 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 Maysir Assasi 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. 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 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 Aysha Erkin who is of Turkic and Arab heritage. community like Aysha 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 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 Asasi reporting. And finally, musicians of all ages gathered in the German town of Recklenhausen 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 waterproofs to keep the drizzle off. 1,353 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 Recklenhausen town square. Vestfohlen, Vilharmonik Orchestra General Music Director Rasmus Baumann conducted the event. We're playing Ode to Joy. It's the last part of Beethoven's 9th 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 Outer Joy live on stage in Vienna in 1824. Musicians of all ages helped break the record on Sunday and participant Ruther Kutgen 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 can be really proud that we've managed to get this off the ground, ads and Stiepelde. 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 globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag globalnewspod. This edition was mixed by Adrian Bargova and the producer was Stephanie Prentiss. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Will Vernon. Until next time, goodbye.