Erin Patterson had been charged with three counts of murder and five of attempted murder.
Accused triple murderer mushroom chef Erin Patterson has been dealt another blow ahead of her trial following the revelations she has been denied a share of her former father-in-law’s multimillion-dollar inheritance.
Patterson was accused of murdering her former father-in-law Don Patterson, his wife Gail and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson after they ate poisonous mushrooms in a beef wellington dish served during lunch at her home on July 29 last year.
All three died in hospital days after eating a meal containing deadly mushrooms. Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson miraculously survived after he spent two months in hospital.
Now it has been revealed Erin was left nothing in Don’s $2.6m will. She was the estranged wife of Don’s son Simon.
According to Supreme Court documents obtained by the Herald Sun, Don divided his estate up between his three sons, Simon, Matthew and Nathan Patterson and daughter Anna Terrington.
Don also omitted Erin and Simon’s two children from the will.
The Herald Sun reported that Don’s assets consist of a $680,000 home in Korumburra, a $695,000 unit in Melbourne, $634,000 in superannuation, $516,000 in shares, $88,000 in cash, and a $30,000 campervan.
Erin Patterson pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.
Three of her attempted murder charges are related to her estranged husband following “three separate incidents” where he fell ill between 2021 and 2022.
A source close to Simon told the Herald Sun in 2023 that he claimed Erin had tried to poison him through an “ingested toxin”.
The Herald Sun reported that the family friend said Simon felt “a bit off” and that his illnesses “often coincided when he spent time with her”.
Simon has refused to speak about the fatal lunch served up by his ex-wife in July, but last year revealed on social media that he had nearly died from a mysterious gut illness that left him in a coma.
“I collapsed at home, then was in an induced coma for 16 days through which I had three emergency operations mainly on my small intestine, plus an additional planned operation,” he wrote in May 2022.
“My family were asked to come and say goodbye to me twice, as I was not expected to live.”
He was in intensive care for 21 days before starting to recover.
“I’ve been feeling great for many days. I feel no pain, and it all seems to have no impact on my personality, character or anything else much,” the post read.
A source close to the family addressed the 2022 illness, telling the Herald Sun Simon thought he ingested poison “through nightshade plants”.
The allegation came after it was revealed Simon was invited to the deadly July 29 lunch that killed three people but suddenly had to pull out “at the last minute”.