The verdict in the murder trial has spawned a variety of media coverage, from podcasts and documentaries to numerous column inches and viral social media posts, captivating a global audience.
In a week of deliberation, a supreme court jury found Victorian woman Erin Patterson guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder after three guests died and one nearly did, following consumption of her homemade beef wellington lunch.
Here’s how newspapers in Australia and around the world covered Monday’s verdict.
In London, the case featured prominently on The Guardian’s front page as well as on two inside pages, where the verdict was reported, alongside details of how Patterson tried to cover up the death cap mushroom poisoning of her relatives.
The Sydney Morning Herald’s front page featured a photograph of Patterson taken through the window of a police vehicle in May, an image only released after the verdict was reached. The mother of two “did not react to the verdict, staring at the jury” as it was read out: guilty.
The Age ran with Patterson’s “death cap stare,” and, like many media outlets, used a photo taken in May. The leftover beef wellington and images of the murder victims also featured on its front page.
The Australian opted for “killer in the kitchen,” dedicating much of its front page to coverage from Morwell, including the possibility that Patterson “could die in jail as the nation’s most notorious female prisoner.”
The West Australian led with “Fungi fatale,” alongside a similar image of Patterson inside a police vehicle. “Death cap cook found guilty of three murders,” the paper stated.
To the Courier Mail, the killer is cooked: “Finally revealed: how evil Erin first gave herself up,” stated the Queensland tabloid.
The Herald Sun also adopted the “cooked” theme, stating justice was “served for cold-blooded killer,” and reported on revelations that Patterson “was crazy,” and why the “quiet country mum turned wicked.”
The UK’s Daily Mail featured a six-page special focusing on the “definitive inside story” of the “mushroom murderer” – and encouraged readers to its YouTube video and podcast coverage of the trial.
“The verdict ends one of Australia’s most intriguing homicide cases”, reported the paper’s Melbourne correspondent.
Over at the BBC, a series of online stories was led by the headline “Australian woman guilty of murdering relatives with toxic mushroom meal.” A video of Patterson discharging herself from Leongatha hospital – another key piece of evidence seen in court – featured prominently in the BBC report.
In the US, the “mushroom poisoning case” also made headlines at the New York Times, which reported Patterson’s conviction came after a trial that had “gripped” Australia.
“The contrast between the banality of the lunch – a quaint small town in dairy country, the familiar menu item, the seemingly typical mother of two – and its lethal outcome seemed to foment more public fascination with the case than with any other murder trial in recent memory,” reported the Times.
