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An Australian woman, Erin Patterson, is standing trial accused of murdering three relatives and attempting to kill another by serving them beef Wellington laced with toxic mushrooms. The 50-year-old has pleaded not guilty, claiming the fatalities were a tragic accident.

Prosecutors have suggested that photos found on Ms Patterson's phone show her calculating a lethal dose of wild mushrooms using kitchen scales. These images are alleged to depict her weighing the toxic fungi before the deadly lunch held in regional Victoria in July 2023. Ms Patterson admitted to taking the photos but denied any knowledge that the mushrooms were lethal death caps.

The victims, Ms Patterson's in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, fell severely ill and passed away within days of the meal. Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, a local pastor, survived after being hospitalized and induced into a coma for several weeks.

In court on Monday, Ms Patterson took the stand as the first defense witness. Under cross-examination, she confessed to foraging for wild mushrooms in the months leading up to the incident, despite previously denying this to police and health officials. When asked about images showing mushrooms being weighed, Ms Patterson said these could be related to her attempt to incorporate more vegetables into meals for her children and not for calculating fatal doses.

Prosecutors presented evidence from a fungi expert who asserted that the mushrooms in the photos were "highly consistent" with death caps. The expert alleged Ms Patterson had likely foraged these mushrooms and had even visited a town called Loch after seeing a post on a site called iNaturalist about the toxic fungi.

The court was shown CCTV footage of Ms Patterson disposing of a food dehydrator, which prosecutors believe she used to prepare the fatal lunch. Ms Patterson argued that she got rid of the appliance out of fear rather than guilt, and attributed her prior lies to police to panic and poor judgment.

Ms Patterson also addressed deceptive statements she had made about her health to her relatives, admitting she should not have misled them about having cancer. However, she firmly denied that the lunch was orchestrated with malicious intent, insisting that she never purposefully included poisonous mushrooms in the meal.

The trial, initially projected to last six weeks, has now been extended by at least another fortnight, continuing this complex and emotionally charged case.