The $1.2million idyllic country property where Erin Patterson served the fateful mushroom lunch that killed three members of her family is now only an eerie reminder of one of Australia’s most disturbing domestic murder cases.
The two-storey weatherboard home, set on a hectare of land in Victoria’s Gippsland region, was supposed to be the place Patterson would grow old.
But it was inside that very home that Patterson dished up the deadly Beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms that killed her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson.
Heather’s husband, Reverend Ian Wilkinson, was the sole survivor of the lunch.
During her highly-publicised trial, Patterson was asked about her plans for the house.
‘I saw it as the final house,’ she told the jury.
‘Meaning I wanted it to be a house where the children would grow up, where once they moved away for uni or work, they could come back and stay whenever they liked, bring their children, and I’d grow old there. That’s what I hoped.’
Patterson reportedly bought the 1hectare block in 2019 for $260,000 after selling her parents’ beachfront retirement home in Eden for $900,000.
Erin Patterson’s home in Leongatha remains empty and was mortgaged to pay legal fees
Erin Patterson (pictured) bought the 1hectare block of land to build her ‘forever home’ in 2019. She is pictured arriving to Latrobe Valley Magistrate’s Court
While Patterson still owns the Leongatha home, it is now burdened by a mortgage taken out to fund her mounting legal costs.
Just weeks after she was charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder in November 2023, Patterson sold her Mount Waverley investment unit for $1.025 million.
Despite her conviction, questions remain about why her assets, including the Leongatha property, are yet to be frozen by authorities.
Victims’ families may yet seek compensation, but legal experts believe what remains of her estate will end up in a trust for her two children.
Black tarps were erected around the Leongatha house in the lead-up to the verdict, shielding the front door, carport, and verandah from view.
The thick plastic sheeting was reportedly installed by a supporter of Patterson’s, possibly in anticipation of her return.
But just days after the guilty verdict, the tarps were mysteriously removed.
Patterson is being held at the maximum-security Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Ravenhall, more than two hours away from her forever home.
A supporter of Patterson erected a black tarp around the Leongatha home during the trial
Prison sources say the convicted mushroom chef has been targeted by other inmates and was even separated last year over claims she tampered with prison food.
Patterson is expected to be sentenced later this year.
