Creepy 'Satanic death wall' found in home of suspected mushroom poisoning cook

15 August 2023 , 10:14

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Erin Patterson, 48, told police she bought the mushrooms from an Asian supermarket and was unaware of their toxicity

A decorator claims the woman accused of poisoning her in-laws with lethal mushrooms had a "death wall" in her home that was covered with Satanic graffiti.

Erin Patterson, 48, was investigated after hosting a fatal lunch for family members in Gippsland, in Australia's Victoria at the end of July. Three of her in-laws were killed by toxic mushrooms - thought to be the lethal death cap fungus - with one victim still in a coma.

Now a tradesman says he was employed to remove disturbing scribbles on one of the inside walls of Erin's home in Korumburra, where she and her ex Simon lived before their split. It's thought their two children also lived with them there. The worker claims he was asked to remove the graffiti ahead of the couple selling the $545,000AUD (£275,000) home.

Daily Mail Australia reported that the graffiti was made up of images of grave stones, as well as rambling lines of text penned in red and black ink and focused on dark topics. The paper claimed that the red ink was used to symbolise blood.

The tradesman said that when talking about the "disturbing" feature, he "called it the death wall. He added: "They were done by their (the Pattersons') daughter. It is pretty disturbing for mum to let the kids draw on their dining room wall."

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Gail and Don Patterson, the parents of Erin's estranged ex-husband Simon (Nine)

The drawings, which are about the size of a poster, show daggers and decapitated heads surrounding two tombstones. The dark quotes include the words, "You are dead by the sword", "you will die within a year", with one of them dated as August 1, 2021.

The man, who asked to remain anonymous, had to slap six coats of paint over the deranged scribbles so they could be covered. A different individual who saw them branded the writing and images as "Satanic".

The tradesman, who does not wish to be named, said it took six coats of paint to cover the scrawlings. Another person who saw the images described them as "Satanic".

On Friday, Victoria Police revealed that their suspicions of Erin having purposefully killed her dinner guests were mislead and that they have cleared her of all charges, saying that it was a tragic accident.

Their family home is alleged to have been covered in "Satanic graffiti", which their daughter allegedly scrawled on the walls (Nine)

In a written statement sent to Victoria Police on Friday Erin spoke of her hurt over people immediately assuming she was a murderess.

"I am now wanting to clear up the record because I have become extremely stressed and overwhelmed by the deaths of my loved ones," she said.

"I am hoping this statement might help in some way. I believe if people understood the background more, they would not be so quick to rush to judgement.

"I am now devastated to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to the illness suffered by my loved ones. I really want to repeat that I had absolutely no reason to hurt these people whom I loved."

Erin's estranged ex Simon pulled out of the dinner at last minute

In the statement, she also said that she prepared the meal before she let the guests pick their own plates. She then took the last one and ate the Beef Wellington. Erin explained she was put on a saline drip and offered a "liver protective drug" after she complained of stomach pains and diarrhoea.

Erin did confess to lying to police during their investigation, admitting that she wasn't honest about how long ago she dumped a food dehydrator at a local tip.

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She invited her ex-husband's parents Gail and Don Patterson alongside Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian for the meal, as part of a planned reconciliation with her ex Simon Patterson, who ended up dropping out. Days later, three of the guests had passed away from suspected mushroom poisoning from the beef Wellington she made on July 29.

Erin said Simon asked her about the dehydrator and said: "Is that what you used to poison them?" The mum said it caused her to panic so she threw it away. She has since told the police that she disposed of it a "long time ago."

Ryan Fahey