The fact she had no clear motive was central to her defence team’s arguments. Patterson, who foraged wild mushrooms in her spare time and also ate the beef wellington, claimed that the event was a tragic accident.

The Australian woman was convicted of murdering three elderly relatives of her estranged husband with a meal laced with poisonous mushrooms, and attempting to murder a fourth, in a case that gripped the country.

An Australian woman was on Monday convicted of murdering three elderly relatives of her estranged husband with a meal laced with poisonous mushrooms, in a case that has gripped the country.