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The husband of death cap mushroom murderer Erin Patterson will share his story publicly for the first time as he prepares to release a tell-all book.
Simon Patterson, who had been invited to the fatal lunch in 2023 that killed three family members, revealed in court that he had long feared his wife had been poisoning him though meals she cooked for him years after they separated but remained married.
The memoir will mark the first time outside a courtroom that Simon Patterson will tell his story of surviving what he feared were repeated attempts on his life before his parents and aunt died after eating a poisoned beef Wellington.
Details of the publishing company and a final release date are yet to be revealed.
The announcement comes almost three years after Erin Patterson killed in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, and attempted to kill Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson, with the lunch laced with death cap mushrooms at her Leongatha home in regional Victoria.
Simon Patterson’s spokesperson and communications manager, Jessica O’Donnell, who advised him throughout the court process, said the book was still a work in progress and would probably be released after the legal proceedings had concluded.
Last year, both Erin Patterson and the Crown prosecution filed applications to appeal parts of the court process. Erin Patterson is seeking to appeal her conviction, and the prosecution is seeking to appeal her sentence, with any hearing likely to occur later this year.
In an interview with this masthead, O’Donnell said the memoir would be her client’s way to “catalogue” his experiences over the past few years.
“To be able to put something on a bookshelf, that’s enduring, that’s your voice. He knows this will ignite some excitement, we know that, but for now, we’re trying not to give too much away,” she said.
“Throughout the entire process, Simon has been private and will remain so. When the memoir is released, he’ll be able to talk through all of that through his words in his book.
“That’s the best way for him to be able to express all of that.”
O’Donnell said working with Simon Patterson throughout the case had left her questioning how to best support a person under sustained scrutiny for such a long time.
The book launch announcement coincides with O’Donnell’s new career move as she expands her crisis management business to focus on how to help people recover from high-pressure situations, with Simon Patterson her first such client.
“It’s been so all-consuming for so long. It’s a very large story with a lot of interest but a very human story with a lot of people on the other side,” she said.
“Pressure doesn’t create character; it reveals it.
“A formal announcement regarding the memoir, including publisher and timeline, will follow in due course.”
This masthead previously revealed that a key part of the police investigation was that the deaths of Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson weren’t the first time the accused had dabbled with poisons.
Erin Patterson was initially charged with attempting to kill her husband three times, in 2021 and 2022, but that part of the case was withdrawn after a court ruling severed his charges from those relating to the fatal lunch.
Before the charges were withdrawn, the prosecution had maintained there was medical evidence showing Simon Patterson had become severely unwell after eating meals prepared by this wife including during camping trips.
On one occasion he ended up in intensive care in a coma for 16 days before three parts of his bowel were removed during emergency surgery.
The pre-trial hearing was told the killer cooked Simon Patterson penne bolognese on September 19, 2021, before he was hospitalised in Leongatha with gastro-related symptoms. He said he was later served up chicken curry during a trip to Howqua in May 2022, followed by a chicken curry wrap on a trip to Wilsons Promontory in September 2022.
All three times, he ended up in hospital.
On the eve of the trial, the judge was told police had discovered an article on barium carbonate – also known as rat poison – had been accessed on one of Erin Patterson’s electronic devices, and that a medical expert could prove the man’s illness at that time was consistent with that type of poisoning.
When the charges were withdrawn, it meant the jury in the mushroom lunch murder trial never learnt of Simon Patterson’s suspicions.
On September 8, Erin Patterson was sentenced to a term of life in prison with a non-parole period of 33 years for the murder of her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson.
It followed an 11-week trial, sitting at Morwell, that ended with a jury finding the 51-year-old mother of two guilty of all charges, including the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, the Baptist pastor who survived the lunch.
No date has been set for Erin Patterson’s appeal or a decision made on whether any appeal would be heard at all.
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