The Australian woman at the centre of the deadly mushroom meal mystery that made international headlines has appeared in court to face three counts of murder.
Erin Patterson was arrested after she allegedly poisoned her ex-husband's family by serving them beef wellington laced with death cap mushrooms, killing three of the four guests.
Patterson appeared at Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court in Morwell, Victoria on Monday morning (local time) by video link from prison.
Magistrate Tim Walsh said the court could not accommodate Patterson's committal hearing until next year, as it was servicing six courts out of one location, according to local media outlet 9News.
He asked Patterson's barrister, Colin Mandy SC, if the case could be moved to Melbourne Magistrates Court or fast-tracked to the Supreme Court. However, Mandy said Patterson wanted the hearing to be heard at the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court.
"If it happens next year, then Ms Patterson's content to wait for that," Mandy reportedly told the court.
The magistrate pointed out Morwell was not Patterson's home, rather she lived in Leongatha, 84 miles southeast of Melbourne. Mandy said it is close to her home and "in the context of regional Victoria".
The case was adjourned to a committal mention on May 7, when Walsh will decide whether to move it to Melbourne. Patterson was remanded in custody.
Patterson is accused of murdering her former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66.
All three died in hospital days after eating a meal allegedly containing deadly mushrooms.
A fourth person, Wilkinson's husband Ian, was hospitalised in a critical condition. He was released from the hospital in September.
Patterson is also accused of attempting to kill her husband Simon on four separate occasions between 2021 and 2022, one of those being the deadly lunch, however, he did not attend.
Patterson has been behind bars since November after Victoria Police arrested and charged her with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.
She has been kept at the maximum-security Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, in west Melbourne.
Newshub.
