An alleged murderer testifying as a witness in their own defence is a rare strategy and normally a last resort.

Erin Patterson has been found guilty of murdering three of her estranged husband’s relatives, who died after she deliberately served them poisonous mushrooms for lunch.

Erin Patterson, 50, is facing three charges of murder, and one charge of attempted murder, after hosting a fatal beef wellington lunch in July 2023. Three people died in hospital in the days after Ms Patterson’s lunch: Ms Patterson's in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66.