May 23, 2025 • 9 mins
Two years ago, four relatives were on the brink of death in hospital after consuming a beef wellington lunch. In court today, their doctor reveals how he fought to save them - and how one survived.
The Mushroom Cook team is Brooke Grebert-Craig, Laura Placella, Anthony Dowsley, Jordy Atkinson and Jonty Burton.
Editing assistance by our intern Jasmine Geddes.
The Mushroom Cook is a Herald Sun production for True Crime Australia.Go to themushroomcook.com.au for news, features, previous episodes and more
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
He was sedated and intubated. That's correct, yes, So in
an induced coma.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
He was on a breathing machine, so on life support
ventilation with the tube bown into his windpipe through his
mouth and receiving medication to assist his comfort. During that time.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
It was a cold morning in more Well today and
inside the La Troe Valley Law Courts, Crown Prosecutor Sarah
Lenthal asked an intensive care doctor about the condition of
the guests at that deadly mushroom lunch.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Now we have been discussing his treatment on thirty one July.
How is Donald Patterson's condition? By the next day, one August.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
He continued to deteriorate despite very aggressive treatment. Really, the
measures that we were observing, both clinically and on investigations,
we're moving in the wrong direction. We were very, very worried
about his progress. He was getting worse.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
A week that had been about technical evidence ended on
a human note, and there to hear it. Sitting quietly
in court was Ian Wilkinson, the guest who lost his
wife to deathcap mushroom poisoning. I'm Brooke greebt Craig, and
this is the mushroom cook It's the end of week
(01:19):
four of Aaron Patterson's murder trial, and once again I'm
joined by my colleague, court reporter Laura PLASSELLA.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Happy as always to be here with you, Brooke, but
it seems like our makeshift podcast studio is unhappy with us.
We're having a technical difficulty or two today, but we're
soldiering on, Yes we are.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
We had a super short day in court today. We
only heard from one witness and that was doctor Stephen Warrelowe,
whose words you heard at the top of the episode.
He's an intensive care specialist at the Austin Hospital in Melbourne,
and he told the jury that he treated don Gale Patterson,
and Gail's sister Heather and her husband Ian Wilkinson while
(02:02):
they were in hospital in the days after that deadly lunch.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
And as you already mentioned, brook Ian was sitting in
court today listening to this evidence, and this was evidence
about the final days of his wife's life and also
evidence about how he battled to survive and ultimately recovered
from toxic mushroom poisoning. After giving evidence in the second
week of the trial, Ian has actually been sitting in
(02:28):
court most days and he's been surrounded by other family members.
So the doctor first gave evidence about Don, so let's
begin with him. Sounds like a plan. Doctor Warlow told
the jury that both Don and Gail arrived at the
Austin Hospital on July thirty one after they were treated
(02:49):
at Dandy Nong Hospital. He said after Don arrived, he
had been diagnosed with acute liver failure and was pretty
quickly sedated and intubated. The Austin Hospital is the state's
liver transplant service. He said that was the reason why
all of these guests came to the hospital because they
(03:09):
were in the best place to receive treatment relating to
the liver. The doctors considered the cause of his liver
failure as well as the other guests to be Amanita
mushroom poisoning, so this is essentially toxic mushroom poisoning. But
doctor Warrelo said that investigations still needed to be made
to rule out any other possible causes. He said this
(03:31):
involved blood tests, imaging, ultrasounds, and even some tests for
some specific viruses so they could just make sure there
was no other cause for this liver failure.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
The jury heard that eventually Don had to undergo a
liver transplant.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Yes, that's right, doctor Warrelo said that despite intensive treatments,
Don continued to deteriorate and that the only possibility of
saving his life was through a liver transplant. Crown prosecutor said,
O Lenthal, who you heard from at the top of
the episode, asked doctor Warlow where the Don's condition improved
after the liver transplant, but he replied no, he got
(04:10):
relentlessly worse. He then told the court that doctors at
the Austin Hospital had no other treatments to offer Don.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
He was dying and sadly, Don passed away on August five,
exactly one week after the lunch. Now let's move on
to Gail Patterson. What did the doctor say about her?
Speaker 4 (04:28):
So Gail arrived again alongside her husband on July thirty one,
and he described how she was very critically ill when
she was admitted by August two. He said her liver
was essentially not working at all and she was in
a state of advanced shock due to multiple organ failure.
The court heard that the same sort of investigations that
(04:49):
were undertaken for Don were also done for her, but
the doctors again concluded that the cause of her organ
failure was toxic mushroom poisoning.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
And Gail didn't undergo a liver transplant, did she No.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
Doctor Warrelo said that all of the specialists came together
to have a conversation around the best course of treatment
for Gail, but it was determined that she was too
sick to undergo such a complex surgery.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
And that's something similar that happened to her sister, Heather Wilkinson, right,
that's right. The sisters had a very similar decline while
they were in the Austin hospital. Heather arrived one day
after Gail on August one with her husband Ian, and
doctor Warrelo said that by August two, she was also
rapidly deteriorating. The court heard that the specialists treating Heather
(05:38):
ultimately concluded that her condition was not survivable. She died
on the same day as her sister, on August four,
and that was one day before gone. Finally the doctor
spoke about Ian.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
So after arriving at the Austin Hospital, doctor Warrelo said
Ian was showing signs of advanced multiple organ failure just
like the other guests. He was extremely unwell, he said,
and something called a plasma exchange was commenced on August three.
Ian was administered a raft of treatments. These included a
(06:11):
drug called NAK which is to protect the liver, as
well as activated charcoal and syllibin, which are targeted medications
for people who are suffering from deathcap mushroom poisoning.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
But the court heard that Ian slowly started to improve.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
That's right, and it seemed like this was almost out
of nowhere. On August four, he was still declining, but
by the next day doctor Warrelo said that there was
some slow and important improvement. He told the court that
it was slow because Ian was coming from a situation
of extreme critical illness.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
The jury heard that Ian was discharged from the ICU
on August twenty one, and eventually he returned home in September.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Miss Lenthal had one final question for doctor Warlow about Ian.
These are their words, it's not their voices.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
How close did Ian Wilkinson come to dying?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
We thought he was going to die. He was very close.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
After Miss Lenthal asked doctor Warlow about all the lunch guests,
there were some questions around amanita mushroom poisoning. Generally, the
doctor walked the jury through the effects this poisoning has
on the body and he said that towards the end
it can be a relentlessly progressive and quite frightening rapid
(07:26):
deterioration into multiple organ failure, were the body's different organ
systems essentially shut down and the patient is at a
very high risk of dying.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
After the doctor was done giving his evidence, Digital forensic
Officer Sharman fox Henry made a quick return to the stand.
That's right.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
It was a very very brief appearance by mister fox
Henry and it was to complete his evidence. In chief.
One of the other Crown prosecutors, Jane Warren, returned mister
fox Henry to the topic. They were talking about, Yesda
being one of the Samsung mobile phones that was seized
by police during the search warrant on August five. Our
(08:07):
listeners may remember that yesterday mister fox Henry confirmed that
a number of factory resets were conducted on this device.
I will just clarify at this point that the dates
of the factory resets were February twelve, August two, August five,
and August six of twenty twenty three. August five was
(08:29):
the date of the search warrant, and August six was
the following day after he was done.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Justice Christopher Bill apologized to the jury. He said, sorry,
it has been a bitsy kind of day, but you
may think on a Friday it's not all bad news.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Yes, the jury got a very early finish today, but
they will be back on Monday to continue hearing evidence,
and so will we. To stay up to date on
all the latest on this case, go to the mushroomcook
dot com dot au and stay tuned for our subscriber
ever Sewed on Sunday with veteran crime reporter Anthony Dowsling
He was sedated and intubated. That's correct, yes, So in
an induced coma.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
He was on a breathing machine, so on life support
ventilation with the tube bown into his windpipe through his
mouth and receiving medication to assist his comfort. During that time.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
It was a cold morning in more Well today and
inside the La Troe Valley Law Courts, Crown Prosecutor Sarah
Lenthal asked an intensive care doctor about the condition of
the guests at that deadly mushroom lunch.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Now we have been discussing his treatment on thirty one July.
How is Donald Patterson's condition? By the next day, one August.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
He continued to deteriorate despite very aggressive treatment. Really, the
measures that we were observing, both clinically and on investigations,
we're moving in the wrong direction. We were very, very worried
about his progress. He was getting worse.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
A week that had been about technical evidence ended on
a human note, and there to hear it. Sitting quietly
in court was Ian Wilkinson, the guest who lost his
wife to deathcap mushroom poisoning. I'm Brooke greebt Craig, and
this is the mushroom cook It's the end of week
(01:19):
four of Aaron Patterson's murder trial, and once again I'm
joined by my colleague, court reporter Laura PLASSELLA.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Happy as always to be here with you, Brooke, but
it seems like our makeshift podcast studio is unhappy with us.
We're having a technical difficulty or two today, but we're
soldiering on, Yes we are.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
We had a super short day in court today. We
only heard from one witness and that was doctor Stephen Warrelowe,
whose words you heard at the top of the episode.
He's an intensive care specialist at the Austin Hospital in Melbourne,
and he told the jury that he treated don Gale Patterson,
and Gail's sister Heather and her husband Ian Wilkinson while
(02:02):
they were in hospital in the days after that deadly lunch.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
And as you already mentioned, brook Ian was sitting in
court today listening to this evidence, and this was evidence
about the final days of his wife's life and also
evidence about how he battled to survive and ultimately recovered
from toxic mushroom poisoning. After giving evidence in the second
week of the trial, Ian has actually been sitting in
(02:28):
court most days and he's been surrounded by other family members.
So the doctor first gave evidence about Don, so let's
begin with him. Sounds like a plan. Doctor Warlow told
the jury that both Don and Gail arrived at the
Austin Hospital on July thirty one after they were treated
(02:49):
at Dandy Nong Hospital. He said after Don arrived, he
had been diagnosed with acute liver failure and was pretty
quickly sedated and intubated. The Austin Hospital is the state's
liver transplant service. He said that was the reason why
all of these guests came to the hospital because they
(03:09):
were in the best place to receive treatment relating to
the liver. The doctors considered the cause of his liver
failure as well as the other guests to be Amanita
mushroom poisoning, so this is essentially toxic mushroom poisoning. But
doctor Warrelo said that investigations still needed to be made
to rule out any other possible causes. He said this
(03:31):
involved blood tests, imaging, ultrasounds, and even some tests for
some specific viruses so they could just make sure there
was no other cause for this liver failure.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
The jury heard that eventually Don had to undergo a
liver transplant.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Yes, that's right, doctor Warrelo said that despite intensive treatments,
Don continued to deteriorate and that the only possibility of
saving his life was through a liver transplant. Crown prosecutor said,
O Lenthal, who you heard from at the top of
the episode, asked doctor Warlow where the Don's condition improved
after the liver transplant, but he replied no, he got
(04:10):
relentlessly worse. He then told the court that doctors at
the Austin Hospital had no other treatments to offer Don.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
He was dying and sadly, Don passed away on August five,
exactly one week after the lunch. Now let's move on
to Gail Patterson. What did the doctor say about her?
Speaker 4 (04:28):
So Gail arrived again alongside her husband on July thirty one,
and he described how she was very critically ill when
she was admitted by August two. He said her liver
was essentially not working at all and she was in
a state of advanced shock due to multiple organ failure.
The court heard that the same sort of investigations that
(04:49):
were undertaken for Don were also done for her, but
the doctors again concluded that the cause of her organ
failure was toxic mushroom poisoning.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
And Gail didn't undergo a liver transplant, did she No.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
Doctor Warrelo said that all of the specialists came together
to have a conversation around the best course of treatment
for Gail, but it was determined that she was too
sick to undergo such a complex surgery.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
And that's something similar that happened to her sister, Heather Wilkinson, right,
that's right. The sisters had a very similar decline while
they were in the Austin hospital. Heather arrived one day
after Gail on August one with her husband Ian, and
doctor Warrelo said that by August two, she was also
rapidly deteriorating. The court heard that the specialists treating Heather
(05:38):
ultimately concluded that her condition was not survivable. She died
on the same day as her sister, on August four,
and that was one day before gone. Finally the doctor
spoke about Ian.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
So after arriving at the Austin Hospital, doctor Warrelo said
Ian was showing signs of advanced multiple organ failure just
like the other guests. He was extremely unwell, he said,
and something called a plasma exchange was commenced on August three.
Ian was administered a raft of treatments. These included a
(06:11):
drug called NAK which is to protect the liver, as
well as activated charcoal and syllibin, which are targeted medications
for people who are suffering from deathcap mushroom poisoning.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
But the court heard that Ian slowly started to improve.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
That's right, and it seemed like this was almost out
of nowhere. On August four, he was still declining, but
by the next day doctor Warrelo said that there was
some slow and important improvement. He told the court that
it was slow because Ian was coming from a situation
of extreme critical illness.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
The jury heard that Ian was discharged from the ICU
on August twenty one, and eventually he returned home in September.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Miss Lenthal had one final question for doctor Warlow about Ian.
These are their words, it's not their voices.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
How close did Ian Wilkinson come to dying?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
We thought he was going to die. He was very close.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
After Miss Lenthal asked doctor Warlow about all the lunch guests,
there were some questions around amanita mushroom poisoning. Generally, the
doctor walked the jury through the effects this poisoning has
on the body and he said that towards the end
it can be a relentlessly progressive and quite frightening rapid
(07:26):
deterioration into multiple organ failure, were the body's different organ
systems essentially shut down and the patient is at a
very high risk of dying.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
After the doctor was done giving his evidence, Digital forensic
Officer Sharman fox Henry made a quick return to the stand.
That's right.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
It was a very very brief appearance by mister fox
Henry and it was to complete his evidence. In chief.
One of the other Crown prosecutors, Jane Warren, returned mister
fox Henry to the topic. They were talking about, Yesda
being one of the Samsung mobile phones that was seized
by police during the search warrant on August five. Our
(08:07):
listeners may remember that yesterday mister fox Henry confirmed that
a number of factory resets were conducted on this device.
I will just clarify at this point that the dates
of the factory resets were February twelve, August two, August five,
and August six of twenty twenty three. August five was
(08:29):
the date of the search warrant, and August six was
the following day after he was done.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Justice Christopher Bill apologized to the jury. He said, sorry,
it has been a bitsy kind of day, but you
may think on a Friday it's not all bad news.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Yes, the jury got a very early finish today, but
they will be back on Monday to continue hearing evidence,
and so will we. To stay up to date on
all the latest on this case, go to the mushroomcook
dot com dot au and stay tuned for our subscriber
ever Sewed on Sunday with veteran crime reporter Anthony Dowsling
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