Victim of deadly lunch that left three dead noticed 'odd detail' before they died

One of the guests who died after eating the beef wellington lunch prepared by Erin Patterson shared a shocking observation before they died

Erin Patterson, from Leongatha, is charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, after her estranged husband’s family died eating death cap mushrooms, which can be fatal even when consumed in small amounts.

She invited her former in-laws, Gail and Don Patterson as well as Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson and Heather's husband, Reverend Ian Wilkinson, to have lunch at her home.

She prepared for the group a homemade beef wellington, which subsequently made all four guests ill with Mrs Wilkinson and Mrs Patterson both passing away, while Mr Patterson died the next day.

Erin Patterson

Mr Wilkinson miraculously survived after weeks of treatment and a liver transplant in hospital.

Ms Patterson invited her estranged ex-husband Simon to join the group for lunch and after initially agreeing to attend, the ex-husband sent a text message to his ex-wife, where he said he 'felt too uncomfortable' about coming to lunch.

Once the fateful lunch had taken place and Simon was in hospital taking care of his sick parents, he spoke with his aunt Heather Wilkinson who asked him a very concerning question.

She recalled noticing that Ms Patterson had put her own food on a different plate at the lunch, the prosector told the court.

Simon was told Ms Patterson's plate had colours on it.

Heather Wilkinson passed away (7News)

"Does Erin have a shortage of crockery? I have been wondering about it since yesterday," she asked, according to the prosecutor.

The court also heard how she made up a lie regarding her health in order to allegedly make sure her two kids didn't attend the lunch.

According to Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers, Patterson announced to the group that she had cancer and wanted advice on how to 'break it to their children'.

Rogers continues to say that the group told Patterson that it was 'best to be honest with the children', and 'prayed as a group for the accused’s health and wisdom in relation to telling the children'.

"It is the prosecution case, the accused used the false claim of cancer to ensure and explain why the children would not be present at that lunch on July 29." Rogers added.

Patterson’s defence lawyer, Colin Mandy SC, agreed that it was not disputed by both defence and prosecutors that Patterson had lied about her cancer diagnosis.

Ms Patterson has maintained her innocence, with the defence claiming that she 'didn't intend to cause anyone any harm'.