“Other than that, I have nothing to say and I won’t be talking to anyone. Thank you for respecting my privacy.”
Maehashi’s cookbook Dinner was featured as evidence in the shocking murder trial that lasted 40 days.
When police searched Patterson’s house on August 5, 2023, they found a copy of the popular recipe book with the recipe for beef Wellington “spattered” with evidence that it had been followed.
Patterson would later confirm to the court that she followed the beef Wellington recipe but had made a few deviations.
During the trial, it was alleged that Patterson deviated from the recipe so she could make individual portions of the deadly Wellington to ensure she would not accidentally consume it herself.
On Monday, after seven days of deliberations, the jury unanimously found Patterson guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
Prosecutors argued the only reasonable explanation for what happened is Patterson knowingly seeking out death cap mushrooms and including them in the lunch on July 29, 2023, intending to kill or seriously injure her guests.
Her defence, on the other hand, argued tha Patterson accidentally included the deadly mushrooms and acted poorly out of panic that she would be wrongly blamed.
Patterson’s parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, died from multiple organ failure linked to mushroom poisoning in the week following the lunch.
She will return to court at a later date for sentencing.
