World is gripped by fatal lunch

It’s the shocking story that’s gripped the nation and the world.

The typically sleepy Victorian town of Leongatha was thrust into the spotlight after a family lunch turned deadly.

Erin Patterson invited four of her former in-laws over to her home and cooked them a beef wellington dish allegedly laced with poisonous mushrooms in July last year.

Within days, three were dead. Months later, Ms Patterson was charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.

At the time, Victoria Police Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said the media’s interest was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

“Over the last three months, this investigation has been subject to incredibly intense levels of public scrutiny and curiosity,” he said.

“I cannot think of another investigation that has generated this level of media and public interest, not only here in Victoria but nationally and internationally.”

Overseas, Ms Patterson’s arrest was splashed across newspapers and websites of some of the biggest media publications including The New York Times, CNN, The Washington Post, the BBC and The Times of London.

Last year, there were more than 1700 broadcast search results across the globe with coverage making headlines anywhere from the United States to England, Singapore and Trinidad.

RMIT behavioural economist Meg Elkins said the case fascinated people because it involved allegations “beyond” normal human behaviour.

“The human brain has a natural tendency to want to be able to solve puzzles,” she said.

“It’s why people are attracted to things like crime dramas and podcasts … you look at what podcasts are getting the most amount of hits. It’s often ones that are around those human stories of people doing things that are well beyond what normal human behaviour is. That’s what we find fascinating.”

Despite the global interest, Inspector Thomas said families’ grief remained at the heart of the case. He said: “I think it’s particularly important that we keep in mind that three people have lost their lives – they were by all accounts beloved in their communities and are greatly missed by their loved ones.”