Mushroom lunch cook pleads not guilty to murder

An Australian woman who allegedly killed three people with a poisonous mushroom lunch has pleaded not guilty to murder.

Erin Patterson, 49, is facing three murder charges and two counts of attempted murder over the fatal meal in July last year.

Police also allege she tried to kill her ex-husband on three other occasions.

Ms Patterson has always maintained her innocence.

The case has gripped the world and thrown the small regional Victorian town of Leongatha into the spotlight.

Police alleged Ms Patterson had invited her former in-laws Gail and Don Patterson, along with Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson and Heather's husband Ian, over for lunch at her home on 29 July. Her estranged husband Simon Patterson could not attend last minute.

All four of her guests fell ill within hours of the meal, detectives say, with Gail, Don and Heather dying soon after.

Ms Patterson has repeatedly said she did not intentionally poison her guests.

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