Mushroom Murderer Joins Most Notorious True-Crime Killers

When Erin Patterson was sentenced on Monday to life in prison, with no chance of parole for 33 years, it marked the end of a courtroom drama that captivated the world. The 50-year-old Australian mother of two argued for eight days on the stand that she’d unknowingly poisoned four of her estranged husband’s relatives — three fatally — with Beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms. A jury didn’t buy it, and Patterson will be in her early 80s before she’s eligible for release.

The saga is far from over.

An entire media ecosystem has sprouted around the “mushroom ...