After being offered upwards of $500,000 by various media companies to talk about his estranged wife Erin Patterson, Simon Patterson is taking matters into his own hands by reportedly launching a media company to share his side of the mushroom murders.
Collaborating with his crisis communications manager Jessica O’Donnell, Simon will be launching a ten-episode podcast series about the deaths of his parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and aunt Heather Wilkinson.
He also reportedly has plans to turn the podcast into a series that share the stories of other victims of crime.
“He wants to be in control of the message, to have complete agency over it and make the edits himself,” a source told news.com.au.
Along with the $500,000 offer from a UK-based media outlet, Simon has rejected lucrative offers from a range of international and local media companies including Netflix, Paramount, Seven and Nine for an exclusive tell-all.
HELPING HIS COMMUNITY GRIEVE
After Patterson was found guilty, it was revealed the 50-year-old mother of two attempted to poison Simon multiple times in the lead-up to the fatal lunch at her Leongatha home in July 2023.
Between November 2021 and September 2022, it’s alleged Patterson tried to poison Simon with a chicken curry, a vegetable wrap and a penne pasta dish.
On one alleged attempt, Simon had to be placed into an induced coma, and and had part of his bowel removed.
Now his ex-wife has been sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 33 years for the deaths of Don, Gail and Heather, as well as 25 years for attempting to kill Ian Wilkinson, Simon is also reportedly planning to write a memoir and produce an e-book based on the podcast episodes.
At a pre-trial hearing in 2024, Simon said he was compelled to share his story to help his local community grieve.
During the ten-week trial, Simon testified about his “strained relationship” and “toxic” marriage to Patterson. He was also not permitted to sit in court to watch the proceedings until he had finished giving his testimony which he admitted was “very difficult”.
“I have a lot to grieve and am grieving a lot about all this stuff here as I’m sure you can imagine,” he told Justice Christopher Beale after the guilty verdict was returned.
“One thing that is really difficult is not being able to follow along throughout the trial.”
Simon also requested to have access to the court transcripts to help him process the case.
MUSHROOM MURDER MOVIES
Locally, Stan will be launching a documentary series, Revealed – Death Cap Murders that plans to unravel how a quiet family lunch turned into a triple murder case with new details and untold truths.
Netflix is also reportedly cooking up a telemovie about the case and have reportedly cast Aussie actress Mandy McElhinney to play the convicted killer.
“Mandy’s perfect for the role of Erin Patterson,” an insider told Woman’s Day. “She’s very talented and experienced with dramatic roles… and who could ever forget her breakout role as Rhonda the safe driver!”
At least three books about the murders are in the works over the coming months from authors such as Helen Garner and former detective Duncan McNab.
