A friend of mushroom cook Erin Patterson has vowed to stand by the convicted triple murderer, after Monday’s verdicts.

Patterson, who faces a potential life sentence in jail after the jury findings, wore a paisley blouse and sat silently between two custody officers in court.

She blinked but appeared emotionless as four guilty verdicts were read out by the jury’s foreperson to a packed courtroom in regional Victoria on Monday afternoon.

She was found guilty of the murders of her former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66. All died in hospital days after eating Patterson’s beef Wellington lunch

Ian Wilkinson became sick but survived. Patterson was also found guilty of his attempted murder.

Outside court, after the verdict was read out on Monday, one of Patterson’s friends, Ali Rose Prior, said she was “saddened” by the verdict.

“I’m saddened. I didn’t have any expectations, it’s the justice system and it has to be what it is,” the Prior, who was surrounded by a massive media scrum as she left the court in regional Victoria, said. 

Prior, who attended the whole 10-week trial, said Patterson had told her she would “see her soon” before she left the court.

“I’m her friend. I will visit her,” she said.

Patterson, who spent eight days on the stand during her trial in the Victorian Supreme Court trial at Morwell, claimed she had not intentionally poisoned her lunch guests with beef Wellington parcels.

She claimed deaths of three members of her estranged husband Simon’s family were a terrible accident, and she may have accidentally included foraged mushrooms in the meal.

Prosecutors laid out an extensive circumstantial case during Patterson’s trial to prove the poisoning event was deliberate.

This included evidence from Wilkinson, who said Patterson had served individual beef Wellingtons to her guests on different plates to her own.

The prosecution accused Patterson of lying to police, including denying that she foraged for mushrooms in the meal and saying she didn’t own a dehydrator.

She also lied to public health investigators, who were searching to find the source of poisonous mushrooms after Patterson claimed they may be from an Asian store.

Patterson lied to doctors, nurses and toxicologists while they were trying to identify why her lunch guests were sick and save their lives at hospital.

In the witness box, she revealed for the first time that she enjoyed foraging for wild mushrooms, admitting she started mushrooming in 2020 during the pandemic.

“They tasted good and I didn’t get sick,” she told the jury about preparing and eating wild fungi for the first time.

After hearing more than two months of evidence, a jury of 14 was whittled down to 12 jurors who retired to deliberate on their verdicts one week ago, on June 30.

They returned after deliberating for seven days with a four guilty verdicts, convicting the 50-year-old of three murders and one attempted murder.

Defence barrister Colin Mandy SC leaves court after Monday’s verdicts. Photo: AAP

Victoria Police released a statement acknowledging the jury’s decision.

“Our thoughts are with the respective families at this time and we acknowledge how difficult these past two years have been for them,” it said.

“We will continue to support them in every way possible following this decision.

“We would also like to acknowledge the work of homicide squad detectives over the course of this complex investigation, as well as the significant support received from a number of other areas across Victoria Police.”

They said there would be no statement from the Patterson and Wilkinson families, who had requested privacy.

Detective Leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall, who was in charge of the police investigation, left court without commenting.

Erin Patterson’s barrister, Colin Mandy SC, also left without any comment.

She will return to the court for a pre-sentence hearing later this year.

-with AAP