News Review
22 AUGUST 2025 ausdoc. com. au
Dr Chris Webster.
JASON SoUTH / FAIRFAX
A graffiti mural of convicted murderer Erin Patterson in Melbourne, Victoria.
GP’ s trial by social media
Carmel Sparke 6minutes news editor
Dr Chris Webster gave evidence against the‘ mushroom killer’.
DR Chris Webster was on holiday in Queensland with his family when the verdict in Erin Patterson’ s triple-murder trial popped up on his phone.
A jury had convicted Ms Patterson of murdering three family members with death cap mushroom-laced individual beef Wellingtons.
It might have ended a two-year saga that had brought Dr Webster face to face with a killer and given him a star turn in a made-for-TV murder case. It did not.“ I’ m getting worse press than the triple murderer has had— and I’ m a dedicated country GP,” says Dr Webster, from Leongatha in rural Victoria.
“ But it’ s been a fascinating adventure into the world of being a nobody, being an interesting person that everybody wants to know, and then being a pariah, all in the space of 72 hours.”
Dr Webster had been on call at Leongatha Hospital in July 2023 when Ms Patterson presented briefly, saying she had gastroenteritis symptoms.
He had only just digested the information that two of his patients had likely eaten death cap mushrooms in Ms Patterson’ s beef Wellingtons and would almost certainly die.
Ms Patterson then told Dr Webster she had bought the mushrooms from Woolworths.
It was in this moment, Dr Webster would tell the media, that he felt that Ms Patterson must be a“ crazy bitch” and a“ disturbed sociopathic nutbag” who had poisoned four people.
Shortly after presenting, Ms Patterson discharged herself.
When Dr Webster could not contact her, he placed a 000 call that would be played around the world.
“ I have a concern about a patient who presented here earlier but has left the building and is potentially exposed to a fatal toxin from mushroom poisoning,” he told 000.
It was the first time emergency services were aware that several people had eaten death cap mushrooms.
Ms Patterson was eventually convicted of the murder of her in-laws, Gail and Don Patterson; the murder of Gail’ s sister, Heather Wilkinson; and the attempted murder of Heather’ s husband, Ian Wilkinson.
Dr Webster gave evidence at the trial. When it ended, media were free to play his 000 call, calling him a hero who had helped catch a murderer.
They could also publish their prewritten interviews with Dr Webster.
In a Herald Sun article, Dr Webster described his internal reaction when he realised that Ms Patterson may have poisoned his two patients.
“ My thoughts were,‘ Holy f ** king shit, you f ** king did it, you crazy
‘ It’ s been interpreted in such a way that I’ m somehow worse than the murderer.’
bitch, you poisoned them all,’” he had told the paper.
It triggered at least half a dozen patients—“ not a single one of them mine”— to complain to his clinic.
Social media users demanded he be reported to AHPRA, accusing him of misogyny, ableism and breaching patient confidentiality.
“ One commenter said,‘ Sack the prick,’” he told Australian Doctor.
“ Oh my God— sack the prick?
“ Nobody seemed hesitant to slam me in public.
“ I can’ t make sense of why there was such intense vitriol, malice and hatred directed at me.
“ I’ m actually one of the good guys.
“ I’ m not sure how it’ s been interpreted in such a way that I’ m somehow worse than the murderer.”
Others had publicly expressed support for him, he said.
“ One of my favourite comments was,‘ Do you really want to take down a doctor whose practice sees 60,000 patients a year in the country, where they’ re desperately short of doctors? Is that really such a good strategy?’
“ I’ m not sure which aspect of it people want to label me as a misogynist over— whether it’ s based on calling Erin Patterson a sociopathic nutjob or a crazy bitch.
“ I’ m not calling her those things because she’ s a woman.
“ I’ m saying those things because she’ s a cold-blooded triple murderer.”
He did not back down from his decision to talk to the media, saying it was therapeutic and cathartic to discuss an experience that had weighed on him so heavily.
He wanted to tell his own story, before anyone else told it for him.“ A lot of journalists had been asking me about this,” he said.
“ You guys are going to tell my story because I’ m a small part of a very big, fascinating narrative.
“ But if it’ s going to be told, I want to tell my story, because then it’ s going to be accurate.”
Several media articles said a‘ gag order’ was placed on him following his comments.
Dr Webster said the only gag order placed on him came from his wife— and Australian Doctor fell outside the gag order, because of his respect for the publication.
“ I’ m happy to talk. There’ s no gag order.
“ It’ s just a good directive from my wife:‘ How about you shut the hell up now?’
“ I can’ t be sacked. I’ m a GP practice owner.
“ I’ ve had a board meeting with the other owner— me— and each of us decided that I haven’ t done anything wrong, and that I can keep working as a GP in the country.
“ I’ m just going to go back to being a humble South Gippsland rural GP.
“ It’ s a great place to live, and it’ ll blow over.”
AAP
Erin Patterson.