Taking a wild guess here … I’ll bet they don’t sell any kind of Asian plant-rat-insect killer anything at the Asian grocery. Just thinking that Aussie trade import would say “no” to that.
The remaining toxic beef Wellington, the poisoned one, went into the toilet. The clean one was leftovers.EP reportedly discarded the food dehydrator, not simply in a local trash bin, but at a rubbish dump. (Somewhere I read the tip was some distance from her home, but I can't find that now. Does anyone have a link for that statement, please?)
From her statement, reported by ABC NEWS: Ms Patterson said she was at the hospital with her children "discussing the food dehydrator" when her ex-husband, the son of the dead couple, asked: "Is that what you used to poison them?"
Worried that she might lose custody of the couple's children, Ms Patterson said she then panicked and dumped the dehydrator at the tip.
And yet, she reportedly provided the remains of the Beef Wellington for examination.
From the same ABC NEWS article: She said she preserved what was left of the lunch and gave it to hospital toxicologists for examination.
I'm wobbling on the fence a little for the first time as I ponder what these two actions might tell us, as it seems bizarre to ditch the dehydrator but produce meal leftovers.
The dehydrator: Did she dispose of it from fear that traces of toxic mushrooms or their spores may be found in the dehydrator? Or is she innocent and overreacting irrationally from panic at SP's suggestion?
Providing remnants of the beef dish for examination: If asked, she could have said there were no leftovers. But she didn't. She handed them over. Does this suggest the poison was not hidden in the main course but elsewhere? Or does it indicate both a toxic and a non-toxic dish were prepared? Or is she innocent of intentionally poisoning anything?
Woman who cooked suspected poisoned meal details where she bought mushrooms
The woman who cooked a meal that is believed to have contained poisonous mushrooms and led to the deaths of three people gives a lengthy written statement to police detailing her account of what happened, and revealing she was hospitalised after the incident.www.abc.net.au
Hostess always sits last, plenty opportunity to open cupboard and remove a plate that already has food on it, that hasn’t been poisoned- just like on a cooking shows. EP says to herself … “here’s one I prepared earlier …..”
We do this in my family all the time.
100%, Baby baby Jane.
I wondered something similar. Not teasing but maybe she did forage mushrooms and he didn't like it because he felt like she wasn't very good at it or safe about it. maybe she liked to cook but wasn't always safe and he accused her of poisoning them in that sense--like an accident but something he had warned her about before. I have a sibling that doesn't follow food safety guide lines like I do and is apt to grab some random eild plant and eat it or make tea out of it and I might say--"you're going to poison us!" if he served something I felt was off or unsafe.
Me too, at about eleven years old.
Perhaps that is why LE are being so tight-lipped, as they don’t want Erin to know what they have on her.
I don't understand why it's weird for the kids to go to the movies while adults are having a family discussion and meal?
Oh seasoned investigator has definitely imo gone off-script, and off-message.[bbm]
Victoria Police's forensic department has long been under siege from demands by eager detectives.
The courts are awash with cases delayed by overworked forensic staff, with some cases pushed back by anywhere up to a year.
With nothing linked to the mushroom deaths even before a court, and the media storm surrounding the case, force command is understood to be eager to push the forensic tests through sooner rather than later.
While testing delays are cause for some concern, police sources have told Daily Mail Australia detectives will hardly have their 'cue in the rack'.
It has been more than two weeks since Victoria Police provided a public update on its investigation.
Back then, Detective Inspector Dean Thomas gave the media mixed reports on how they were treating Ms Patterson.
The seasoned detective started his briefing by declaring the deaths of her relatives were 'not suspicious'.
'The deaths are unexplained and for that purpose we are involved and we are working as hard as we can to try and identify why these deaths have happened and the circumstances surrounding them,' he said.
But under fire from reporters, Inspector Thomas provided a stumbling backflip.
'The 48-year old is, well, she is (a suspect), um she was, and she is because, um, she cooked those meals for us, for those people that were present,' he said.
He said homicide squad detectives would work to get to the bottom of the case.
'We've still got a lot of work to do. We need to understand what's caused these symptoms, what's caused ultimately the deaths of these three people,' the detective said.
'We need to understand what has occurred, what is the cause of the injuries ... what has caused their deaths and the circumstances surrounding all of that. So it's a very complex matter ... it's really interesting. You know four people turn up and three of them have passed away.'
Reporters have spent much of August camped outside Ms Patterson's home, with her estranged husband Simon Patterson hiring a publicist to try and fend off requests from around the world.
In the background, detectives will be analysing Ms Patterson's phone records and movements from the past few weeks and maybe months.
Her claims provided in that written statement will be scrutinised.
While tech experts trawl the data, officers on the ground will go about talking to anyone who may be able to help guide them closer to the truth.
Detectives will be closely monitoring the recovery of Mr Wilkinson, who remains gravely ill at the Austin Hospital.
What he says will likely assist detectives one way or the other in how the case progresses.
The highly publicised illness of Ms Patterson's former husband will be thoroughly examined, with officers working to rule in or out any links to her cooking.
IMO, going by the things he's said, the 'seasoned' DI Dean Thomas sounds like he's out of his depth when it comes to making statements to the media.
Inside the mushroom deaths investigation
Victorian detectives could take months to finalise their investigation into the mysterious deaths of Erin Patterson's lunch guests.www.dailymail.co.uk
Does anyone know what this means, to “hardly have their cue in the rack”??
When you have guests? When the host prepared a special meal, one that makes for a special presentation? They plate it up and put the plates somewhere so the presumably seated guests have to get up and select a plate?
Yes, every time. We all stand in a semi circle and pray first and then my mother dishes out the plates and we all go sit down at the fancy table.
Maybe she’s confident, but she’s also very discreet.
Do you have a source for this? Or is it your conjecture?
Pure conjecture.
(snipped & BBM)
