Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #4

[JLZ]

Thank you for your reply.

Homicide squad Detective Inspector Dean Thomas has said Patterson remained a suspect because she cooked the meals. But he has also said police were still considering an accidental poisoning “not at the hands of somebody else” to be a possibility, alongside a potentially “nefarious activity”.

To me, it seems to be saying two different things.

1. EP is a suspect because she cooked the meal.
2. Police also are considering an accidental poisoning alongside potential nefarious activity. (Not directly referring to her like they referred to her in the first sentence).

I don't know which way to make sense of what they wrote.

Interesting. Is he connecting an accident with the nefarious activity? For example she was using mushrooms to build drugs.

Or is he separating the nefarious activity from poisoning altogether? The nefarious activity being something they discovered in the course of the investigation, but having nothing to do with the deaths.

A possible connection with the dehydrator either way.

He does seem to be ruling out ingestion elsewhere than Erin's lunch.

 

[JLZ]

I wouldn't hazard a guess at when any settlement would happen. It can take a long time.

Though I think it is more likely to happen when a permanent breakdown of the relationship happened.

Some couples separate, get back together, separate again ... before finally agreeing on a divorce. I am not sure that a court would legally settle their property if it wasn't designated as a permanent breakdown (divorce, in the case of married persons).

Yeah, they do. I've known at least one Victorian instance of property settlement before divorce.

 

[LordCyrus]

What if someone who knew that the kids did not eat mushrooms, substituted or added to the bag of mushrooms she thought were from the Asian store.

This would explain why Erin maintains that all the mushrooms were store bought. If she'd foraged some of them, whether innocently or maliciously, then she would likely admit foraging. She could then claim to have made a terrible mistake. Hard to prove otherwise.

 

[Trebor5591]

Interesting. Is he connecting an accident with the nefarious activity? For example she was using mushrooms to build drugs.

mushrooms are used to build drugs?

 

[SouthAussie]

Yeah, they do. I've known at least one Victorian instance of property settlement before divorce.

Presumably, in that instance, the couple had been separated for 12 months or more with no chance of reconciliation? The same requirement as in a Vic divorce?

 

[Ellery84]

… her time in prison will damage her relationship with the children and impact divorce financial settlement
If it’s the former it may still do the same as those kids are going to be troubled by the charges against her

At best she is going to have troubled and traumatised teenagers on her hands
At worst she may lose them completely

I think you/we are possibly jumping the gun a bit, @Rumination1.

Erin Patterson is a person of interest in a Homicide investigation. There many be a number or persons of interest that police are trying to rule out. There may be other scenarios that VIC Police are investigating.

Jmo

 

[JLZ]

Presumably, in that instance, the couple had been separated for 12 months or more with no chance of reconciliation? The same requirement as in a Vic divorce?

I think separated for more than 12 months. This was a few decades ago. They remained good friends all along and never reconciled.

 

[kittythehare]

@kittythehare
In saying that's your "understanding," are you agreeing w all 3 points in my post?
1. Living Separately. I'm confused about timing.
2.Inheritance. EP might not have recvd $ or prop for a yr or two after Mother's 2019 death.
3. Legal Separation? IDK if either ever filed for Legal Separation.

Re Aug 14 article, has some info been corrected or retracted? Or supplemented? TiA

Sorry to be dense. Heading to kitchen for more caffeine.

Mushroom cook says she bought fungi from Asian grocer and her children ate the lunch leftovers

Erin Patterson told police she, too, was sick from the beef Wellington lunch that police suspect killed her former in-laws and another relative.

www.theage.com.au

was referring to this article which was posted 2 wks ago with no new updates from LE.

 

[kittythehare]

Interesting. Is he connecting an accident with the nefarious activity? For example she was using mushrooms to build drugs.

Or is he separating the nefarious activity from poisoning altogether? The nefarious activity being something they discovered in the course of the investigation, but having nothing to do with the deaths.

A possible connection with the dehydrator either way.

He does seem to be ruling out ingestion elsewhere than Erin's lunch.

Erin cos she cooked that lunch
but he did not confirm her lunch was the poisoning source

or accidental poisoning which nobody was responsible for with or without the lunch?

potential nefarious activity= potential criminal activity was the third thing.
could mean that someone broke into their homes and poisoned their water supplies, substituted their meds for poison............?

I'm not sure the dehydrator had anything at all to do with it though..

they also searched her house the following Saturday and took some things which might suggest they suspect the criminal activity took place there
or they were just searching and taking and analysing in a laboratory every potential substance in her larder..

 

[Rumination1]

I think you/we are possibly jumping the gun a bit, @Rumination1.

Erin Patterson is a person of interest in a Homicide investigation. There many be a number or persons of interest that police are trying to rule out. There may be other scenarios that VIC Police are investigating.

Jmo

Yes you might be right

 

[LadyL]

In the statement, Patterson said the poisoning of her lunch guests and the intense speculation generated by the case had seriously affected her mental health and wellbeing.

Not a speculated menopause or other gender bias..
Just the intense online hatred and bullying and malice


This is the police statement, it has not been renewed afaik.
They have listed 3 possibilities here


Homicide squad Detective Inspector Dean Thomas has said Patterson remained a suspect because she cooked the meals. But he has also said police were still considering an accidental poisoning “not at the hands of somebody else” to be a possibility, alongside a potentially “nefarious activity”.

Mushroom cook says she bought fungi from Asian grocer and her children ate the lunch leftovers

Erin Patterson told police she, too, was sick from the beef Wellington lunch that police suspect killed her former in-laws and another relative.

www.theage.com.au

[bbm]

where? has this been in MSM??

 

[Charlot123]

I have a simple question:

Does anyone know what was EP's education and work experience? Her kids are rather young, she should have done something before marriage. And we are probably allowed to discuss her to that level? All I know is that she could edit the neighborhood bulletin. Could anyone "on the case" expand, please?

 

[kittythehare]

I have a simple question:

Does anyone know what was EP's education and work experience? Her kids are rather young, she should have done something before marriage. And we are probably allowed to discuss her to that level? All I know is that she could edit the neighborhood bulletin. Could anyone "on the case" expand, please?

No idea, truthfully.
This is all I know .

When The Age visited Leongatha last week, residents expressed shock and disbelief at the news of the poisonings.

Most described Patterson, a stay-at-home mother, as a reserved person who kept to herself and did not become closely involved in the community.

Other parents said Patterson wasn’t one to get involved with school chatter and would often avoid talking to other parents when she picked up her children from school.

“I’ve never spoken to anyone who didn’t like her, she was just really reserved,” said an acquaintance of Patterson, who spoke to The Age anonymously.

“She just didn’t go out of your way to talk to anyone or socialise with anyone or interact with anyone. She was just a very private person that kept to herself.”

Patterson took over the editorship of the local newsletter, The Burra Flyer, from her in-laws in 2018, but stepped down two years later.

Nobody has bothered to find out who she is but very quick to cast aspersions on her character integrity and reputation based on no known facts and anonymous claims.

 

[Eaglette]

I'll stick my neck out & comment IMO the dehydrator will have no evidence of Death Cap mushrooms.

IMO if someone dried out Death Caps they would have immediately disposed/smashed the dehydrator. Sent it to the bottom of a river. (Never to be found).

And stored/hidden the dry version of Death Caps in a very safe place until required.

 

[JLZ]

I'll stick my neck out & comment IMO the dehydrator will have no evidence of Death Cap mushrooms.

IMO if someone dried out Death Caps they would have immediately disposed/smashed the dehydrator. Sent it to the bottom of a river. (Never to be found).

And stored/hidden the dry version of Death Caps in a very safe place until required.

What about it having evidence of another 'nefarious activity'?

 

[SouthAussie]

I have a simple question:

Does anyone know what was EP's education and work experience? Her kids are rather young, she should have done something before marriage. And we are probably allowed to discuss her to that level? All I know is that she could edit the neighborhood bulletin. Could anyone "on the case" expand, please?

I haven't seen EP's work experience or education anywhere.

Just that her mum was a children's literature professor at Monash University, and writer of articles and reviews.
Her mum may have encouraged her daughters to gain a higher education of some sort. imo

The DM says that EP and her sister grew up in Mount Waverley with both of their parents.

After EP married Simon and had two children, they moved to a remote town in Western Australia (across the country) for 4 years. That remote town is called Quinninup, and is a tiny place with a population of only about 155 people. They bought a house there.

Then they moved back to the east coast.

Fatal mushroom cook's multimillion property portfolio

The woman who cooked the beef wellington pie with Death Cap mushrooms has a multimillion dollar property portfolio funded by an oceanfront property inherited from her mother.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[kittythehare]

[bbm]

where? has this been in MSM??

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=HSWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.heraldsun.com.au%2Fnews%2Fvictoria%2Fsocial-media-experts-fear-it-would-be-almost-impossible-for-erin-patterson-to-get-a-fair-trial-if-charged%2Fnews-story%2F60692b4895c2d1ac9c0d3aad47359aab&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=GROUPA-Segment-3-NOSCORE

 

[katydid23]

I'll stick my neck out & comment IMO the dehydrator will have no evidence of Death Cap mushrooms.

I don't know. Why would she impulsively dump it, making it look suspicious, IF there was no reason to do so ?

If I was innocent, I'd want them to check out my dehydrator, which would show it was clear of death cap toxins. Throwing it out looks suspect.

IMO if someone dried out Death Caps they would have immediately disposed/smashed the dehydrator. Sent it to the bottom of a river. (Never to be found).

And stored/hidden the dry version of Death Caps in a very safe place until required.

What you say above is very logical and the correct move. But IF someone was planning to serve death caps to their in-laws, they would not likely be in a very calm, rational state.

IMO, they'd likely be stressed and irrational and do impulsive things in response.

 

[LadyL]

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=HSWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.heraldsun.com.au%2Fnews%2Fvictoria%2Fsocial-media-experts-fear-it-would-be-almost-impossible-for-erin-patterson-to-get-a-fair-trial-if-charged%2Fnews-story%2F60692b4895c2d1ac9c0d3aad47359aab&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=GROUPA-Segment-3-NOSCORE

can you paraphrase? it's a paywall for me

 

[Eaglette]

What about it having evidence of another 'nefarious activity'?

IMO possibly Weed/Kronic which is why she dumped it fast ! I commented this a month ago. #1125

We don't know if EP has addictions which could add to her mental health.

The Weed remnants would be nothing to charge her with.