Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #5 *Arrest*

[Ellery84]

Due to the time involved in preparing the BW recipe and how careful EP may need to be, I suspect the two BW were prepared the day before, then baked prior to the luncheon guests' arrival. If true, she must have felt omnipotent and quite satisfied with herself while at the dining table eating with her four poisoned guests.

If this is the case and this is what happened, what an horrific crime.

I imagine one would be careful not to accidentally have them swapped around, I wonder if they both looked identical or if one had some sort of a marker on it?

 

[SouthAussie]

There was another article in The Australian this weekend. It just basically explains how everyone is handling the media in this case.

SP had contacted Jessica O’Donnell because he knew her and he wanted some advice on how to shield the family from the looming media scrutiny.
Jessica O’Donnell is a strategic consultant, local councillor, and a lawyer.
She agreed to help SP and is the media point for his family while they grieve and help the investigators.

The police are not handling the media. They gave one presser and now they are not talking.

EP got swamped by the media, then retained her legal team, stuck up No Trespassing signs on her property, and stopped talking.

The article says that Ian is still recovering in the hospital.

And that media interest will reignite, whether that will be because the case goes to court or the case goes to a Coronial inquest.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/how-the-family-of-the-leongatha-mushrooms-victims-handled-the-media/news-story/555850bfccda5a1f6087c2041ef4b37c?amp

 

[DeDee]

If this is the case and this is what happened, what an horrific crime.

I imagine one would be careful not to accidentally have them swapped around, I wonder if they both looked identical or if one had some sort of a marker on it?

In this hypothesis, all that was needed at the luncheon of the good BW would be one slice; the one that EP would eat. Apparently, she sliced the DC BW and allowed each guest to select a plate. They were allowed to choose their poison. She said she took the plate that was left. EP could have switched this plate easily, if need be, before joining her guests by sitting at the table. She had planned and prepared for this moment. There would be no mistakes; except, she scraped mushrooms from the BW for the children.

 

[Kemug]

It seems well organised, if EP is guilty of murder, but what do I know? IANAD, L, or M. (geddit?)

 

[Ellery84]

There was another article in The Australian this weekend. It just basically explains how everyone is handling the media in this case.

SP had contacted Jessica O’Donnell because he knew her and he wanted some advice on how to shield the family from the looming media scrutiny.
Jessica O’Donnell is a strategic consultant, local councillor, and a lawyer.
She agreed to help SP and is the media point for his family while they grieve and help the investigators.

The police are not handling the media. They gave one presser and now they are not talking.

EP got swamped by the media, then retained her legal team, stuck up No Trespassing signs on her property, and stopped talking.

The article says that Ian is still recovering in the hospital.

And that media interest will reignite, whether that will be because the case goes to court or the case goes to a Coronial inquest.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/how-the-family-of-the-leongatha-mushrooms-victims-handled-the-media/news-story/555850bfccda5a1f6087c2041ef4b37c?amp

It doesn’t say Ian is still recovering in the hospital…

It says that more than six weeks after the meal, Ian is still recovering from the poisoning.. [paraphrased due to being behind a paywall].

And why are we using the initials “S.P.”? Have witnesses and suspects been put under a suppression order or NPO?

 

[Charlot123]

It seems well organised, if EP is guilty of murder, but what do I know? IANAD, L, or M. (geddit?)

Goddit. However, no one said EP was not smart. The first thing we read was about her succesfully managing her real estate. The second was from her FB friend. The said friend characterized her as a bad cook but a very smart woman.

What you need to possess in such a case (two BWs) is good executive function. EP might have it.

(What looked unusual was how she presented to public on video. However, I am discounting it because she probably felt trapped by the media. So, not a typical situation.)

 

[Kemug]

Assuming Ian recovers, is that likely to be a full recovery? And if EP is never tried, or if she is, is found innocent, then my goodness, that is going to be 2 very fractured relationships going forward.

 

[Ellery84]

Goddit. However, no one said EP was not smart. The first thing we read was about her succesfully managing her real estate. The second was from her FB friend

Part of me still can’t believe the DMA published the article that contained comments Erin’s apparent “ex friend” made anonymously on Facebook.

How can you even fact check anonymous comments in a Facebook group for accuracy?

It’s all pretty mind-blowing.

[To be clear, I’m not criticising the DMA or journalist Tita Smith, but I just think the information she published would have been really hard to fact-check.]

Mushroom chef's Facebook messages leak

Mushroom chef Erin Patterson lashed out at her local community while putting together the local newspaper, an insider has revealed.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Ellery84]

Assuming Ian recovers, is that likely to be a full recovery? And if EP is never tried, or if she is, is found innocent, then my goodness, that is going to be 2 very fractured relationships going forward.

Well, how much of a full recovery can you have after you receive someone else’s liver via transplant?

I’m not a Dr so I’m not sure how “full” Ian’s recovery is going to be.

My heart goes out to him and to all of the victims in this situation. The grief must be extremely heavy.

 

[Ellery84]

In this hypothesis, all that was needed at the luncheon of the good BW would be one slice; the one that EP would eat. Apparently, she sliced the DC BW and allowed each guest to select a plate. They were allowed to choose their poison. She said she took the plate that was left. EP could have switched this plate easily, if need be, before joining her guests by sitting at the table. She had planned and prepared for this moment. There would be no mistakes; except, she scraped mushrooms from the BW for the children.

Or maybe Erin was known to have an eating disorder and she didn’t eat?

I’m recalling a Daily Mail article where it was reported that Erin had strange marks on her fingers, and one clever Web Sleuther in this forum @KooshBall then remarked they may have resembled Russell’s Sign, which is linked to the mechanisms of an eating disorder known as Bulimia.

From DMA:

• “Mushroom chef Erin Patterson had visible cuts on her right middle finger
• Filmed with cuts to middle and around nail bed of same finger
• Cuts visible 9 days after fatal Beef Wellington lunch”

Credit: Candace Sutton, DMA


Eerie detail in photo of mushroom cook that no one noticed until now


I’m going on to hypothesise that maybe, just maybe, Erin Patterson sat there at the lunch with her plate in front of her and she didn’t eat a bite.

All jmo

 

[Charlot123]

Part of me still can’t believe the DMA published the article that contained comments Erin’s apparent “ex friend” made anonymously on Facebook.

How can you even fact check anonymous comments in a Facebook group for accuracy?

It’s all pretty mind-blowing.

[To be clear, I’m not criticising the DMA or journalist Tita Smith, but I just think the information she published would have been really hard to fact-check.]

Mushroom chef's Facebook messages leak

Mushroom chef Erin Patterson lashed out at her local community while putting together the local newspaper, an insider has revealed.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Comments on FB are never reliable source of information. But these very comments are not damning, either. To me, it is more interesting that EP liked Legos. Assembling Legos requires certain planning skills.

 

[Ellery84]

Comments on FB are never reliable source of information. But these very comments are not damning, either. To me, it is more interesting that EP liked Legos. Assembling Legos requires certain planning skills.

IDK, imho some of the comments as written in Tita’s DMA Article were pretty spicy:

1. “Erin branded contributors to Korumburra newsletter The Burra Flyer 'illiterate motherf**kers' during a rant to an old friend.”

2. “In another message, Erin seemingly took aim at Simon himself, attacking the engineer for failing to do enough housework.”

'My husband has no idea we have a cleaner come. I love it,' Erin allegedly posted while the couple were still together.

'Now I don't resent the fact that he never helps me with anything because I'm not doing the big jobs either... now all I have to resent him over are the nightly dishes.'

3. “She's an atheist as far as I know ... She was very unhappy in her marriage and felt like a single parent. At the time I thought it was normal 'my husband isn't pulling his weight ' type commentary,' the friend stated.

'We didn't hear much about Simon other than he was never at home. Never helping her. She was very closed about this ... She left him. She didn't want to get back with him.'”

Note - I’ve not listed these comments in order of “spiciness”….

Mushroom chef's Facebook messages leak

Mushroom chef Erin Patterson lashed out at her local community while putting together the local newspaper, an insider has revealed.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I agree with you though, it was nice to know about her interest in Lego.

 

[Salah11]

I figured I would check in but I see there is still no news on a arrest which is a shame.

Moo

 

[katydid23]

Those apps sound disappointing and far too unreliable to be used in determining whether something could be safe to eat.

As for EP's Beef Wellington, well, that's what we're all here for... who knows what was really in it. However, she does not claim to have included any foraged mushrooms. She states it had store purchased fresh button mushrooms and also an earlier purchased pack of dried mushrooms from 'an asian shop' that she doesn't recall.

In my opinion, if she did deliberately poison her guests, she would have been far better off to claim she foraged mushrooms, thereby making it look like an error.

I don't know....that kind of 'error', if it killed 3 people, could be considered involuntary manslaughter, if she fed foraged Death Caps to her guests. Maybe she impulsively decided , last minute, to say she bought them from an unnamed Asian market, to lay the blame somewhere else. Hence the need to tip the dehydrator?

 

[katydid23]

It’s not perfectly clear but here’s what the deputy commissioner said:

The deputy commissioner said Erin's lengthy legal statement was widely circulated to the media before the police could examine it.

Ms Steendam said it was not an official police statement, but one taken by Erin's lawyers.

Erin Patterson: Cops break silence on mushroom chef leaked statement

Victoria's second highest ranking police officer has said the leaking of a statement from Erin Patterson about a mushroom meal thought to be linked to the deaths of three people is 'unhelpful'.

www.dailymail.co.uk

“Legal” statement implies a sworn deposition. And it sure sounds like it was released to the media before LE could examine it. EP denied leaking the statement but at the same time didn’t deny her lawyers leaking it. I’d be really, really surprised if her high profile lawyer couldn’t control his office personnel. So what’s left?

If it was 'widely circulated to the media ' ---who circulated it?

 

[Salah11]

If it was 'widely circulated to the media ' ---who circulated it?

cough …EP and her team


imo

 

[al66pine]

Standup Comedian's Riff?

....
2. “In another message, Erin seemingly took aim at Simon himself, attacking the engineer for failing to do enough housework.”
.... At the time I thought it was normal 'my husband isn't pulling his weight ' type commentary,' the friend stated.

Mushroom chef's Facebook messages leak

Mushroom chef Erin Patterson lashed out at her local community while putting together the local newspaper, an insider has revealed.

www.dailymail.co.uk

[/I] ....

snipped for focus @Ellery84
Thanks for posting w the link to Daily Mail article.

I hope this shows image of post (purportedly by EP, displayed in DM article).

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/09/04/06/75029233-12477099-image-a-31_1693805503810.jpg

Imo the anonymous source to DM is on target: venting that husb does not pull his weight w household chores. W the mention of husb does not know we have a cleaner, could be a standup comedian's riff.
Recycled for the bajillionth time.
jmo
_________________________
If I did not properly link image of EP's post, it's avail. here.

Mushroom chef's Facebook messages leak

Mushroom chef Erin Patterson lashed out at her local community while putting together the local newspaper, an insider has revealed.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Ellery84]

I don't know....that kind of 'error', if it killed 3 people, could be considered involuntary manslaughter, if she fed foraged Death Caps to her guests. Maybe she impulsively decided , last minute, to say she bought them from an unnamed Asian market, to lay the blame somewhere else. Hence the need to tip the dehydrator?

Just my opinion, but I don’t think you’re far from the truth here, @katydid23

 

[Ellery84]

Standup Comedian's Riff?

snipped for focus @Ellery84
Thanks for posting w the link to Daily Mail article.

I hope this shows image of post (purportedly by EP, displayed in DM article).

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/09/04/06/75029233-12477099-image-a-31_1693805503810.jpg

Imo the anonymous source to DM is on target: venting that husb does not pull his weight w household chores. W the mention of husb does not know we have a cleaner, could be a standup comedian's riff.
Recycled for the bajillionth time.
jmo
_________________________
If I did not properly link image of EP's post, it's avail. here.

Mushroom chef's Facebook messages leak

Mushroom chef Erin Patterson lashed out at her local community while putting together the local newspaper, an insider has revealed.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Yes your image showed up just fine.

Well here’s the thing, the poster was not (as far as I can see) an anonymous source to the DMA, she or he was an anonymous source to Facebook. And journalist Tita was a member of the Facebook group, and had access to the posts as she was a member of the group (under her profile Teeta if I remember correctly).

Mushroom chef's Facebook messages leak

Unless somehow Tita Smith was able to speak to or connect with the anonymous poster between like 3am AEST 4 Sept when the Facebook posts were made, and 3pm AEST 4 Sept when the yarn was published, I can’t see how it was the DMA’s source: To my mind, it was an anonymous source posting in a private group on Facebook.

The anonymous Facebook poster did however upload some somewhat interesting photographs of Erin when she was a younger woman, which were really fascinating to see. Please see attachment: A younger Erin looks almost serene in this image published by the DMA.

Imo journalist Tita’s discovery of this image in itself may have “proven” that the anonymous Facebook poster was in fact Erin’s “former friend” as the images of Erin she posted were not publicly available at that time.

All imo

[Admin - please delete if off-topic]

 

[ch_13]

I don't know....that kind of 'error', if it killed 3 people, could be considered involuntary manslaughter, if she fed foraged Death Caps to her guests. Maybe she impulsively decided , last minute, to say she bought them from an unnamed Asian market, to lay the blame somewhere else. Hence the need to tip the dehydrator?

Dumping the dehydrator may have been an impulsive act.

But the revelation about getting mushrooms at the Asian market wasn't. In the aftermath of the lunch she had initially told the police 'no comment'. It was a couple of weeks later in the statement she submitted through her lawyer that she claimed the mushrooms were store-bought.

IMO, whether or not she's guilty, she should have waited and seen what the forensic analysis turns up before committing herself to a particular telling of events. Submitting the statement just gives the police more opportunities to trip her up on any inconsistencies.