I think it was about more than financial assets, although that was part of the issue. The luncheon was supposed to be a mediation---but then her ex dropped out. So it became a 'negotiation. And it was probably about the financial settlements and custody. Those 4 were there to negotiate a better outcome for her ex.
I think she was possibly sick and tired of 'judgemental family interference' and feeling she was being unfairly scrutinised.
I think she wanted total independence in the future and she saw her ex and his meddling family as a threat to her future happiness and to her financial stability. In her mind, he sent his family to try and pressure her to give him more time with the children and perhaps a better financial settlement.
She had already been complaining [online] that he was never spending time with the kids and she was the only left with all the family responsibilities. So maybe it angered her that his family was trying to get involved and leverage the situation.
The 2 church members may have been collateral damage, although she may have been a bit angry with them has well. I think she may have felt they were judging her, and her ability to raise the children, as she was an atheist. And they may have wanted her to send the children to church or to religious school, etc.
This is all speculation on my part bus based upon the articles we have all seen.
I think EP had been beaten down by life, felt devoid of love and friendship and kind words and she had become angry and resentful and full of vengeful thoughts.
IMO she is an intelligent woman, is well read but thinks that she is smarter than others and definitely smarter and therefore more powerful than what others think she is.
With online forums to flex her intelligence and power and potentially a vivid imagination, it is possible that her real life versus her virtual/imaginary life had reached a point of dissonance and she was keen to transition from the former to the latter. This leads to motive...
IMO she wanted to have full unfettered (by redundant family members) and untainted (by religion) access to her children. She was tired of doing everything and getting no credit. She wanted to move on with her life in a position of power and was sick of being undervalued and underestimated. I believe that she embarked on this plan with no kind feelings for her ex-husband or his family and that she was hell bent on her plan and was unconcerned re collateral damage especially if that could be used in her favour later as a reason as to why it was an 'accident'.
Once her motive became all consuming she needed to come up with a plan, one that would work to achieve her goal but that allowed her to be able to get away with it.
Enter the mushroom plan, possibly formed and started many months ago. Using a dehydrator to intensify the mushroom poison was the first step, the second was to throw away that dehydrator and replace it with an identical squeaky clean one.
Choosing to cook beef wellington was a clever choice as all who ate from the same 'loaf' were at risk. Risk mitigation most likely included marking the end where the affected mushrooms were placed to have a 'safer' end. I believe EP ate from the same loaf as her guests and took further steps to reduce her risk including plating the safer portion on a dish closer to her than the others, eating bran beforehand to absorb toxins and then inducing vomiting as soon as they left to reduce the dose she had ingested. Having some level of toxicity/ symptoms in keeping with poisoning would make it seem more like an accident.
There is also the possibility that there was a gravy with mushroom poison in it that she didn't eat but that is less likely and again I think she made sure she was seen eating exactly what her guests did to cover her tracks.
Once the deed was done she needed to set up the rest of her 'alibi' by feeding the kids the same meal but 'without the mushrooms'. This is something they can verify and it emphasises her innocence as it is unanimously agreed that she is a mother who would never risk her children's lives. A second untainted loaf with mushrooms scraped off becomes the perfect foil for this and to have some leftovers for BL and LE.
Once her guests became ill she needed to appear distressed and scatty. The TV interview outside her house made her appear this way but IMO something was a bit off. She spoke in a way that suggested careful word choice to evoke emotion and to seem devastated, powerless and clueless. It gave me Baden Clay vibes.
The mushroom purchase stories are clever because they are very hard to check out and people empathise with not remembering pantry content purchase histories.
IMO she orchestrated the conversation about the dehydrator with her kids/ex so that it would explain why she dumped it in a 'panic'. She could have predicted that this move would get attention and that the tip had CCTV and that LE would find it. If it was the one used to dehydrate the mushrooms my elaborate theory is dead in the water but if it is clean, this was a masterful move as everyone again goes to the default position of underestimating her and then it works in her favour as the smoking gun is not smoking and people flip their opinion and say see she is too stupid to have done this and because there is no proof she should be free to go.
Another clever ploy is to get media hungry for the story by changing it. The more media frenzy the more likely the jury pool will be polluted should it ever go to trial.
JMO...
