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

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

It could be that if EP was given the choice to go for manslaughter she turned it down because in her mind "I did nothing wrong".
She could very likely believe she is innocent. Maybe she is, or maybe she isn't.

Like @SouthAussie says, she may change her plea to guilty later on.

IMO her guilt has yet to be proved.

I'm still leaving room in my Agatha Christie mind for a twist in the tale = she could have been royally set up by someone who really did want to get shot of all four.

Can't say more than that but yes, she's not guilty til the jury says so.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

*Reading everyone’s interesting and astute comments. And still trying to catch up. Appreciate y’all‘s Aussie words and such. I try to imagine y’all talking in with your accent. It’s delightful and makes me smile. I’ve learned a lot of new terms through these threads.

Here are other things that have been reported about the woman a former friend says was a true crime fan and led a “secretive” life.

1. Mother​

Erin Patterson, 48, has two children.

2. Split from husband ​

Erin was no longer living with her ex-husband and the children’s father, Simon Patterson.

3. Ex newsletter editor​

“The class includes making your own oyster mushroom grow bag to take home, teaching notes and a delicious afternoon tea,” a notice in the newsletter read

4. True crime fan​

They claimed that Ms Patterson was a true crime fan and “Lego obsessed”.

“A few of us were close friends for a few years in a crime group.

5. Property owner​

She inherited the home from her parents, Eitan and Heather Scutter, following their deaths, but sold it in 2019 for $900,000.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/five-things-we-know-about-secretive-deadly-mushroom-lunch-cook-erin-patterson/news-story/86ed071320ec9c9b6beac3e9f6c3d9b1

“I had been close with Simon’s parents for a long period of time. Our relationship had continued in a fairly amicable way after I finished the relationship with their son Simon,” she said. “Our relationship was affected to some degree by seeing them less after my marriage breakdown with Simon, however, I have never felt differently towards his parents. I had a deep love and respect for Simon’s parents and had encouraged my children to spend time with their grandparents as I believed they were exceptional role models.”

The Herald Sun revealed Simon Patterson suffered a mystery gut illness in May 2022, which landed him in an induced coma for 16 days and required multiple surgeries

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/the-many-twists-and-turns-in-erin-patterson-mushroom-death-lunch-mystery/news-story/086a6544209e901be3e544e0bb176135

 

[SouthAussie]

The 49-year-old appeared frazzled as she entered court on Friday

Her lawyer, Bill Doogue, entered the court just before 10am on Friday, telling reporters: “We’re ready to go with Patterson”. “Let’s get this show on the road”.

It’s understood Ms Patterson was held overnight about 50m away from the court, in the Morwell Police Station.

She entered just after 10am, wearing a grey sweater and flanked by security guards,

Ms Patterson kept her eyes fixed on the wall and offered no emotion, bar a momentary tremble of her jaw as she sat down in court.

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/crime/accused-mushroom-murderer-to-appear-in-court-three-months-after-fatal-meal/news-story/35d5993ee226817c4bf8138e72997a5c

 

[MrJ]

@cassiezervos on Twitter/X:
"Update: the court heard police want a 20 week adjournment to analyse computer equipment seized at Erin Patterson's property
@7NewsMelbourne"
"She was remanded in custody to face court in May @7NewsMelbourne"

 

[SouthAussie]

Re: Police use of the technology sniffing dog ...

Retired detective Charlie Bezzina told the breakfast show it was "unique".

"You are looking at phone data, you're looking at anything else, you're looking at the fact that there's locations that comes from phones and that type of thing," he said.

Police were later snapped carrying out paper and plastic bags of evidence.

AFP technology detector dog may have been searching for USBs, SIM cards and other devices at Erin Patterson's home

Police were seen seizing bags of evidence, including Wi-Fi equipment, USB sticks and harddrives. Link

 

[whiskia]

So the crux of her 'cover story' was that she genuinely thought everyone would be convinced of a one off batch of poisonous mushrooms from 'an asian store' were the cause and no questions would be asked and that would be that and everyone would just believe it and move on?

I'll be interested for verification of whether she took the dehydrator to the dump on the morning before the meal because if so, that means she did likely dehydrate the mushrooms only just before serving them up and knew they were poisonous and that the dehydrator would be evidence. If she'd have had a stash of powdered DC mushrooms pre-prepared and stored, she wouldn't have needed to dump the dehydrator on the actual day. Also, if she innocently used locally picked mushrooms in error she wouldn't have had any reason to dump it as she wouldn't know there's anything wrong at that point. I do suspect she dumped it after the ex/husband made the accusation.

I still stand by the idea that there was a dehydrator dumped long ago and a second clean one dumped after the lunch to be a red herring...

 

[imstilla.grandma]

I'm still leaving room in my Agatha Christie mind for a twist in the tale = she could have been royally set up by someone who really did want to get shot of all four.

Can't say more than that but yes, she's not guilty til the jury says so.

I’ve been on the fence this whole time. I guess, now, this murder warrant has knocked me off and I’m laying on the ground trying to figure out their smoking gun. i kept waiting for her to blame it all on Simon, like he snuck in the house and somehow provided the deadly poison. Or…even a conspiracy between the two. I want details. I know y’all have specific legalities that could come in the mix. Interesting case for sure.

 

[SouthAussie]

I still stand by the idea that there was a dehydrator dumped long ago and a second clean one dumped after the lunch to be a red herring...

What would be the motivation in dumping a clean dehydrator?

Why not just leave a clean dehydrator in the kitchen?

 

[k-mac]

RSBM.

Actually, I feel the opposite. Everything she’s done seems very cold and calculating. I’d be very surprised if she was found unable to stand trial due to mental illness.

According to Wikipedia, the standard in Victoria fora defense of criminal insanity is:

the accused was suffering from a mental impairment; and the mental impairment affected the accused so they either did not understand the nature and quality of the conduct, or did not know that it was wrong.

I think she knew full well what she was doing was wrong and would have terrible consequences. That’s why she tried so hard to cover up her crimes.

yep
and that is the really scary part is if she is of sound mind.

But those scribbles on the walls Im not sure??....

Mushroom cook bragged to friends about being 'good at details'

Former online friends of Erin Patterson have revealed new details about the reclusive mother-of-two, calling her “very smart” and revealing she likes true crime novels.

www.skynews.com.au

Sources claiming to be former online friends of Erin Patterson have revealed new details about the reclusive mother-of-two’s life, calling her “very smart” and claiming she likes crime novels.

'Knew what to pick': Source's bombshell claim about mushroom cook

A new development in the case of the deadly mushroom poisoning that claimed three lives in Victoria has exposed the woman who cooked the lunch as an experience forager.

www.skynews.com.au

A close friend of the Patterson family told Daily Mail Australia she was known for going wild mushroom foraging around Victoria’s Gippsland region along with her ex-partner Simon and other relatives and was “very good” at it.

These reports if true are certainly going to make it hard for her to lean into an insanity plea.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

She entered just after 10am, wearing a grey sweater and flanked by security guards,

That seems a bit rude, just wearing a jumper.

 

[whiskia]

What would be the motivation in dumping a clean dehydrator?

Why not just leave a clean dehydrator in the kitchen?

Smoke and mirrors... detectives would find the clean dehydrator after thinking they were getting the smoking gun that she had dropped there in a panic when her husband had called her out on potentially poisoning his family (this conversation may even have been set up by EP to provide a motive to 'panic'), thereby adding to the picture that she really had panicked and was ditzy, thus subtracting from the possibility that she had planned the whole thing meticulously months ago. Also it gained a lot of media attention and lots of media attention can affect jury selection etc.
JMO (a little jumbled sorry!!)

 

[they'll get you]

I’ve been on the fence this whole time. I guess, now, this murder warrant has knocked me off and I’m laying on the ground trying to figure out their smoking gun. i kept waiting for her to blame it all on Simon, like he snuck in the house and somehow provided the deadly poison. Or…even a conspiracy between the two. I want details. I know y’all have specific legalities that could come in the mix. Interesting case for sure.

There's a huge puzzle piece missing and I'm thinking it's about property. imo. What is the reason they were all there??

 

[imstilla.grandma]

*If this is all true and she managed to, at least until now, evade an arrest until now, I would have to describe Erin as a most deliberate woman, sly and cunning, crazy like a fox with all her ‘confusion’. *eta: I’m not accusing the subject to have poisoned anyone and my views on her aren’t particularly due to the following. I’m just saying. I think she knew exactly what she was doing and saying. She was way too careful in her remarks to news reporters.

8. Confusion​

Ms Patterson at one point mistook her dead ex father-in-law Don Patterson for Ian Wilkinson, who was critically ill in ICU at the time, claiming Don was still alive. “I hope that every fibre of my being that Don pulls through,” she said of the man who had died days’ earlier.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/the-many-twists-and-turns-in-erin-patterson-mushroom-death-lunch-mystery/news-story/086a6544209e901be3e544e0bb176135

 

[they'll get you]

That seems a bit rude, just wearing a jumper.

I think she lives in that grey jumper.

 

[whiskia]

An article published yesterday suggests that "the development comes after a dehydrator was found-possibly linked to the lunch- at a local tip"
This sounds like a new discovery rather than the original one????

 

[bearbear]

in these circumstances will she be able to apply for bail?

 

[SouthAussie]

Smoke and mirrors... detectives would find the clean dehydrator after thinking they were getting the smoking gun that she had dropped there in a panic when her husband had called her out on potentially poisoning his family (this conversation may even have been set up by EP to provide a motive to 'panic'), thereby adding to the picture that she really had panicked and was ditzy, thus subtracting from the possibility that she had planned the whole thing meticulously months ago. Also it gained a lot of media attention and lots of media attention can affect jury selection etc.
JMO (a little jumbled sorry!!)

Thanks for explaining your reasoning.

I am more inclined to think that a clean dehydrator left in the kitchen, then taken for testing, would offer better "evidence" that nothing untoward happened via a dehydrator.

And if the dehydrator was dumped on Saturday morning - the timing of the dumping is yet to be confirmed by the police - prior to the lunch and prior to SP's (supposed) comment at the hospital ......

 

[SouthAussie]

That seems a bit rude, just wearing a jumper.

She was wearing the jumper in the photos of her arriving at the police station on Thursday arvo. I imagine she has been in that jumper for many hours.
Maybe once she is transferred to a prison she will be given a jumpsuit to wear,

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The alleged manner of poisoning led many people to compare the event to a crime novel and resulted in some of the media dubbing Ms Patterson the “mushroom killer” before any charges were even laid.

Erin Patterson charged with three counts of murder over mushroom poisoning

Erin Patterson has been charged by police with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder via mushroom poisoning.

startsat60.com

Her face was flushed red and her hair unkempt.

Ms Patterson kept her eyes fixed on the wall and offered no emotion, bar a momentary tremble of her jaw as she sat down in court.

“Good morning Ms Patterson,” Magistrate Tim Walsh said as he entered the courtroom.

“Good morning” she responded in a quiet voice.

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/crime/accused-mushroom-murderer-to-appear-in-court-three-months-after-fatal-meal/news-story/35d5993ee226817c4bf8138e72997a5c

The court heard detectives planned to file a 'voluminous' brief of evidence against Patterson.

Mr Doogue told the court his client was aware the case against her was likely to include a wealth of material.

Much of it, he revealed, had not even been presented to him due to it not being analysed by police yet.

Mr Walsh took a moment to explain the situation to Patterson, which saw her smile and thank him.

Computer find in Erin Patterson investigation

Computers and other electronic equipment seized from Erin Patterson's home will be relied upon in an effort to convict of three murders, a court has heard.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[NeverPersonal]

IMO - I’m not sure about this, how can you control who wants gravy or not & wouldn’t it be odd if you’re offering around a gravy boat that then you yourself don’t even have any of? I think the only way to have done this was with 2 x Beef Wellington’s & I don’t think anyone else at the lunch knew that there were 2 cooked. MOO

I agree, and I feel this is the only thing that makes any sense