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

[mirage1]

Erin Patterson, woman at centre of suspected Leongatha mushroom poisoning, gives her account of fatal meal​

Ms Patterson said the mushrooms were a mixture of button mushrooms purchased at a major supermarket chain, and dried mushrooms bought at an Asian grocery store in Melbourne months previously.

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

EP did dump the dehydrator and her kids were at the movies, not at the lunch.
She was poisoned and was on a saline drip in hospital and took 'liver protective' drugs.
Lots of answers in article.

Why on earth was she talking about a food hydrator at the hospital with 4 friends dying? and then dumping it? So guilty.

 

[ch_13]

Erin Patterson, woman at centre of suspected Leongatha mushroom poisoning, gives her account of fatal meal​

Ms Patterson said the mushrooms were a mixture of button mushrooms purchased at a major supermarket chain, and dried mushrooms bought at an Asian grocery store in Melbourne months previously.

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

EP did dump the dehydrator and her kids were at the movies, not at the lunch.
She was poisoned and was on a saline drip in hospital and took 'liver protective' drugs.
Lots of answers in article.

From the article...

She said she told investigators from the department where she had bought the mushrooms – although was unable to identify the specific shop in Melbourne where she bought the dried fungi.

Hmmm.

 

[Chimera]

The tox tests should show if the mushrooms were indeed bought at a local grocer's and the Asian grocery ?
Highly doubtful if three people would have died and a fourth in critical condition from these store-bought mushrooms.

It's certainly possible that just one person could have a reaction to mushroom even if they're deemed safe to eat ?
But, four people ?
If this was accidental (& LE don't seem to believe this ! ), it is extremely unfortunate for all involved but mainly for the injured and the deceased.
If it was not an accident, what a major breach of trust !

Once LE named EP a suspect, it's not taking a story and running with it ... to postulate theories or speculate.
Part of sleuthing, imo, is to understand the ways and means behind either a tragic accident or a murder.

Again I think LE know much more than we do to make the decisions they've made ?
Also doubtful they'd name a suspect on a hunch or a whim; so it's likely they know more than they're releasing at this time ?

We'll have to wait and see how this unfolds, but I'm following LE's lead for now.
RIP to the victims and hoping the survivor is continuing to recover.
This is such a sad case.
Omo.
Ymmv.

 

[k-mac]

Erin Patterson, woman at centre of suspected Leongatha mushroom poisoning, gives her account of fatal meal​

Ms Patterson said the mushrooms were a mixture of button mushrooms purchased at a major supermarket chain, and dried mushrooms bought at an Asian grocery store in Melbourne months previously.

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

EP did dump the dehydrator and her kids were at the movies, not at the lunch.
She was poisoned and was on a saline drip in hospital and took 'liver protective' drugs.
Lots of answers in article.

Well unfortunately for her the 3 most important aspects are still red flags.

She conveniently can not identify the shop' she purchased the mushrooms from.......

And she did indeed dispose a food dehydrator immediately after the poisoning.

Eating a part of it doesn't give her a pass either...
her symptoms where extremely mild curiously.

Meanwhile her guests died and one nearly died.

I knew she had eaten it but was struggling to find a rep source.

Thank you @PrimeSuspect!

 

[ch_13]

She conveniently can not identify the shop' she purchased the mushrooms from.......

And she did indeed dispose a food dehydrator immediately after the poisoning.

RSBM.

She bought dried mushrooms at the mysterious Asian grocery. So, why get rid of the dehydrator if she didn't use it to prepare the meal? If anything she would be rehydrating the mushrooms to make Beef Wellington, not dehydrating them.

 

[Monsoon]

If you really thought dried mushrooms from a shop in Melbourne had killed three of your guests, why would you not tell this to police until weeks later?

 

[k-mac]

MSN

www.msn.com

She admitted she lied to police about WHEN she disposed the dehydrator only because they found it. IMO.
She also admitted lying about the food dehydrator dumped at a nearby when she was first questioned by police and that ex-husband accused her of poisoning his parents.

He knows her better than anyone and suspected her straight up.

 

[Jess M.]

Are there any links to say how long the dehydrator had been at the dump?

From memory it was taken to the tip the day after the poisonings occurred, but I don't have a link.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

My opinion is that she told them in her interview with Police at the time.

She is now letting the public know as the media and others don't seem to want to let that out, and also don't want us to know that she spent time in hospital on a drip and was taken there by ambulance.

 

[k-mac]

RSBM.

She bought dried mushrooms at the mysterious Asian grocery. So, why get rid of the dehydrator if she didn't use it to prepare the meal? If anything she would be rehydrating the mushrooms to make Beef Wellington, not dehydrating them.

Its nonsensical right.


Not being able to indentify the shop??? ....not believable in the slightest.

Caught red handed.

 

[JLZ]

From memory it was taken to the tip the day after the poisonings occurred, but I don't have a link.

That's OK, we have a link now--she not only took the dehydrator to the dump after Simon accused her of poisoning her guests, she admits to lying to police about when she took it there.

Her statement hasn't helped her with me.

 

[Jess M.]

Why on earth was she talking about a food hydrator at the hospital with 4 friends dying? and then dumping it? So guilty.

Well it looks as though her visit to a lawyer has made her open up...

 

[JLZ]

If Erin says she got sick from the meal, I guess we can rule out the other four having been poisoned somewhere else. Unless she wants to change her story: I lied! but only because. . . .

 

[MsMarple]

Have there been other poisonings connected to either of the markets where EP bought mushrooms? I’m guessing no since that would have been big news. Could other mushroom poisonings have gone undetected by medical personnel?

 

[Jess M.]

Well unfortunately for her the 3 most important aspects are still red flags.

She conveniently can not identify the shop' she purchased the mushrooms from.......

And she did indeed dispose a food dehydrator immediately after the poisoning.

Eating a part of it doesn't give her a pass either...
her symptoms where extremely mild curiously.

Meanwhile her guests died and one nearly died.

I knew she had eaten it but was struggling to find a rep source.

Thank you @PrimeSuspect!

I had already guessed that her husband had given her much earlier notice that he wouldn't be attending the lunch. I still believe she's guilty and did this deliberately. I don't believe for one moment that she bought those mushrooms from an Asian shop in the city.

 

[charminglane]

Maybe if there were purchased dried mushrooms, they were mixed with some homegrown dried ones in the duxelles?

 

[jepop]

According to the most recent report EP also presented to hospital on 30th July, returned on 31st and was transported by Ambulance to Monash Hospt in Melbourne with similar symptoms (though obviously not as severe and life threatening as her in-laws). So is it the idea of those who believe she is guilty of intent to poison that she deliberately poisoned herself with a bit of the duxelle from the wellington?? It's possible that the hospital did tox tests on her also and if so we will find out in time. But I doubt she was faking it.Moo

I think EP's version of events will be verifiable: ie the manner in which the meal was served (by the survivor once he is able), the children at the movies, the ex declining the day before rather than "at the last minute" (click bait Moo), the children not liking mushrooms and eating leftovers sans mushroom layer for dinner the next night, Ep sending what was left of meal to Health Dept. The Store where she says she bought the dried mushrooms will be located by police Imo, though it may take some time if they were purchased several months ago. Moo

Also EP's version re the ex's illness and her mind-set regarding the relationship at the time may also be supported by others. Imoo it's entirely possible that she had nothing at all to do with his medical issue in 2022. It may be verified that she indeed nursed him once he was out of hospital under duress, so to speak, and was not in a position to poison him prior to his hospitalisation.Moo. EP's statement seems to suggest that the ex was hostile to her (at the hospital) and it was she who left him/did not want to reconcile in 2022. To my mind, I think the police will want to know more about the current state of the relationship and also what the situation was in 2022. Moo

 

[Jess M.]

Have there been other poisonings connected to either of the markets where EP bought mushrooms? I’m guessing no since that would have been big news. Could other mushroom poisonings have gone undetected by medical personnel?

She doesn't remember where she bought the fungi. Cough!

 

[jepop]

RSBM.

She bought dried mushrooms at the mysterious Asian grocery. So, why get rid of the dehydrator if she didn't use it to prepare the meal? If anything she would be rehydrating the mushrooms to make Beef Wellington, not dehydrating them.

The duxelle is better with dehydrated mushrooms at least that is according to recipes I'm aware of. Moo. It assists with keeping the pastry sealed from the meat and leakage of meat juices into the pastry.Moo

ETA: If she used the dehydrator it would have been for the button mushrooms she purchased at the local store. Moo

 

[kittythehare]

She doesn't remember where she bought the fungi. Cough!

She does.

The statement says that when her four guests were hospitalised, Patterson told the Department of Health where she had purchased the mushrooms, and confirmed that samples recovered from the Asian grocery store in containers with handwritten labels were the same as the type she had purchased months before.

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.watoday.com.au