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

[TootsieFootsie]

I've looked back at some of the articles where she talked to the press and all the ones I've seen have her as saying
"I didn't do anything"

I can't find any where she used the words. "I didn't do anything wrong"

I think this changing her words started because the press says she denies any wrong doing.


Ie this link

Daughter-in-law refuses to say what she cooked for doomed guests

The woman who hosted a poisonous lunch where four people fell ill - three of whom have since died - has been forced to flee her home.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I didn't do anything,' she said, wiping away tears.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

Hopefully her internet search history wIl be thoroughly looked through !

Maybe they could check her Kindle too. There’s a short Ruth Rendell story on mine which is based on a jealous ex using wild mushrooms to poison her rival.

 

[Estelle]

I've looked back at some of the articles where she talked to the press and all the ones I've seen have her as saying
"I didn't do anything"

I can't find any where she used the words. "I didn't do anything wrong"

I think this changing her words started because the press says she denies any wrong doing.


Ie this link

Daughter-in-law refuses to say what she cooked for doomed guests

The woman who hosted a poisonous lunch where four people fell ill - three of whom have since died - has been forced to flee her home.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I didn't do anything,' she said, wiping away tears.

IMO the police will be looking for a possible motive.

 

[Estelle]

Indiana wife 'used deadly mushrooms to poison her husband to death after researching toxic fungi online'​

Indiana wife 'used deadly mushrooms to poison her husband'

David Fouts, 50, was found dead in a ditch close to their home in Hamilton County in April and had consumed poisonous mushrooms at the time of his death, an autopsy has revealed.

www.dailymail.co.uk

The symptoms of muscarine poisoning begin about five to 30 minutes after ingestion and a lethal dose of muscarine could come from anywhere between two to 15 slices. The reason the autopsy didn’t initially show the deadly toxin in the victim’s system is because it has a half-life of about eight hours — and was thus undetectable at first glance.

Indiana Woman’s Search History Reveals She Murdered Her Husband With A Poisonous Mushroom

Katrina Fouts was caught when authorities found a screenshot on her phone of a poisonous mushroom called the "destroying angel."

allthatsinteresting.com

 

[Estelle]

This is an up to date long article which answers some of my questions in The Age on 7 August.​

‘I didn’t do anything; I loved them’: How a quiet family lunch turned into a tragedy​

Erin Patterson had four guests she says she loved and cherished over for lunch at her home last Saturday. Less than a week later, three are dead and police are baffled.

By the end of the week, three of the guests Erin Patterson had over to her home were dead. Police are still baffled.

“I can’t believe that this has happened, and I am so sorry that they have lost their lives,” Patterson told a media pack as she wept outside her country home.

She’d made the meal for “the best people I’ve ever known” – her in-laws and their relatives. One of them, her mother-in-law, she loved like her own mother, she said.

Korumburra pastor Ian Wilkinson and his wife, Heather, along with her sister, Gail Patterson, and brother-in-law, Don Patterson – the parents of Erin’s estranged husband – were all taken to hospital with what they first believed was gastro.

All four suffered symptoms consistent with the ingestion of death cap mushrooms; from gastro-like illness to nausea, stomach pain, and, in the case of at least Ian, liver damage.

Meanwhile, police have searched Erin Patterson’s home. She is separated from her husband, but police said the relationship was amicable.

Investigators are still unsure whether she too ate the meal. It is also unclear, Thomas said, if the mushrooms were even in the dish.

‘I didn’t do anything; I loved them’: How a quiet family lunch turned into a tragedy

Erin Patterson had four guests she says she loved and cherished over for lunch at her home on July 29. Now three are dead and police are baffled.

www.theage.com.au

If you click on this link, you will see their house which is a lovely two storey one

It says that she and her husband are "estranged but amicable"

 

[Estelle]

Having seen the house now, if we are looking for a motive, then I think she had to do it (if she did it on purpose) before the divorce went through.

All IMO

 

[Estelle]

What happens to future inheritance under divorce?​

If you receive an inheritance before you have finalised and formalised your property settlement with your former spouse, the inheritance must be taken into account in your property settlement.

This is because the court is required to consider all of the current financial circumstances at the time they are being asked to make an order.

However, this does not mean that your former spouse will receive a portion of the inheritance or the value of the inherited amount. Rather, the considerations discussed above will be taken into account and adjustments made in favour of one party over the other accordingly.

Broadly, any inheritance received after separation will not be subject to division PROVIDED that the parties have formalised their settlement by way of either a Consent Order, Court Order or Binding Financial Agreement.

This is why it is often imperative for matters to be finalised properly as soon as possible so that former partners do not get the benefit of an inheritance received post-separation.

Can my future inheritance be claimed in Divorce

he broad but not definitive answer is that when it comes to future inheritance, it will generally not be subject to division under divorce related property settlements.

damiengreer.com.au

 

[Estelle]

Is there a reason people are thinking religion could be relevant?

I only suggested that religion may have been a cause of friction in the marriage as one the guests is a pastor who has liver damage. But I now know from the previous long article that the pastor is not her father in law but her mother in law's sister's husband.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

MSN

Who's who in the Leongatha 'poisonous mushrooms' case: From the separated wife, to the dead in-laws and the pastor​

Daily Mail Australia understands Erin is a stay-at-home mum while Simon is employed in the property industry.

 

[Dre]

Death caps have no look-alikes in Australia. They seem to be pretty common as well so I can’t imagine not being aware of the risk.

Death cap mushrooms: What do they look like?

Four people have been poisoned in Canberra after eating death cap mushrooms. What do these fungi look like?

www.abc.net.au

“The poisonous compounds are extremely stable. You cannot remove them by soaking, cooking or drying.

The poisons are found throughout the cap, gills, stem and spores.

Mr Lepp, who is an honorary scientific associate at the Australian National Botanic Gardens, said the death cap was easily identifiable to those experienced in identifying mushrooms.”

 

[JLZ]

"Wild mushrooms were served, they [the district] heard." I'd call that rumour. "It is also unclear, [Detective Inspector] Thomas said, if the mushrooms were even in the dish." There might be other causes for "symptoms consistent with the ingestion of death cap mushrooms". No toxicology yet. Could the four guests have been eating together, or doing something else together that poisoned them, before arriving at Erin's?

 

[Chimera]

Following this case.
Thanks for the link, @Neet_Mc !
And welcome to Websleuths !!

Police test food dehydrator found at tip after deadly mushroom meal

Tests are being done to see if the appliance is linked to the deaths of three people who ate poisonous mushrooms.

www.theage.com.au

I'm a bit surprised that Erin had a good enough relationship with her former in-laws to have them over for dinner ?
Or at least it appears that way.

Erin Patterson’s two children were also at the gathering on July 29. She was interviewed by investigators and released without charge.

Curious if the two children were specifically served other food ?


Am wanting to know more about the circumstances and what the (now) ex was served ?
I'm guessing he was not an ex at the time of the illness ?

Would like to know the tox results from the deceased.
Imo.
Omo.

 

[Estelle]

Curious if the two children were specifically served other food ?


Am wanting to know more about the circumstances and what the (now) ex was served ?
I'm guessing he was not an ex at the time of the illness ?

Would like to know the tox results from the deceased.
Imo.
Omo.

The children apparently ate different meals to the adults.

EP is now a POI and is a stay at home mother.

Did you notice the photo of mushrooms growing underneath a tree on the property which was noticed by a reporter when their house was advertised for sale in 2019 at the time they bought the house?

It was revealed on Tuesday that Simon 'almost died' in June 2022 after suffering from a mystery stomach illness that is still yet to be explained by his doctors.

'I collapsed at home then was in an induced coma for 16 days through which I had three emergency operations mainly on my small intestine, plus an additional planned operation,' he wrote.

'My family were asked to come and say goodbye to me twice as I was not expected to live.

'I was in intensive care for 21 days, after which I was in the general ward for a week, and now I'm at a rehab place.'

Simon said treatments had 'fixed the serious gut problems' but he was left weak after spending such a long time in intensive care and was undergoing rehab so he could resume coaching with the Poowong Basketball Association.

Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Erin was in anyway responsible for his illness or the three deaths.

MSN

 

[helenff]

Will be interested to find out more of the details on this one. I do believe it's possible to do this accidentally (didn't author Nicholas Evans have this happen to him and friends/family?), but it is currently sounding quite odd that the cook managed to avoid it herself.

But maybe the fact her ex was ill a year ago is actually a sign that she's 'merely' careless/negligent?

 

[LaborDayRN]

In a statement, Victoria Police said a search warrant was executed at a home in Leongatha on Saturday.

“Detectives interviewed a 48-year-old Leongatha woman who was released pending further enquiries,” a police spokeswoman said.

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/news/police-probe-suspected-poisoning-after-two-dead-in-rural-victoria/news-story/aa99028b4c12b6f251c2a52c2d0d6635

I wonder why this woman has not suffered from the mushrooms. I guess she was the cook.

I was wondering the same thing. Things that make you go HMMMMMM......

 

[Estelle]

I was wondering the same thing. Things that make you go HMMMMMM......

EP probably ate what her children ate. Perhaps she said she didn't like mushrooms but she thought they would like them.

Could they have been raw in a salad? If she used a hydrator, perhaps she had dried them to preserve them and that was used to hydrate them to add them to a salad.

 

[Estelle]

It is now my theory that EP could have picked those mushrooms (which were photographed by a reporter on the ad when they bought their house), dried them, stored them and then rehydrated them for this lunch.

How do you make dried mushrooms last longer?

Storing dried mushrooms: Store in a cool, dry place. Dried mushrooms can be stored for several years if kept dry and out of direct sunlight. After opening the original bag, continue to store the remainder in a sealed container such as a glass or plastic jar with a tight-fitting lid.

If EP stored them for a year or so, there would perhaps no evidence on her property now of any mushrooms growing there - especially if she stored them with some goal in mind.

How long do rehydrated mushrooms last?

To make sure they're all submerged evenly, weight the mushrooms down in the water with a saucer or small, flat pot lid. Once reconstituted, the mushrooms will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.

 

[Estelle]

I'd like to know now whether SP ate mushrooms prepared for a meal by EP.

 

[LaborDayRN]

I'm pretty sure this was a Midsomer Murders plot once. But I guess most everything here was a variant of a Midsomer Murders plot once.

Yes! I remember that episode! "Wild Harvest" I believe.
I have to say this also reminds me of the movie "The Phantom Thread" with Daniel Day Lewis.
Sadly this isn't a movie. It's real life.

 

[LaborDayRN]

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/victoria-homicide-police-probing-fatal-mushroom-poisoning/news-story/3f8675b9029cd931c5f50c9aa533e17c\

Police know what the meal was.

It's just my opinion, but I'm always uncomfortable when I see an interview with someone who sounds like they are crying but there are absolutely no tears....