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

[k-mac]

It says in an article I posted just before that she used rehydrated mushrooms, so why the need for the dehydrator?

Because its a nonsensical lie.

Caught red handed.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

But either way it seems unlikely that the poisonous mushrooms came from a market if no one else became ill or died over the last several months. JMO

As far as I recall, she didn't say she got them from a market.

 

[kittythehare]

She would have dehydrated the button mushrooms Imo

maybe the ones she didn't use in the dish were dehydrated.
no other reason to use a dehydrator to cook the meal, she rehydrated the Asian food store mushrooms.

unless the dehydrator was multifunction and also worked as a hydrator.
Is that a possibility?

I'm not seeing guilt here.
I think it's normal that she be investigated as she cooked the food..
But what was her motive?
There isn't one, is there?

Dumping dehydrator could just have been normal dumping because it was broken or whatever.

She was independently wealthy, had quite a property portfolio in her own name.. didn't need money and no evidence she would have benefited from the estates of the dead, is there?

 

[Jess M.]

Diarrhoea from stress/anxiety after committing the act? (If she’s guilty, imo etc)

A packet of licorice would do the job. Or a colonoscopy pre op treatment.

 

[jepop]

The Death Caps.

Unknown atm so shouldn't be stated as fact Imo. Tests on the dehydrator will hopefully shed some light. Moo

 

[kittythehare]

As far as I recall, she didn't say she got them from a market.

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

 

[silvercrown]

A packet of licorice would do the job. Or a colonoscopy pre op treatment.

I wonder if the hospital would have wanted her to vomit so they could potentially examine her stomach contents, if there was already the suspicion the guests died from poisonous mushrooms. Eating something to cause diarrhoea and then presenting to hospital is risky imo. But definitely, I agree what you’re saying is possible. Especially if she wasn’t thinking straight (or wasn’t too bright?).

 

[MadDoc]

You think she would at least remember the street it was in.

Apparently the mushrooms were said to come from an Asian grocery store in Mt Waverley.

Mt Waverley (and the next suburb, Glen Waverley) have a large Asian population and a LOT of Asian grocery stores. I have been known to wander around these areas and browse at several such stores in the one street, buying a few interesting items that caught my eye in each one. I would struggle to recall which items I bought at each store months down the track, even if I had receipts, as the name of the store would be in Chinese/ Vietnamese/ Korean etc and I would not be able to make the connection in my mind. No hope at all if I threw out the receipts.

So this part of her story, at least, is quite plausible.

 

[Monsoon]

There's only four asian grocery shops in Mount Waverley.

 

[Jess M.]

maybe the ones she didn't use in the dish were dehydrated.
no other reason to use a dehydrator to cook the meal, she rehydrated the Asian food store mushrooms.

unless the dehydrator was multifunction and also worked as a hydrator.
Is that a possibility?

I'm not seeing guilt here.
I think it's normal that she be investigated as she cooked the food..
But what was her motive?
There isn't one, is there?

Dumping dehydrator could just have been normal dumping because it was broken or whatever.

She was independently wealthy, had quite a property portfolio in her own name.. didn't need money and no evidence she would have benefited from the estates of the dead, is there?

Why would you dehydrate mushrooms from the local supermarket?

 

[kittythehare]

Why would you dehydrate mushrooms from the local supermarket?

people use dehydrators for leftovers frequently.

 

[jepop]

maybe the ones she didn't use in the dish were dehydrated.
no other reason to use a dehydrator to cook the meal, she rehydrated the Asian food store mushrooms.

unless the dehydrator was multifunction and also worked as a hydrator.
Is that a possibility?

I'm not seeing guilt here.
I think it's normal that she be investigated as she cooked the food..
But what was her motive?
There isn't one, is there?

Dumping dehydrator could just have been normal dumping because it was broken or whatever.

She was independently wealthy, had quite a property portfolio in her own name.. didn't need money and no evidence she would have benefited from the estates of the dead, is there?

All the receipes call for reducing the moisture content of mushrooms as much as possible - she was a good cook if reports are correct. So I figure she used the dehydrator to dehydrate the buttons. That's quicker than reducing over the stove and probably gets rid of most moisture. But Jmo. If there's no evidence of toxic mushrooms after testing dehydrator then it'll be interesting to see where this goes from here. I think support from credible witnesses that the ex was hostile to her might help her version of events when it comes to why she may have panicked and dumped the dehydrator which she admits to have done. Moo

ETA: Or wait, I may have missed something - is she claiming the button mushrooms were already dried/de-hydrated? I thought she bought two kinds - normal un-dried buttons (for the duxelle) and dried mushrooms from Asian Store some time prior - which she also used in the duxelle. Will re check the sources.

EBM: getting confused with hydrate/de-hydrate - had to correct in my post. Hydrate - to add moisture; de-hydrate - to remove moisture.

 

[Jess M.]

Apparently the mushrooms were said to come from an Asian grocery store in Mt Waverley.

Mt Waverley (and the next suburb, Glen Waverley) have a large Asian population and a LOT of Asian grocery stores. I have been known to wander around these areas and browse at several such stores in the one street, buying a few interesting items that caught my eye in each one. I would struggle to recall which items I bought at each store months down the track, even if I had receipts, as the name of the store would be in Chinese/ Vietnamese/ Korean etc and I would not be able to make the connection in my mind. No hope at all if I threw out the receipts.

So this part of her story, at least, is quite plausible.

When I posted that comment, I thought she had purchased them in the city, not Mt Waverley.

 

[Jess M.]

people use dehydrators for leftovers frequently.

I wonder if the hospital would have wanted her to vomit so they could potentially examine her stomach contents, if there was already the suspicion the guests died from poisonous mushrooms. Eating something to cause diarrhoea and then presenting to hospital is risky imo. But definitely, I agree what you’re saying is possible. Especially if she wasn’t thinking straight (or wasn’t too bright?).

If she had nothing to hide, why wasn't she honest from the start? I'm with her husband.

 

[kittythehare]

All the receipes call for reducing the moisture content of mushrooms as much as possible - she was a good cook if reports are correct. So I figure she used the dehydrator to dehydrate the buttons. That's quicker than reducing over the stove and probably gets rid of most moisture. But Jmo. If there's no evidence of toxic mushrooms after testing dehydrator then it'll be interesting to see where this goes from here. I think support from credible witnesses that the ex was hostile to her might help her version of events when it comes to why she may have panicked and dumped the dehydrator which she admits to have done. Moo

not at all sure the hostility continued after they divorced in 2021?
She may well have disposed of it because it was simply malfunctioning or she had decided to buy a new one or a better one.

I'm not seeing evidence for a case against her from what I have read so far.

 

[silvercrown]

It’s very possible she had button mushrooms, mushrooms from the Asian grocer, and poisonous mushrooms. Maybe leftover from early/mid 2022…? IMO, maybe.

 

[silvercrown]

If she had nothing to hide, why wasn't she honest from the start? I'm with her husband.

Me? I don’t think she had nothing to hide pretty clear from my posts I agree with most of what you say.

 

[LadyL]

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!

and her symptoms could've been faked - bad stomach pains and diarrhea - she just has to tell them she has been in the bathroom having diarrhea - they're not going to ask her to prove it

 

[Jess M.]

and her symptoms could've been faked - bad stomach pains and diarrhea - she just has to tell them she has been in the bathroom having diarrhea - they're not going to ask her to prove it

If she had of eaten the toxic mushrooms, she would have become sick earlier IMO.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Asian grocery stores are just stores like any other.

The days of asian people mostly selling from market gardens are long gone.

Many people buy from Asian grocery stores.

They've become mainstream.

As far as I know all the products there have to pass all the usual standards and rules.