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

[JBowie]

I'm getting the feeling that EP is treating everyone like they are also mushrooms: to be kept in the dark and fed with manure.

 

[MrJ]

At first, I skim read the statement and thought that it made EP seem not, or less, guilty in my eyes as I thought that a guilty person wouldn't go into this level of detail (and I am pretty sensitive of feeling as well, so I could understand the feelings the statement talked about).

I'm left with a few more questions. Surely death cap mushrooms (any poisonous mushrooms, really) wouldn't be sold at an Asian food shop? Someone would have to check before they get sold, surely. And nobody else seems to have alerted that particular shop (whichever it was) that somebody got sick from mushrooms bought from it.

Admitting to lying to investigators, not a great look. I'm trying to understand why she thought she would lose custody of her children if this was an accident.

Overall, I'm not really sure where I stand. I await further updates on this case with interest, is all I can say.

 

[Ellery84]

Or, the food dehydrator could yield evidence that she was innocent. So why would the husband's verbal attack make her chuck it away?

Touché…And imo, I think she was doing better before she started giving “statements”.

She’s innocent, right? Let’s assume she is. So yeah, the dehydrator could have exonerated her. No one is going to take your kids into care because you have a food dehydrator on the premises….

Unless of course Erin has dehydrated poisonous mushrooms, the kind that can cause liver failure and death in humans.

Or what if she’s not a potential poisoner, but a drug user and she was using the food dehydrator as a non-food utensil/small appliance to prepare some sort of marijuana or something like that?

All imo

 

[Kemug]

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

Or lots of dried apricots/prunes.

 

[Eaglette]

The plot thickens today !!

IMO it would be far easier to poison the gravy & have 2 separate gravy boats.
Afterwards throwing out the tainted one to smash on the freeway (into thousands of bits) ...or chucking it off a bridge into river.
Making fresh gravy for the kids later.
(Ps) I'm no Martha Stewart or Maggie Beer.

Maybe... the dehydrator was used to dry Weed / Kronic / cannibis previously ? And that's why she chucked it. Panic Mode ? That might have been too big to sink to the bottom in a river?

 

[Ellery84]

The plot thickens today !!

IMO it would be far easier to poison the gravy & have 2 separate gravy boats.
Afterwards throwing out the tainted one to smash on the freeway (into thousands of bits) ...or chucking it off a bridge into river.
Making fresh gravy for the kids later.

Maybe... the dehydrator was used to dry Weed / Kronic / cannibis previously ? And that's why she chucked it. Panic Mode ? That might have been too big to sink to the bottom in a river?

I literally just wrote something similar regarding cannabis!

 

[Mrs G Norris]

Few things from the latest interview.

Firstly she’s obviously sacked her lawyer, no way would they have allowed this, advised it, or were there.

Forgetting which Asian grocer seems unlikely, I think I can remember which ones I’ve visited going back years.

No other cases anyway, so no other death caps at Asian grocers.

The fact she points out that she offered each guests to choose their own plate is unnecessary and suspicious .. I think the opposite is true.

Lied about when she took the dehydrator to the tip.

If she bought dried mushrooms from the Asian grocer why did she need to throw the dehydrator away?

Now I think she had dried death caps at the ready, and when SP cancelled she added them to the dish.

Oh and finally .. no way the kids had THOSE leftovers.

 

[Charlot123]

It doesn't sound as if her husband came out on top with their financial settlement...

Your comment made me wonder. She got inheritance from her parents, and invested wisely. It was her money, being inherited. However, we don't know what the divorce terms are, given that she is the rich one. Perhaps she had to pay her ex something, and didn't want to? Are we sure she was so obsessed with him? She might have tried to poison him. Could be revenge, or could be some financial issues.

 

[Jess M.]

Your comment made me wonder. She got inheritance from her parents, and invested wisely. It was her money, being inherited. However, we don't know what the divorce terms are, given that she is the rich one. Perhaps she had to pay her ex something, and didn't want to? Are we sure she was so obsessed with him? She might have tried to poison him. Could be revenge, or could be some financial issues.

I think revenge could very possibly feature in all of this...

 

[Mrs G Norris]

Your comment made me wonder. She got inheritance from her parents, and invested wisely. It was her money, being inherited. However, we don't know what the divorce terms are, given that she is the rich one. Perhaps she had to pay her ex something, and didn't want to? Are we sure she was so obsessed with him? She might have tried to poison him. Could be revenge, or could be some financial issues.

If inherited while married it’s still communal property .. my sister is going through this right now, was a bit of a shock to her. So yeah, some of her assets may have had to go to SP in a divorce.

 

[Jess M.]

If inherited while married it’s still communal property .. my sister is going through this right now, was a bit of a shock to her. So yeah, some of her assets may have had to go to SP in a divorce.

So there could be a financial motive to knock him off, as well as anyone else who might benefit from his will...

 

[Mrs G Norris]

So there could be a financial motive to knock him off, as well as anyone else who might benefit from his will...

Yes, I think that is part of it, could also explain why she wanted him back, didn’t want to give up any assets.

 

[kittythehare]

If inherited while married it’s still communal property .. my sister is going through this right now, was a bit of a shock to her. So yeah, some of her assets may have had to go to SP in a divorce.

They have been formally separated since 2021
Patterson and her estranged husband Simon had an acrimonious relationship, and had been living in separate homes for several years before formally separating in 2021.

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

 

[Jess M.]

They have been formally separated since 2021
Patterson and her estranged husband Simon had an acrimonious relationship, and had been living in separate homes for several years before formally separating in 2021.

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

A guy that I used to work for had separated and him and his wife had a property settlement, where she got a very generous settlement and retained the marital home. He bought a unit and left it to his kids in his will. Then he got sick with a brain tumour and died, but because his wife was still married to him, she got everything, even though he'd left it all yo his children.

 

[JBowie]

Some grabs from the linked SMH article [bbm]:

The leftovers of a poisonous mushroom beef Wellington that police suspect killed three people have been given to authorities to test as the cook who made the dish claims she bought the mushrooms it contained from an Asian grocer.

Erin Patterson has given a sworn written statement to police, seen by this masthead, documenting her side of the incident, in a bid to answer the questions of homicide investigators and refute what she claims has been wildly inaccurate media reporting.

In the statement to police, Patterson claimed she kept the beef Wellington leftovers for investigators to collect as evidence.

[comment: she kept the leftovers but dumped the dehydrator?]

Patterson, 48, said she was voluntarily providing a statement because she now believed it had been a serious mistake to provide a “no comment” interview to investigators, which she said was based on advice provided by a lawyer who no longer represented her.

But the police statement also includes a concession from Patterson that she intentionally disposed of the food dehydrator that police found in a skip bin at the Koonwarra Transfer Station. In the statement, she claimed she had panicked and dumped the appliance after she says people began accusing her of intentionally poisoning the meal.

[comment: but what about those leftovers that you handed to the police?]

The statement says that when her four guests were hospitalised, Patterson told the Department of Health where she had purchased the dried 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.

The department declined to comment on Patterson’s version of events as the matter was part of a police investigation.

Patterson’s statement to police provides a detailed explanation of how she obtained the suspected poisonous mushrooms, how the beef Wellington dish was cooked, and what happened to the remnants of the meal, which is now considered evidence.

Patterson has told police she purchased a package of dried mushrooms from an Asian grocery store in Mount Waverley at least three months before the lunch. The package of mushrooms she bought was hand-labelled, she said.

[comment: OK, so now we know it's -- allegedly -- in Mt Waverley]

The acquaintance said Patterson moved several times since the relationship started to deteriorate, after amassing a small portfolio of properties in town.

From a modest single-storey brick home down an unsealed country road to her dream weatherboard home surrounded by grazing paddocks in Leongatha, Patterson bought and sold at least six properties in Gippsland and Melbourne since 2014.

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.smh.com.au

 

[Kemug]

Perhaps the reason the ex cancelled was because he learnt that his kids weren't going to be there, they were going to the movie instead.

 

[Waverider]

A guy that I used to work for had separated and him and his wife had a property settlement, where she got a very generous settlement and retained the marital home. He bought a unit and left it to his kids in his will. Then he got sick with a brain tumour and died, but because his wife was still married to him, she got everything, even though he'd left it all yo his children.

Yep - still married, then everything goes to spouse.. in Vic and NSW anyway

 

[JBowie]

Perhaps the reason the ex cancelled was because he learnt that his kids weren't going to be there, they were going to the movie instead.

I'm thinking that when he sussed it was going to be some sort of intervention he said 'count me out'.

It's been said that had no interest in a reconciliation with her.

 

[Jess M.]

Some grabs from the linked SMH article [bbm]:

The leftovers of a poisonous mushroom beef Wellington that police suspect killed three people have been given to authorities to test as the cook who made the dish claims she bought the mushrooms it contained from an Asian grocer.

Erin Patterson has given a sworn written statement to police, seen by this masthead, documenting her side of the incident, in a bid to answer the questions of homicide investigators and refute what she claims has been wildly inaccurate media reporting.

In the statement to police, Patterson claimed she kept the beef Wellington leftovers for investigators to collect as evidence.

[comment: she kept the leftovers but dumped the dehydrator?]

Patterson, 48, said she was voluntarily providing a statement because she now believed it had been a serious mistake to provide a “no comment” interview to investigators, which she said was based on advice provided by a lawyer who no longer represented her.

But the police statement also includes a concession from Patterson that she intentionally disposed of the food dehydrator that police found in a skip bin at the Koonwarra Transfer Station. In the statement, she claimed she had panicked and dumped the appliance after she says people began accusing her of intentionally poisoning the meal.

[comment: but what about those leftovers that you handed to the police?]

The statement says that when her four guests were hospitalised, Patterson told the Department of Health where she had purchased the dried 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.

The department declined to comment on Patterson’s version of events as the matter was part of a police investigation.

Patterson’s statement to police provides a detailed explanation of how she obtained the suspected poisonous mushrooms, how the beef Wellington dish was cooked, and what happened to the remnants of the meal, which is now considered evidence.

Patterson has told police she purchased a package of dried mushrooms from an Asian grocery store in Mount Waverley at least three months before the lunch. The package of mushrooms she bought was hand-labelled, she said.

[comment: OK, so now we know it's -- allegedly -- in Mt Waverley]

The acquaintance said Patterson moved several times since the relationship started to deteriorate, after amassing a small portfolio of properties in town.

From a modest single-storey brick home down an unsealed country road to her dream weatherboard home surrounded by grazing paddocks in Leongatha, Patterson bought and sold at least six properties in Gippsland and Melbourne since 2014.

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.smh.com.au

Someone posted here earlier that there are 4 Asian grocery stores in Mount Waverley. Considering it was just 3 months ago that she allegedly bought the mushrooms and also that Mount Waverley isn't that big a place, you would think that she'd remember where the shop was...

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Maybe there is someone who doesn't want Erin and Simon getting back together...