Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #11 *Arrest*

[drsleuth]

2 minutes ago

Accused was 'doing some experimenting' with dehydrator
Erin has been shown photos of the dehydrator with mushrooms in it.
She said she thought she had picked those mushrooms in Korumburra Botanic Gardens, agreeing they didn’t look like they were in great condition.
She said she ran a “bit of an experiment” with them to see how they turned out after being dehydrated.
“I was doing some experimenting around, trying to find out what temperature to use, how long to put them in for,” she said.
The end result, she said, was they were “not looking good at all”.
She said she didn’t think she tried them.
Between May and June 2023, she said she mostly picked field mushrooms from the Shellcot Rd property.
“But there were some other … interesting ones at the gardens that I did pick, if I saw them,” she said.
“I believe I did do that in that time.”
She said they tasted “very nice” to eat and she was confident she had correctly identified them as being edible.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/the-mushroom-cook/erin-patterson-trial-live-mushroom-cook-returns-to-the-witness-box/live-coverage/d38ddeff9157a7fe0ede32b695044a4f#/entry/32017895

 

[drsleuth]

12 minutes ago - 04:12 PMMax Corstorphan

‘That was a little experiment’: How Erin used her dehydrator​

Ms Patterson told the court how she used the dehydrator on mushrooms as they were not always in season, but planned to use the appliance on other items too.

Ms Patterson said images that she posted on Facebook of mushrooms on the dehydrator shelf were likely “Woolies mushrooms”.

She went on to explain that she dehydrated a large quantity of mushrooms, some picked from a local botanical garden.

“That was a little experiment,” she said about one batch from the local botanical garden that she dehydrated whole, adding they were still “mushy” inside afterwards.

She said she was “experimenting” to work out how to fully remove moisture from them at different times and temperatures.

4 minutes ago - 04:20 PMMax Corstorphan

Patterson picked wild mushrooms and ate them multiple times​

Miss Patterson described a time she had picked wild “slippery jack” mushrooms and “honey mushrooms”,

The accused triple murderer said she was “very confident” in her ability to identify those types.

She added that she ate those pickings and that they were “very nice”.

Accused mushroom killer testifies about fatal lunch

RECAP: Erin Patterson has returned to the witness box to discuss the fatal lunch that left three people dead.

thenightly.com.au

 

[MrJ]

OK so she bought the mushrooms allegedly at an Asian grocer. Did she keep the receipt? Did she contact them at all? She's told so many lies already I'm struggling to believe this one. Also pretty sure the prosecution debunked it

 

[LinasK]

I’m lost. Death caps were found in the dehydrator. She bought dried (ie already dehydrated) mushrooms from the Asian grocery (allegedly). Where’s she going with this?

Confusion. She's trying to claim that the Death Caps were mixed in with dehydrated store-bought mushrooms or that she didn't pick Death Caps...

 

[Deleted member 363451]

I think I can see the defence strategy of trying to explain some of Erin’s actions with what she has presented in today’s testimony.

1. Discharging herself from hospital, reluctance to have the children seen at hospital= has discharged herself from hospital before after son’s birth, doesn’t trust doctors/hospitals to treat her children because of perceived negative experiences in the past, believes hospitals are traumatic for her children.

2. Didn’t get as sick herself from the beef Wellington= history of bulimia, she might say she vomited her lunch up straight way.

3. Searching for death caps on iNaturalist=her dog ate an unknown mushroom once and she might claim she needed to see what deathcaps look like to avoid her dog eating them?

I sure hope the jury can see through the “poor little me” act once the Crown have had their turn with her evidence.

Well she went on to the site showing Death Caps and now her defence are claiming that she accidentally foraged them, whilst still hinting that she may have bought them from a Chinese Grocery store...

 

[Maat99]

Wait, has she just reverted back to her story about the asian grocer?

How unfortunate that she happened to get the only tainted ones . This is not going to end well for her imo.

 

[MrJ]

Well she went on to the site showing Death Caps and now her defence are claiming that she accidentally foraged them, whilst still hinting that she may have bought them from a Chinese Grocery store...

How is the defence explaining the Loch and Outrim pings?

 

[da_worm]

Didnt her child say in his testimony that he had never foraged or picked mushrooms with his mum?

 

[Deleted member 363451]

Confusion. She's trying to claim that the Death Caps were mixed in with dehydrated store-bought mushrooms or that she didn't pick Death Caps...

Her defence are being ambiguous about it deliberately IMO.

 

[LinasK]

OK so she bought the mushrooms allegedly at an Asian grocer. Did she keep the receipt? Did she contact them at all? She's told so many lies already I'm struggling to believe this one. Also pretty sure the prosecution debunked it

IIRC, there was no receipt from any Asian grocer, nor was it proven that they sell Death Caps.

 

[JLZ]

Erin will likely tell defence that she doesn't want to give any more evidence... But now they have put her on the stand, they can delay it all they like, but the prosecution gets their time with her no matter what. Looking forward to that.

She could confess on the stand, wouldn't that be dramatic, and it would stop the case right there. But perhaps she's enjoying the catharsis, doesn't want it to stop.

 

[drsleuth]

2m ago07.26 BST
Barrister Colin Mandy SC asks Erin Patterson if anyone accompanied her when she foraged for mushrooms.

Patterson said her children were with her when she foraged during the Covid period.

Mandy asks if they were engaged in the mushroom picking process. She replies:

Yes and no.


Generally they ran around and did their own thing.


They definitely saw what I was doing.

Erin Patterson trial day 25 – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

 

[drsleuth]

Erin Patterson’s children knew of her mushroom foraging habits​

By​

Erin Patterson’s children definitely knew that she was picking mushrooms and might have spotted some for her on some occasions.

She said she had a habit of taking the mushrooms home, cleaning them, slicing them and putting them in a Tupperware container in her pantry if she wasn’t going to use them that day.

Patterson told the court that the mushrooms she bought from an Asian grocer in Melbourne in April 2023 smelled really pungent, so she put them in a container and took them back to her home in Leongatha.

Patterson told the court she remembered putting wild mushrooms she had dehydrated around May or June 2023 in a container that already contained other dried mushrooms.

Day 25, as it happened: Patterson concedes death cap mushrooms were in beef Wellington she fed guests

Accused killer cook Erin Patterson has conceded death cap mushrooms were in a beef Wellington she fed her lunch guests after telling a jury she often foraged for fungi and enjoyed buying exotic varieties because they tasted better.

www.theage.com.au

 

[Shortfusepsb]

She could confess on the stand, wouldn't that be dramatic, and it would stop the case right there. But perhaps she's enjoying the catharsis, doesn't want it to stop.

This is her stage now, her recognition, her relevance. This is her, "Beware of me, for I am vengeful", moment. She wanted to be heard, and here she is, being heard.

 

[Detechtive]

Can't believe she is doubling down on the Asian Grocer story. Confounding.

 

[MsMarple]

She’s already accused her friend of lying and Simon too. So now is her daughter a liar too or was she coached before Erin changed the story?

 

[TootsieFootsie]

EP said that the childen played while she picked mushrooms.

Maybe they saw that time through their eyes, as going there so they could play.

 

[Eloise]

IMO, Simon only being required to pay $40 per month to Erin in child support is really unfair, no matter what her financial situation was. Yes, he covered costs for the children's school fees up until the beginning of 2023 (i think), but $20 per month per child is a pittance! It would barely cover snacks for one weekend and It certainly doesn't paint him as a doting, dedicated and supportive father. Not that this is any sort of excuse for the crimes committed against his family, but objectively speaking, its pretty horrible.

I think that he definitely was trying to extract himself from the toxic relationship and i wonder if he had told his parents to put distance between them and her for the sake of the separation and needing to move on... and she didnt (obviously) take it well.

it is low but its what was determined by the Child Support Agency. Not by Simon himself! And its ultimately no excuse for any of her behaviour. She needs to appeal that to the CSA - its between her and the government, not her and Simon. Same for when he said he was separated on his tax return - they were! Her trying to throw Simon under the bus just doesn't work, IMO

Someone's weight should not be relevant, nor discussed. IMO

I agree, but she brought it up. Nobody had mentioned it until she did. Nobody here has been disrespectful about it.

Completely agree. I was suggesting that was the reason for the Degree as opposed to it being undertaken as she was looking to work in a hospital.

To obtain a nursing degree one must do extensive student placements on wards. Its not a degree for anyone squeamish about hospitals. It also seems like a terrible waste of a place in a course funded by the government with taxpayer money for someone with no intention of working in the field.

IIRC, there was no receipt from any Asian grocer, nor was it proven that they sell Death Caps.

this. Just waiting until she crosses the line into perjury, or is she going to keep it purposefully vague ... jmo

 

[Detechtive]

I'm trying to understand why she thinks it makes sense to anyone that if she bought *dried* mushrooms from an "Asian Grocer" why should would have to put them in her dehydrator to *dry* them!?! What am I missing?

The death caps were found in her dehydrator!!

 

[da_worm]

Interesting use of the word "confident" when describing how skilled she was in her foraging - if you were so confident, then you would be able to accurately determine if it was poisonous or not..., or at the very least if you weren't confident, know never to consume them

[‘They tasted good and I didn’t get sick’: Patterson reveals the first time she ate wild mushrooms ]

“When I got to a point where I was confident about what they were, I cut a bit off one of the mushrooms, fried a bit up with butter and saw what happened.

“They tasted good and I didn’t get sick.”

Patterson said from then on, if she saw the same mushrooms growing, she would usually pick them and eat them - sometimes adding them to meals for the family."