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

[Cedars]

Here's post where she talks about her last minute addition of mushrooms:

Just now
Erin concedes dried mushrooms may have been foraged

By Joseph Dunstan

She says that process took roughly 45 minutes and it was then that she made an addition to the Woolworths mushroom duxelles.

"As I was cooking it down, I tasted it a few times and it seemed a little bland, to me," she says.

"So I decided to put in the dried mushrooms that I'd bought from the grocer that I still had in the pantry.

"So I put them in, like a little, ... strainer with a handle ... and just roughly poured water over them to get the crispness out of them.

"I chopped them up and I, like, sprinkled them over the duxelles and pushed them in with an egg flip."

Erin does not say if she tasted the dish again after adding the dried mushrooms.

She says at the time, she believed the dried mushrooms were the ones she'd bought from Melbourne.

"Now I think that there was a possibility that there were foraged ones in there as well," she says, closing her eyes and blinking as her voice cracks.

 

[katydid23]

So what is her defense of how the Death Caps made there way into the BW that she cooked and served?

She 'accidentally' picked Death Caps, even though she admits she saw them near some big oak trees in the park. And she admitted it was a few days after she bought her dehydrator, which was a few days after she looked up the Death Cap sightings in Outrim.

So she accidentally picked the death caps, then dehydrated them, and added them to a Tupperware full of 'funny smelling' Asian mushrooms.

And she used all of them in her fancy beef wellington lunch.

 

[LinasK]

I think she didn't want her children to be alone with anyone. There was some brainwashing and gaslighting to be done. IMO

And obviously she didn't want extensive medical testing done, or they'd find out that she's a hypochondriac who wasn't as severely ill as her guests.

 

[brisbanemum]

Earlier from her testimony, Erin said this about why she lied to the family about bogus medical tests:
"The issues started to resolve and I felt embarrassed that I had made such a big deal about it and I didn't want their care of me to stop so I just kept it going."
This to me is the crux of it. Everything we've heard so far is pretty much all about her, her wants, her needs, everyone else be damned IMO

Yes, this bit stood out to me too Mr J. I actually wonder if she didn’t mean to kill them. Perhaps she meant for them to get ill and she’d nurse them back to health. Imagine what a saint she’d look like, nursing the town pastor, his wife and her in laws back to health. I suspect this is what happened with Simon’s alleged poisoning. He recovered (miraculously), and so she thought perhaps a little bit of death cap powder added to the Wellingtons and she could do the same thing again. Except this time, people died. I’d be so curious to know if she helped ‘nurse’ Simon back to health after his episode. All MOO.

 

[ch_13]

She says she cooked it for a "very long time" to try and remove the water so the pastry wouldn't be soggy.

So she cooks down the duxelles in order to remove all the water, which as she notes is important to keep the pastry from becoming soggy.

"So I put them in, like a little, ... strainer with a handle ... and just roughly poured water over them to get the crispness out of them.

"I chopped them up and I, like, sprinkled them over the duxelles and pushed them in with an egg flip."

But then she rehydrates the death caps and adds the uncooked, waterlogged mushrooms directly to the duxelles, ensuring that the Wellington will be soggy.

 

[browneyes]

I think she didn't want her children to be alone with anyone. There was some brainwashing and gaslighting to be done. IMO

I also think she wanted Simon to accompany her to the hospital so it appeared they had a supportive relationship….ie, I would never poison my family.

 

[MrJ]

When I said I was looking forward to her adding to a growing number of lies, I didn't mean a Mount Everest of lies, Erin!

 

[Detechtive]

I also think she wanted Simon to accompany her to the hospital so it appeared they had a supportive relationship….ie, I would never poison my family.

You are a nicer person than me. I think it was a more sinister "choose me over your family" moment, to be frank.

 

[browneyes]

We haven't even gotten to the cross yet....

Oh, I can’t wait.

 

[browneyes]

You are a nicer person than me. I think it was a more sinister "choose me over your family" moment, to be frank.

He was still in bed, so not at the hospital. But either way, it’s all about her.

 

[Detechtive]

Yes, this bit stood out to me too Mr J. I actually wonder if she didn’t mean to kill them. Perhaps she meant for them to get ill and she’d nurse them back to health. Imagine what a saint she’d look like, nursing the town pastor, his wife and her in laws back to health. I suspect this is what happened with Simon’s alleged poisoning. He recovered (miraculously), and so she thought perhaps a little bit of death cap powder added to the Wellingtons and she could do the same thing again. Except this time, people died. I’d be so curious to know if she helped ‘nurse’ Simon back to health after his episode. All MOO.

The reason I don't think this is plausible is because it appears that there were enough DC mushrooms in that duxelle to kill a small country. Gail only ate half and was deathly ill within 24 hours.

Erin had scales, is a science nerd, and is methodical and precise, she would have researched exactly how much to use, IMO. The bumbling 'errors' post-lunch are not a reflection of Erin's book smarts. Those were from grandiosity and arrogance, IMO.

And besides, if she 'only' meant to cause them harm, and the jury finds that - she meets the bar for murder.

 

[SouthAussie]

I’d be so curious to know if she helped ‘nurse’ Simon back to health after his episode. All MOO.

Yes, I believe she did. There is a link back in the threads about Simon staying with Erin and the children after his illness.
But he didn't stay too long, or there was some friction. Or something like that. I will go back and find the link, to be more specific.

I don't think a person would use "Death" Cap mushrooms to make another person just a bit sick though.

imo

 

[browneyes]

She 'accidentally' picked Death Caps, even though she admits she saw them near some big oak trees in the park. And she admitted it was a few days after she bought her dehydrator, which was a few days after she looked up the Death Cap sightings in Outrim.

So she accidentally picked the death caps, then dehydrated them, and added them to a Tupperware full of 'funny smelling' Asian mushrooms.

And she used all of them in her fancy beef wellington lunch.

Don’t forget she “accidentally” dumped the practically new dehydrator.

 

[katydid23]

Here's post where she talks about her last minute addition of mushrooms:

Again, they're not blaming the Asian grocer.


That it was a tragic accident.

It wasn't an accident---at the very least it was criminal neglect. She picked mushrooms from the foot of the Oak trees, KNOWING that is where death caps are usually found.

She knew that because she admits she researched safe and unsafe mushrooms and we know she was on the inaturalist website about Death Caps.

So it was not all that accidental. IMO

 

[Detechtive]

Yes, I believe she did. There is a link back in the threads about Simon staying with Erin and the children after his illness.
But he didn't stay too long, or there was some friction. Or something like that. I will go back and find the link, to be more specific.

I don't think a person would use "Death" Cap mushrooms to just make another person a little bit sick though.

imo

Erin said she "reluctantly" helped nurse Simon back to health.

 

[LinasK]

It wasn't an accident---at the very least it was criminal neglect. She picked mushrooms from the foot of the Oak trees, KNOWING that is where death caps are usually found.

She knew that because she admits she researched safe and unsafe mushrooms and we know she was on the inaturalist website about Death Caps.

So it was not all that accidental. IMO

Her throwing Asian grocers under the bus to deflect blame is just like Sherri Papini blaming fake Hispanic women for her fake kidnapping. It's racist.

 

[brisbanemum]

The reason I don't think this is plausible is because it appears that there were enough DC mushrooms in that duxelle to kill a small country. Gail only ate half and was deathly ill within 24 hours.

Erin had scales, is a science nerd, and is methodical and precise, she would have researched exactly how much to use, IMO. The bumbling 'errors' post-lunch are not a reflection of Erin's book smarts. Those were from grandiosity and arrogance, IMO.

And besides, if she 'only' meant to cause them harm, and the jury finds that - she meets the bar for murder.

Oh, don’t get me wrong - I absolutely think she should go down for murder. I 100% think she knew she was poisoning them. I was just pondering about her motivations.

 

[Detechtive]

Hope the cross starts today.

 

[katydid23]

This just makes me think she’s less likely to be innocent because she’s known about and been interested in mushrooms for a long time

And she was an air traffic controller, an accountant and a math teacher? I have to believe she is very intelligent, logical and able to understand data and information.

She was feeding wild mushrooms she picked TO HER CHILDREN. How would she not educate herself about how to determine safe from deadly mushrooms?

How could she casually pick some Death Caps underneath some Oak trees when all the warnings about death caps include OAK trees as a red flag?

 

[MrJ]

I can't believe the absolute gall of Erin to, after Don mentions somebody he knows having throat cancer, respond with her own fake ovarian cancer spiel. It's just so vile, narcissistic and wrong to make someone else's health battle all about you, prompting her to share something that she knew was a lie. What a slap in the face to actual people going through cancer.