Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #13 *Arrest*

[Jake18]

Ok here's another wack theory.

What if Erin knew full well that those were Deathcaps she was showing her friends photos of sitting on her kitchen bench, and what if she knew full well that she wasn't putting any hidden mushrooms in her kids food, and what if she set up this narrative on purpose for plausible deniability should her plan be found out?

She purposely excluded that she had foraged for mushrooms to her friends. Was that just an oversight? I think not.

Hypothetically, what if Erin wiped her previous facebook profile before these discussions and she had gone awol for about a year prior in her chat group.
Then she shows back up in the group with a new profile with tales of innocently hiding mushrooms in her kids food after dehydrating them.

Hypothetically, what if Erin then starts a narrative about how awful Simon and her in-laws are, after previously pretending to the group that they were still together.

Maybe she isn't the bumbling fool she appears.

I realise this doesn't explain her post-lunch behaviours at all, but I digress.

I know it's a stretch, but it's an interesting thought experiment.

It was news to Simon that she had foraged though, wasn’t it?

 

[LinasK]

Ok here's another wack theory.

What if Erin knew full well that those were Deathcaps she was showing her friends photos of sitting on her kitchen bench, and what if she knew full well that she wasn't putting any hidden mushrooms in her kids food, and what if she set up this narrative on purpose for plausible deniability should her plan be found out?

She purposely excluded that she had foraged for mushrooms to her friends. Was that just an oversight? I think not.

Hypothetically, what if Erin wiped her previous facebook profile before these discussions and she had gone awol for about a year prior in her chat group.
Then she shows back up in the group with a new profile with tales of innocently hiding mushrooms in her kids food after dehydrating them.

Hypothetically, what if Erin then starts a narrative about how awful Simon and her in-laws are, after previously pretending to the group that they were still together.

Maybe she isn't the bumbling fool she appears.

I realise this doesn't explain her post-lunch behaviours at all, but I digress.

I know it's a stretch, but it's an interesting thought experiment.

Oh I think this scenario is totally plausible. Commit your crimes out in the open under everyone's noses and think you're so superior that you got away with it. She wouldn't be the first person to do that.

 

[Detechtive]

It was news to Simon that she had foraged though, wasn’t it?

It was news to everyone that she foraged. Even her children who she apparently took foraging.

It seems like the foraging was a secret she kept from everyone, which is extremely suspicious, IMO.

 

[Detechtive]

Oh I think this scenario is totally plausible. Commit your crimes out in the open under everyone's noses and think you're so superior that you got away with it. She wouldn't be the first person to do that.

She even had her friends group participate in the preparation of the lunch. "I can't find an eye fillet log, do you think these individual steaks will work?", "Does anyone have a recipe for Beef Wellington?" - she had a recipe in her Recipetineats book which she didn't follow.

I bet she left out: I want to have a really special lunch for my in-laws after telling you all that I hate their guts. That would have evoked questions.

Odd, IMO.

 

[Old Soul]

Or... since he didn't attend, still hurts him by surviving his family and has all the grieving from their deaths. I think this was planned months in advance when she foraged the mushrooms. She knew what Death Caps were, so most likely she dehydrated and ground them up then. Have no idea what her pantry looks like or what measures she took to ensure no kids/dog got access.

I believe it was planned in advance too.
I think it is possible she had the dehydrator and dc poison preparation paraphernalia in her garage.
She wasn’t working so had full school days to do what she needed to do without anyone seeing, also it sounds as though the children spent a lot of time on computers/devices when they were home with her.

 

[Jess D]

On the previous thread, I wondered if EP had accidentally caused far more harm and death than even she intended.

If she made the five BW's for Simon and his relatives at the same time, adding a fatal dose of DC mushroom powder to the one for SP, could it be possible that she cross-contaminated all the others?

She was grooming SP's family to be there for her emotionally and to stick around and continue their loving support of her. Grooming them with her phoney story of cancer. It sounds like it wasn't just a lure to get them to attend, it was also an appeal for them to stay in her life. Perhaps she made that batch all together, put a huge whack of powder in the one for SP and the rest of them by dint of shared baking tray or shared utensils or some kind of transfer also got a dose?

Then she made her own portion completely differently and separately?

Also at some point, she must have disposed of other items used in the prep ? How scared was she that even small trace amounts of DC on her kitchen equipment could kill her or her family members? Whole thing makes no sense even after all this time!

JMO MOO

No, I don't buy this.

 

[Jess D]

It was news to Simon that she had foraged though, wasn’t it?

Supposedly...

 

[LinasK]

I believe it was planned in advance too.
I think it is possible she had the dehydrator and dc poison preparation paraphernalia in her garage.
She wasn’t working so had full school days to do what she needed to do without anyone seeing, also it sounds as though the children spent a lot of time on computers/devices when they were home with her.

For an experienced forager who knows what Death Caps look like, why in the H would you forage them for any innocent purpose??? If you did forage, it would be for other mushrooms, you wouldn't be taking home Death Caps. And if so, wouldn't you label them to keep them separate from any other "exotic" types???

 

[BerylTutu]

My first ever post to Websleuths after lurking for many years!

Regarding the plates: In my experience, once a formal lunch has been served and consumed, it is normal to clear those plates and cutlery before serving dessert on fresh plates.

When Erin’s son stated he cleared plates and described the colour as white, they may have been the plates that cake and fruit were served and eaten from - not necessarily the plates containing the main meal.

I’m not sure this possibility has ever been raised in police interview or other questioning? IMO

 

[MrJ]

My first ever post to Websleuths after lurking for many years!

Regarding the plates: In my experience, once a formal lunch has been served and consumed, it is normal to clear those plates and cutlery before serving dessert on fresh plates.

When Erin’s son stated he cleared plates and described the colour as white, they may have been the plates that cake and fruit were served and eaten from - not necessarily the plates containing the main meal.

I’m not sure this possibility has ever been raised in police interview or other questioning? IMO

Welcome and this is a great point that I’ve actually never considered! Actually it makes sense because if Erin was deliberate about it and wanted to poison people she would want to dispose of the plates somehow so that the toxins wouldn’t cause problems if she or her children were to eat from the same plates later on. Unfortunately though I don’t believe we’ll ever get a straight answer from EP on what actually happened at the lunch but the dessert plate theory is interesting

 

[Jess D]

It was news to everyone that she foraged. Even her children who she apparently took foraging.

It seems like the foraging was a secret she kept from everyone, which is extremely suspicious, IMO.

What about that friend who told the Daily Mail that Erin and Simon were regular foragers? Then again, we are talking about the Daily Mail and I suppose if it had been clarified that friend may have been called as a witness.

 

[Jake18]

My

My first ever post to Websleuths after lurking for many years!

Regarding the plates: In my experience, once a formal lunch has been served and consumed, it is normal to clear those plates and cutlery before serving dessert on fresh plates.

When Erin’s son stated he cleared plates and described the colour as white, they may have been the plates that cake and fruit were served and eaten from - not necessarily the plates containing the main meal.

I’m not sure this possibility has ever been raised in police interview or other questioning? IMO

i agree. No one has dessert at a dinner party with the main plates still on the table. It’s kind of gross to see smeared meat residue and for most family tables, there wouldn’t be enough room for lunch plates, gravy boat, dessert plates, the cake and a fruit platter

 

[Rumination1]

My theory has always been she wanted the inheritance from don and Gail and heather and Ian were invited but not meant to get sick so no one could point the finger at the meal for 5 and would instead blame some other meal Gail and don ate

 

[iamshadow21]

My theory has always been she wanted the inheritance from don and Gail and heather and Ian were invited but not meant to get sick so no one could point the finger at the meal for 5 and would instead blame some other meal Gail and don ate

That might hold water if only a couple of the wellingtons had the death caps in them. Instead, all of them but Erin's did.

MOO

 

[Jake18]

My theory has always been she wanted the inheritance from don and Gail and heather and Ian were invited but not meant to get sick so no one could point the finger at the meal for 5 and would instead blame some other meal Gail and don ate

I’m not sure if she was that motivated by money. She had loads herself, of course, which helps, but she readily gave those loans to Simon’s family.

I think she had very rigid ideas about relationships and loyalty. Only a very immature person wouldn’t appreciate that, after a marriage separation, her (ex) in-laws would be most likely supporting their own son. Whereas Erin seems to feel betrayed.

Her life seemed quite small - limited real life friends, solitary hobbies (Lego) didn’t work, a shift in schools would have limited friendships with other school parents, so not much to balance out or give perspective to her grudges and self-pity.

 

[Rumination1]

Yes I understand that. I think she made a mistake and got deathcaps in everything ( except her own)

I cannot fathom cooking a meal with this intent but neither can I fathom doing it accidentally and not feeling remorse. She showed so little . Just concern for herself and hiding things. No concern for her children even .

 

[Jess D]

My theory has always been she wanted the inheritance from don and Gail and heather and Ian were invited but not meant to get sick so no one could point the finger at the meal for 5 and would instead blame some other meal Gail and don ate

I don't know that Erin would be in their will, but her kids might have been and if Simon had have attended the lunch and died, you would think that their kids would be in his will.

 

[Old Soul]

Why were Erin and children discussing the dehydrator in hospital??

I have always wondered how the topic of the dehydrator came up in the first place in a conversation in the hospital between Erin, the children and Simon.
Erin’s son, in his evidence, claims he didn’t know his mum owned a dehydrator. Simon did not know, prior to this discussion that she owned a dehydrator.

Surely Erin wouldn’t have instigated the discussion, even bragging that she had concealed powdered button mushrooms in her children’s chocolate brownies, if she was panicking and hoping no one would find out about her foraging.

Erin said she was at the hospital with her kids "discussing the food dehydrator" when her ex-husband asked: "Is that what you used to poison them?"

Simon has not denied that discussions about the dehydrator and Erin’s powdered mushroom “brownie taste tests” on her children occurred during that conversation.

He only denies the question, “is that what you used to poison them?” (The lunch guests)

It is my belief that a child brought up the dehydrator in the conversation, Simon overheard and Erin had to quickly think up a story about why she was dehydrating and powdering mushrooms.

I don’t believe for a minute, that it was Simon’s alleged question, “is that what you used to poison them?” that instigated Erin’s state of panic and supposed dawning realization that she may have accidentally included her foraged mushrooms in the BW’s. I believe it was her realization that her neat little story about the Asian grocery store mushrooms was now complicated by people knowing she owned a dehydrator.

She had not planned to dump the dehydrator, thinking its existence would be unknown or overlooked. IMO

 

[MrJ]

Honestly if she is guilty of murder Erin's mindset seems to be that resembling family annihilators in a domestic violence type situation. If I can't have you nobody else can. You and your parents are enraging me because you won't take my side, I'll invite you all to a lunch under false pretence and do what I wanted to do for a long time. Ian and Heather might have been collateral damage to get Simon to attend as others have stated. IMO

 

[lazymaiden07]

I’m not sure if she was that motivated by money. She had loads herself, of course, which helps, but she readily gave those loans to Simon’s family.

I think she had very rigid ideas about relationships and loyalty. Only a very immature person wouldn’t appreciate that, after a marriage separation, her (ex) in-laws would be most likely supporting their own son. Whereas Erin seems to feel betrayed.

Her life seemed quite small - limited real life friends, solitary hobbies (Lego) didn’t work, a shift in schools would have limited friendships with other school parents, so not much to balance out or give perspective to her grudges and self-pity.

This is the part that is very unclear- the defence went to great lengths to show EP is very generous with her money. Even Simon testified that she has never shown any signs of being overly concerned with money. And yet, their relationship started to deteriorate after he changed his status on his tax form? EP then states she was 'frustrated' by this as it affected her ability to claim a family payment. And EP was totally enraged by the amount he was paying in child support, and also by him not paying school fees. This all led to derogatory comments about the entire family, essentially wanting nothing to do with them.

I would argue this points to the 'two faces' of EP. Money does seem to be a factor here... at least outwardly? IMO