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

[browneyes]

I understand she made separate individual BWs for all and that she certainly protected *herself* and her children and dog from ingesting any DC powder.

Beyond that we can't really be sure if she intentionally truly intended to poison everyone or just one person. Was she maybe aiming to finish off SP once and for all then having his loving family dote on her whilst she went ahead with a gastric band?

When she ground up these deadly dried out mushrooms into powder, where did she put it? Did she use a mortar and pestle and put the powder in a little jar or ziploc bag? Did she powder them on the same day as she constructed the poisonous BWs and cross contaminate everything on the kitchen bench with little bits?

I think she's guilty but am wondering what her perfect plan was if it had gone the way she thought?

JMO MOO

The minute she added the death caps, she sealed their fate. IMO, not being forthcoming to the medical staff about mushrooms in the BW, sealed her plan. IMHO, she knew exactly what she was doing.

 

[MaxDecimus13]

Her response to Dr Rogers when questioned about why she didn't sound the alarm sooner, why she didn't mention to anyone that there was a chance of DC poisoning: "Well I didn't," Ms Patterson responded. "I had been told that … people were getting treatment for possible death cap mushroom poisoning. So that was already happening." Absolutely despicable. IMO, there is a complete detachment from the dying/deceased, and as you said, her actions were devoid of all empathy. People she claimed to love were suffering, dying, and she was patting herself on the back with how cooperative she was being with the health department.


I watched those behavioural videos on YT also... How much you can actually deduce from them, I'm not sure, but they sure are interesting.

I personally have never read much into people's opinions of how people should/would behave. I see it in a lot of cases where somebody is up for murder etc.

The reality is that people act very differently. There is no correct or acceptable way to act in a situation that we genuinely can't comprehend. I remember the day my dad died, finding it strange that the family was sat around that evening laughing watching the apprentice and having a takeaway. Grief didn't occur like I expected it would, with constant crying for days etc

I used to have this argument with people who were claiming her hiding the dehydrator as being absolute proof because you'd only do it if you were guilty. Another from my wife is that had it been an accident, she'd have been at the hospital 24/7 trying to help. For both of these, I can imagine trying to make it so that I didn't get the blame and also feeling too guilty that I'd stay away.

I've been pretty clear recently that I'm increasingly doubting Erin's innocence. However, this is based on facts and not some pop psychological stuff or claims about how she should be answering questions etc. None of us, innocent or guilty, have ever sat in a courtroom trying to convince people we didn't murder people. We've no reference point for how we would behave.

 

[mamamama9873]

I personally have never read much into people's opinions of how people should/would behave. I see it in a lot of cases where somebody is up for murder etc.

The reality is that people act very differently. There is no correct or acceptable way to act in a situation that we genuinely can't comprehend. I remember the day my dad died, finding it strange that the family was sat around that evening laughing watching the apprentice and having a takeaway. Grief didn't occur like I expected it would, with constant crying for days etc

I used to have this argument with people who were claiming her hiding the dehydrator as being absolute proof because you'd only do it if you were guilty. Another from my wife is that had it been an accident, she'd have been at the hospital 24/7 trying to help. For both of these, I can imagine trying to make it so that I didn't get the blame and also feeling too guilty that I'd stay away.

I've been pretty clear recently that I'm increasingly doubting Erin's innocence. However, this is based on facts and not some pop psychological stuff or claims about how she should be answering questions etc. None of us, innocent or guilty, have ever sat in a courtroom trying to convince people we didn't murder people. We've no reference point for how we would behave.

I totally agree. I also don’t consider the tv interview or the lack of general emotion as evidence for Erin’s guilt, or even the dehydrator disposal.

I’m with you, beyond these ambiguous indicators there are many pieces of evidence that do count to clear guilt IMO

 

[MaxDecimus13]

The Trial: All about Erin

Podcast Episode · The Mushroom Cook · 07/06/2025 · Crime X+ Only · 18m

podcasts.apple.com

Erin describes herself as a fundamentalist atheist in the first 3 minutes of this podcast episode.

Fundamentalist atheism marks a turning point in the history of the atheist movement because it seeks to go beyond actively rejecting belief in God. Fundamentalist atheism seeks to eradicate religion and anoint atheism as the only respectable position on the question of religion for three reasons.

I think maybe the motivations for the alleged murders could have been to eradicate religion and religious pillars of the local community, and that’s why she invited Ian and Heather (as well as Don, Gail and Simon) as they were pastors.

But it didn’t work, and Ian survived and is like a walking miracle now, which sad but in some ways is a very effective way for him to share the gospel.

So if you do believe in God and the Devil or good and evil, good still triumphed in this situation with the survival of Ian who lived to tell the story of what happened.
IMO

I don't see much value in this, and it seems pretty far-fetched.

There was a time when I would have described myself as a fundamentalist atheist, while also having to deal with religious people like my in-laws quite a lot. Not only have I softened significantly over the years (whilst not changing my mind) but even at my worst, it was never a motivating force for anything.

The one area I am sceptical of are her religious claims. Fundamentalist atheists tend to be people who know quite a lot about it and are not going to be easily swayed by people being nice in a church. I know what it's like to feel obliged to go to mass and to put up a pretence of belief so as not to cause issues with the in-laws.

This is where I see her true feelings in the Facebook messages, and to me it's clear she still doesn't respect religion. The way she responds to them saying they'll pray or whatever, tells me everything I need to know about the what she really thinks. I know because I've sent those exact same type of messages to my friends. Her claims that the emoji didn't mean anything were just another example of her lying to try and save face.

 

[JBowie]

I totally agree. I also don’t consider the tv interview or the lack of general emotion as evidence for Erin’s guilt, or even the dehydrator disposal.

I’m with you, beyond these ambiguous indicators there are many pieces of evidence that do count to clear guilt IMO

How about:

* the hiding of electronic devices that police had to use sniffer dogs to locate around her property

* her performing a number of remote factory resets on phones after they were seized by police

* her googling death caps

* phone pings placing her in places where death caps are known to grow

* not telling medical staff that foraged mushrooms were in the meal she prepared and served up

* and her admitted numerous lies to police and others

If those are the typical actions of an innocent person, then I would have to agree with you .... but IMO they aren't.

 

[Jess D]

Are you maybe thinking of this?

Now a coincidental detail published in an edition of The Burra Flyer under Ms Patterson’s editorship has come to light.

The 2019 September-November edition of the newsletter included details of a local workshop teaching people in the community how to grow their own mushrooms.

In the Korumburra workshop people would be taught “how to grow gourmet mushrooms at home using easy to source materials and low-tech methods”.

“The class includes making your own oyster mushroom grow bag to take home, teaching notes and a delicious afternoon tea,” the notice in the newsletter read.

A mushroom growing workshop was advertised in The Burra Flyer. Picture: The Burra Flyer


Ms Patterson edited The Burra Flyer newsletter from 2018 to 2020 after taking it over from Gail and Don.

During her time editing the newsletter, the mum-of-two often included photos taken by her now estranged ex Simon, with multiple pictures showing their two children enjoying various activities around the local area.

Simon’s photographs were also a common feature in the newsletter when it was run by his parents, with the June-August 2016 issue standing out from the others.

The front page photo showed a group of poisonous red toadstools on a nature strip, which was taken by Simon.

These vibrantly coloured fungi, also called Amanita muscaria, are known to pop up across southern Australia and thrive in wet conditions.

Amanita muscaria belong to the same genus as death cap mushroom and are toxic to both humans and animals.

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/news/coincidental-detail-in-local-newsletter-edited-by-erin-patterson-years-before-mushroom-deaths/news-story/0c6467f0054f2ab3faa442d8dd28bd3d

That was it, thank you. Not quite as I remembered it, but I knew it was about mushrooms. Fairly ironic in hindsight...

 

[Lisa4]

However I was told recently that she was funded by legal aid recently. I don’t know how to check if this is true, so IMO only.

Rest of article behind paywall, but judging by this, she is paying her own way.

 

[Jess D]

Spot on @Detechtive. We also had the photograph that Erin took of the freshly picked Deathcaps sitting on the scale. There were over 500 grams there which ought to have been enough to poison ten guests.

Of course we don't know how much of that Erin used in the tainted Wellingtons, but as you say, it's likely to have been at least 50-60 grams per serve given the death rate and that Gail died from a half serve.

Erin certainly wasn't short on Deathcaps, and it's clear that her own lunch serving contained none.

How bizarre that she photographed the Death Caps. Talk about cold, calculated premeditated murder...

Spot on @Detechtive. We also had the photograph that Erin took of the freshly picked Deathcaps sitting on the scale. There were over 500 grams there which ought to have been enough to poison ten guests.

Of course we don't know how much of that Erin used in the tainted Wellingtons, but as you say, it's likely to have been at least 50-60 grams per serve given the death rate and that Gail died from a half serve.

Erin certainly wasn't short on Deathcaps, and it's clear that her own lunch serving contained none.

Anyone who thinks that Erin was only trying to make her lunch guests sick should take note. This was meticulously planned by Erin, to the point of weighing, photographing and drying the death caps. She would have known how much she needed to kill her victims. She's a cold blooded murderer of the highest order. Allegedly and IMO.

 

[Jess D]

I don't see much value in this, and it seems pretty far-fetched.

There was a time when I would have described myself as a fundamentalist atheist, while also having to deal with religious people like my in-laws quite a lot. Not only have I softened significantly over the years (whilst not changing my mind) but even at my worst, it was never a motivating force for anything.

The one area I am sceptical of are her religious claims. Fundamentalist atheists tend to be people who know quite a lot about it and are not going to be easily swayed by people being nice in a church. I know what it's like to feel obliged to go to mass and to put up a pretence of belief so as not to cause issues with the in-laws.

This is where I see her true feelings in the Facebook messages, and to me it's clear she still doesn't respect religion. The way she responds to them saying they'll pray or whatever, tells me everything I need to know about the what she really thinks. I know because I've sent those exact same type of messages to my friends. Her claims that the emoji didn't mean anything were just another example of her lying to try and save face.

It's odd that as an atheist, she married religious Simon, who came from a deeply religious family...

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

Following the case from the US and just want to say how impressive the British and Australian tabloids have been with their coverage. They have given their all to this story. The Herald Sun page is amazing, with their audio readings of testimony. I may not care for whatever else the tabloids do, but they know how to do media.

Your guide to the Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial: All the evidence, witnesses, timeline details in one place - Herald Sun

 

[Megnut]

It's odd that as an atheist, she married religious Simon, who came from a deeply religious family...

It would be better for the planet if narcissists married narcissists and didn't reproduce, but they always seem to find empaths instead, partners whom -- given enough time, eventually they consume.

Shape shifter. On paper Erin became eventually Simon might have wanted in a wife, complete with the dramatic conversion.

If Erin is guilty as charged, she was faulting Simon for not coming to her luncheon, an occasion at which she intended to serve a deadly mealì. That is bass ackwards.

It's always opposite day.

JMO

 

[katydid23]

I understand she made separate individual BWs for all and that she certainly protected *herself* and her children and dog from ingesting any DC powder.

Beyond that we can't really be sure if she intentionally truly intended to poison everyone or just one person. Was she maybe aiming to finish off SP once and for all then having his loving family dote on her whilst she went ahead with a gastric band?

When she ground up these deadly dried out mushrooms into powder, where did she put it? Did she use a mortar and pestle and put the powder in a little jar or ziploc bag? Did she powder them on the same day as she constructed the poisonous BWs and cross contaminate everything on the kitchen bench with little bits?

I think she's guilty but am wondering what her perfect plan was if it had gone the way she thought?

JMO MOO

The thing is, all 4 lunch guests got sick very quickly and deteriorated very fast. They had strong doses. Gail only ate half of hers and was severely ill starting night one. So I don't think it was likely just cross contamination from a spatula or work bench. I think it was intentional dosages. She used her scales to work out how many kg of DC's to put into the recipe for 4 to 5 guests. IMO

And we have figured out that the toxins were sprinkled onto the duxelles paste which was spread across the top of each individual BW---except for EP's safe one. We know that because testing indicated there were no death cap mushrooms found in the leftovers, just the toxins. So it was the powder that delivered the toxins. So it had to be added into each ind BW with enough strength to debilitate each guest. IMO

 

[Jess D]

It would be better for the planet if narcissists married narcissists and didn't reproduce, but they always seem to find empaths instead, partners whom -- given enough time, eventually they consume.

Shape shifter. On paper Erin became eventually Simon might have wanted in a wife, complete with the dramatic conversion.

If Erin is guilty as charged, she was faulting Simon for not coming to her luncheon, an occasion at which she intended to serve a deadly mealì. That is bass ackwards.

It's always opposite day.

JMO

Yes, I'm painfully aware of how narcissists find empaths and then go on to destroy them...

 

[Megnut]

Yes, I'm painfully aware of how narcissists find empaths and then go on to destroy them...

When you know, you know. Sadly.

 

[MaxDecimus13]

It's odd that as an atheist, she married religious Simon, who came from a deeply religious family...

It's not really, often when you fall for someone these things aren't first of all obvious, and your red lines suddenly fade away when you find them out.

I used to have a big thing about smokers, and then a hot girl showed interest and suddenly I didn't care anymore!

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

The thing is, all 4 lunch guests got sick very quickly and deteriorated very fast. They had strong doses. Gail only ate half of hers and was severely ill starting night one. So I don't think it was likely just cross contamination from a spatula or work bench. I think it was intentional dosages. She used her scales to work out how many kg of DC's to put into the recipe for 4 to 5 guests. IMO

And we have figured out that the toxins were sprinkled onto the duxelles paste which was spread across the top of each individual BW---except for EP's safe one. We know that because testing indicated there were no death cap mushrooms found in the leftovers, just the toxins. So it was the powder that delivered the toxins. So it had to be added into each ind BW with enough strength to debilitate each guest. IMO

Thanks for this input. I wasn't sure if the DC powder was certainly in the paste as a whole and that paste had then gone onto each individual pie -or- if EP had (allegedly) gave each pie a little sprinkle before she closed the lid on it. Or maybe she got real random and thought hey a hefty dose for SP and a little sprinkle for everyone else and maybe further wasn't sure who got what.

EP seems the sort of person who can proficiently carry out a home science experiment complete with background research (into mushrooms and their toxins) and measure out quantities in a scientific controlled manner. She did after all manage to not poison anyone accidentally.

It's interesting she claims to hope to become a midwife when in fact she was dispatching people into the next life which is the polar opposite. If she'd reverted to her fundamental atheism, had she decided to carry out the devil's work on this earth!?

JMO MOO

 

[Detechtive]

Rest of article behind paywall, but judging by this, she is paying her own way.

View attachment 593122

I believe she was originally paying for it herself, but it has recently changed to Legal aid funding.
IMO

 

[MaxDecimus13]

With the lack of new info over the weekend, it gives you time to reflect on things that often you don't have time to.

As I've said elsewhere, there are a couple of good pieces of information that create doubt in Erin's guilt, and whilst we can come up with reasons for them, they aren't the most probable.

I actually thought of another today. If Erin planned to kill the 4/5 guests, what exactly did she think would happen next is she succeeded? It doesn't seem likely that she would think that everybody would just see it as a tragic accident and there would be no investigation. Also, she would surely know that it would look really bad on her as the one who cooked the meal and that would affect her life forever regardless of guilt.

This seriously leads me to consider whether that was her true intention. Again, I wonder whether she underestimated the effect it would have and either thought it might only kill one or thought they would become ill and she could be a Florence Nightingale figure and nurse them back to health.

If guilty, she was either extremely careless, stupid or arrogant in the extreme, or she didn't intend for them all to be affected as much as they were.

Definite food for thought.

 

[Detechtive]

With the lack of new info over the weekend, it gives you time to reflect on things that often you don't have time to.

As I've said elsewhere, there are a couple of good pieces of information that create doubt in Erin's guilt, and whilst we can come up with reasons for them, they aren't the most probable.

I actually thought of another today. If Erin planned to kill the 4/5 guests, what exactly did she think would happen next is she succeeded? It doesn't seem likely that she would think that everybody would just see it as a tragic accident and there would be no investigation. Also, she would surely know that it would look really bad on her as the one who cooked the meal and that would affect her life forever regardless of guilt.

This seriously leads me to consider whether that was her true intention. Again, I wonder whether she underestimated the effect it would have and either thought it might only kill one or thought they would become ill and she could be a Florence Nightingale figure and nurse them back to health.

If guilty, she was either extremely careless, stupid or arrogant in the extreme, or she didn't intend for them all to be affected as much as they were.

Definite food for thought.

Why would she want to nurse them back to health? They would all know she poisoned them or that her food made them sick. That is nonsensical as a motive. They would be suspicious of her to the extreme and it would have caused more family divide.

Most murderers get caught. For a reason. They are stupid. They don't plan after the murders well.
But besides all that, it is incredibly difficult to get away with murder these days - with all of the technology available. Had it not been for internet banking and cctv, we probably wouldn't be here.

Murder isn't rational, ever.

But even if she did just 'intend to make them sick' - that goes to intent to cause serious harm, which meets the bar for murder in Victoria.

 

[MaxDecimus13]

Thanks for this input. I wasn't sure if the DC powder was certainly in the paste as a whole and that paste had then gone onto each individual pie -or- if EP had (allegedly) gave each pie a little sprinkle before she closed the lid on it. Or maybe she got real random and thought hey a hefty dose for SP and a little sprinkle for everyone else and maybe further wasn't sure who got what.

EP seems the sort of person who can proficiently carry out a home science experiment complete with background research (into mushrooms and their toxins) and measure out quantities in a scientific controlled manner. She did after all manage to not poison anyone accidentally.

It's interesting she claims to hope to become a midwife when in fact she was dispatching people into the next life which is the polar opposite. If she'd reverted to her fundamental atheism, had she decided to carry out the devil's work on this earth!?

JMO MOO

You do know atheists don't believe in the devil either right?