Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #13 *Arrest*
- Thread starter TootsieFootsie
- Start date
- Status
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2021
- Messages
- 722
- Reaction score
- 8,160
Key Event
Just now
Prosecution alleges Asian grocer lie sent health officials on 'wild goose chase'
By Joseph Dunstan
Dr Rogers puts to Ms Patterson that, contrary to her account in a police interview a week after the lunch, she had not been "very, very helpful" to the health department as they investigated the origins of the death cap mushrooms.
"In fact, you sent them on a wild goose chase trying to locate this Asian grocer ... you did not want to be pressed for details about the Asian grocery store," Dr Rogers says.
"You lied about the source of the death cap mushrooms because you knew you were guilty of deliberately poisoning your four [relatives]."
Ms Patterson rejects the assertions.
Just now
Prosecution alleges Asian grocer lie sent health officials on 'wild goose chase'
By Joseph Dunstan
Dr Rogers puts to Ms Patterson that, contrary to her account in a police interview a week after the lunch, she had not been "very, very helpful" to the health department as they investigated the origins of the death cap mushrooms.
"In fact, you sent them on a wild goose chase trying to locate this Asian grocer ... you did not want to be pressed for details about the Asian grocery store," Dr Rogers says.
"You lied about the source of the death cap mushrooms because you knew you were guilty of deliberately poisoning your four [relatives]."
Ms Patterson rejects the assertions.
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2025
- Messages
- 823
- Reaction score
- 10,083
3m ago
11.40 AEST
Patterson rejects this.
Rogers says Patterson ignored a call and voicemail message from Atkinson on 2 August 2023.
In a text message on this day, shown to the court, Atkinson sent a series of questions asking about the source of the dried mushrooms.
In the messages, Atkinson referred to Oakleigh, Clayton and Mount Waverley as possible locations for the Asian grocer. Rogers says this is a reflection of what Patterson had previously told Atkinson.
Patterson says she had told everyone she spoke to that week it was Glen Waverley and not Mount Waverley.
www.theguardian.com
11.40 AEST
Rogers says Patterson told Atkinson the dried mushrooms were in clear packaging to make it more believable that the mushrooms were not commercially available.
Patterson rejects this.
Rogers says Patterson ignored a call and voicemail message from Atkinson on 2 August 2023.
In a text message on this day, shown to the court, Atkinson sent a series of questions asking about the source of the dried mushrooms.
In the messages, Atkinson referred to Oakleigh, Clayton and Mount Waverley as possible locations for the Asian grocer. Rogers says this is a reflection of what Patterson had previously told Atkinson.
Patterson says she had told everyone she spoke to that week it was Glen Waverley and not Mount Waverley.
Australia mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson tells court she thought beef wellington recipe was ‘the perfect dish’ for dried mushrooms
Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder after a fatal beef wellington lunch in Leongatha in 2023. Follow live
lazymaiden07
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2025
- Messages
- 35
- Reaction score
- 567
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2025
- Messages
- 823
- Reaction score
- 10,083
2m ago
11.47 AEST
Rogers says this was not true. Patterson rejects this.
“You sent them on a wild goose chase trying to locate this Asian grocer,” Rogers says.
“Incorrect,” Patterson replies.
www.theguardian.com
11.47 AEST
Rogers reads out answers from Patterson’s formal police interview on 5 August 2023 when she said she was “very, very helpful” with the Department of Health.
Rogers says this was not true. Patterson rejects this.
“You sent them on a wild goose chase trying to locate this Asian grocer,” Rogers says.
“Incorrect,” Patterson replies.
Australia mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson tells court she thought beef wellington recipe was ‘the perfect dish’ for dried mushrooms
Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder after a fatal beef wellington lunch in Leongatha in 2023. Follow live
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2013
- Messages
- 13,390
- Reaction score
- 87,683
What?? That’s exactly what she did! Unbelievable!2m ago
11.47 AEST
Rogers reads out answers from Patterson’s formal police interview on 5 August 2023 when she said she was “very, very helpful” with the Department of Health.
Rogers says this was not true. Patterson rejects this.
“You sent them on a wild goose chase trying to locate this Asian grocer,” Rogers says.
“Incorrect,” Patterson replies.
Australia mushroom trial live: Erin Patterson tells court she thought beef wellington recipe was ‘the perfect dish’ for dried mushrooms
Victorian woman, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder after a fatal beef wellington lunch in Leongatha in 2023. Follow live
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2025
- Messages
- 823
- Reaction score
- 10,083
What?? That’s exactly what she did! Unbelievable!
I hope Dr Rogers points out how if she had actually been helpful, peoples lives could have been saved.
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2025
- Messages
- 823
- Reaction score
- 10,083
8 minutes ago
Dr Rogers suggests to Erin that she never bought mushrooms from an Asian grocer in April, but Erin denies this.
She also rejects the suggestion that she was changing the details she was providing to Ms Atkinson, including the weight of the dried mushrooms.
Dr Rogers put to Erin that she was familiar with Mt Waverley and the adjourning areas such as Glen Waverley, Oakleigh and Clayton because she owned a property in the suburb.
Dr Rogers: In fact, I suggest you were deliberately vague when you were asked about the suburb (of the Asian grocer), correct or incorrect?
Erin: Incorrect.
Dr Rogers: Your story kept changing, I suggest.
Erin: I don’t think it did.
She also denies her description of the packaging was changing.
Dr Rogers: Because the Asian grocer story was a deliberate lie, correct or incorrect?
Erin: Incorrect.
She then suggests Erin was not “very helpful” when answering Ms Atkinson’s questions during the Department of Health’s investigation.
Dr Rogers: You sent them on a wild goose chase trying to locate this Asian grocer, correct or incorrect?
Erin: Incorrect.
She also denies lying about using dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer in the beef wellington.
Dr Rogers: You lied about the source of the death cap mushrooms because you knew you were guilty of deliberately poisoning your four lunch guests, correct or incorrect?
Erin: Incorrect.
The jury is having the mid-morning break.
'I suggest you were deliberately vague': Crown
Dr Rogers suggests to Erin that she never bought mushrooms from an Asian grocer in April, but Erin denies this.
She also rejects the suggestion that she was changing the details she was providing to Ms Atkinson, including the weight of the dried mushrooms.
Dr Rogers put to Erin that she was familiar with Mt Waverley and the adjourning areas such as Glen Waverley, Oakleigh and Clayton because she owned a property in the suburb.
Dr Rogers: In fact, I suggest you were deliberately vague when you were asked about the suburb (of the Asian grocer), correct or incorrect?
Erin: Incorrect.
Dr Rogers: Your story kept changing, I suggest.
Erin: I don’t think it did.
She also denies her description of the packaging was changing.
Dr Rogers: Because the Asian grocer story was a deliberate lie, correct or incorrect?
Erin: Incorrect.
She then suggests Erin was not “very helpful” when answering Ms Atkinson’s questions during the Department of Health’s investigation.
Dr Rogers: You sent them on a wild goose chase trying to locate this Asian grocer, correct or incorrect?
Erin: Incorrect.
She also denies lying about using dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer in the beef wellington.
Dr Rogers: You lied about the source of the death cap mushrooms because you knew you were guilty of deliberately poisoning your four lunch guests, correct or incorrect?
Erin: Incorrect.
The jury is having the mid-morning break.
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2021
- Messages
- 722
- Reaction score
- 8,160
More throwing her children under the bus. Despicable.
Key Event
Just now
Jury returns and questions turn to leftovers fed to Erin's children
By Joseph Dunstan
The trial has resumed, and the cross-examination of Ms Patterson by Nanette Rogers SC continues.
Dr Rogers moves to Ms Patterson's assertion that she fed her children leftover meat from one of the beef Wellingtons prepared for the lunch at the centre of the trial.
Ms Patterson puts her glasses on to watch the screen before her as she's taken to a transcript of her son's police interview.
The prosecutor notes Ms Patterson's son told police that his mum had told him their Sunday dinner had been made with leftovers from the lunch held the day before. Ms Patterson's daughter said the same thing to police.
"I only remember telling the kids on the Sunday that it was leftovers. I don't remember telling them anything about it being lunch leftovers," Ms Patterson says.
Key Event
Just now
Jury returns and questions turn to leftovers fed to Erin's children
By Joseph Dunstan
The trial has resumed, and the cross-examination of Ms Patterson by Nanette Rogers SC continues.
Dr Rogers moves to Ms Patterson's assertion that she fed her children leftover meat from one of the beef Wellingtons prepared for the lunch at the centre of the trial.
Ms Patterson puts her glasses on to watch the screen before her as she's taken to a transcript of her son's police interview.
The prosecutor notes Ms Patterson's son told police that his mum had told him their Sunday dinner had been made with leftovers from the lunch held the day before. Ms Patterson's daughter said the same thing to police.
"I only remember telling the kids on the Sunday that it was leftovers. I don't remember telling them anything about it being lunch leftovers," Ms Patterson says.
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2013
- Messages
- 13,390
- Reaction score
- 87,683
14m ago21.47 EDT
Erin Patterson denies sending authorities on ‘wild goose chase’ over Asian grocer
Rogers reads out answers from Patterson’sformal police interview on 5 August 2023 when she said she was “very, very helpful” with the Department of Health.
Rogers says this was not true. Patterson rejects this.
“You sent them on a wild goose chase trying to locate this Asian grocer,” Rogers says.
“Incorrect,” Patterson replies.
———
!! I just don’t get this one. She named three or four different areas where the Asian grocery could be located, deliberately withheld vital information even when she knew the others were in critical condition and doctors were desperately trying to understand a source.
What more could she have done to hamper and delay her in-laws’ treatment? Puncture the ambulance tires? This is ridiculous.
Erin Patterson denies sending authorities on ‘wild goose chase’ over Asian grocer
Rogers reads out answers from Patterson’sformal police interview on 5 August 2023 when she said she was “very, very helpful” with the Department of Health.
Rogers says this was not true. Patterson rejects this.
“You sent them on a wild goose chase trying to locate this Asian grocer,” Rogers says.
“Incorrect,” Patterson replies.
———
!! I just don’t get this one. She named three or four different areas where the Asian grocery could be located, deliberately withheld vital information even when she knew the others were in critical condition and doctors were desperately trying to understand a source.
What more could she have done to hamper and delay her in-laws’ treatment? Puncture the ambulance tires? This is ridiculous.
SO WHAT LEFTOVERS WAS IT THEN?
Didn't she "scrape" the pastry/mushrooms off the remaining BW? IS THAT NOT LEFTOVER FROM THE LUNCH.
Orrrrrrrrrrr like I have given my opinion on previously, its separate steaks "leftover", not from the lunch meal itself, but just remaining after she prep'd the lunch. That's why there was no poison.
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2025
- Messages
- 823
- Reaction score
- 10,083
Mushrooms are very filling...
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2021
- Messages
- 722
- Reaction score
- 8,160
This is a terrible response from a mum who supposedly loves her kids!
Key Event
1m ago
Questions over apparent lack of urgency to have children checked at hospital
By Joseph Dunstan
Ms Patterson recalls being told by medical staff the Monday after the lunch that her children needed to be tested if they'd eaten leftovers.
She agrees she probably said words to the effect of "is it really necessary" to bring the children to hospital "because they don't have symptoms" and she didn't think they'd eaten any mushrooms because she'd removed them from the leftover meat.
Dr Rogers puts to her it's not credible that "if you thought, genuinely, that your children had eaten a potentially fatal poison ... you'd be worried or stressed about pulling them out of school".
"The issue was mushrooms and they had not eaten the mushrooms," Ms Patterson says.
"I suggest that you would have wanted them to have immediate medical attention, notwithstanding on your claim that they hadn't eaten the mushrooms," Dr Rogers says.
"I wanted to understand the concern and the risk to them," Ms Patterson says.
Dr Rogers asks Ms Patterson if she loved her kids.
"I still love them," Ms Patterson says.
Key Event
1m ago
Questions over apparent lack of urgency to have children checked at hospital
By Joseph Dunstan
Ms Patterson recalls being told by medical staff the Monday after the lunch that her children needed to be tested if they'd eaten leftovers.
She agrees she probably said words to the effect of "is it really necessary" to bring the children to hospital "because they don't have symptoms" and she didn't think they'd eaten any mushrooms because she'd removed them from the leftover meat.
Dr Rogers puts to her it's not credible that "if you thought, genuinely, that your children had eaten a potentially fatal poison ... you'd be worried or stressed about pulling them out of school".
"The issue was mushrooms and they had not eaten the mushrooms," Ms Patterson says.
"I suggest that you would have wanted them to have immediate medical attention, notwithstanding on your claim that they hadn't eaten the mushrooms," Dr Rogers says.
"I wanted to understand the concern and the risk to them," Ms Patterson says.
Dr Rogers asks Ms Patterson if she loved her kids.
"I still love them," Ms Patterson says.
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2013
- Messages
- 13,390
- Reaction score
- 87,683
So now she recants her original story of feeding her kids leftovers that she scraped the mushrooms off of? Who’s she trying to kid?
now12.16 AEST
Erin Patterson questioned over what her children ate the day after fatal lunch
Rogers begins to ask Patterson about evidence regarding what her children ate the day after the lunch.
In a pre-recorded police interview, Patterson’s children said their mother told them they were eating leftovers from the meal the following night. Patterson agrees she told her children they were eating leftovers for dinner on Sunday 30 July 2023.
Patterson says she told her children they were eating “leftovers” but not lunch leftovers.
now12.16 AEST
Erin Patterson questioned over what her children ate the day after fatal lunch
Rogers begins to ask Patterson about evidence regarding what her children ate the day after the lunch.
In a pre-recorded police interview, Patterson’s children said their mother told them they were eating leftovers from the meal the following night. Patterson agrees she told her children they were eating leftovers for dinner on Sunday 30 July 2023.
Patterson says she told her children they were eating “leftovers” but not lunch leftovers.
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2021
- Messages
- 722
- Reaction score
- 8,160
Key Event
1m ago
Erin asks hospital staff about blood test to detect death cap mushroom toxin
By Joseph Dunstan
Ms Patterson agrees she asked a doctor at Leongatha Hospital if there was a blood test to detect the death cap toxin in people.
"I remember asking 'is there not a blood test you can do to find out if death cap mushrooms are the toxin that we've ingested', and I remember her saying something along the lines of 'there is a blood test but it's not going to tell us an answer for days, so we treat for the worst-case scenario'. That's the gist of what I remember from that conversation," she says.
Dr Rogers suggests that this was not asked out of concern but because she wanted to know if a test could detect the death cap toxin in her lunch guests.
She also asserts that Ms Patterson was "initially reluctant" to have her children assessed because she knew they'd not eaten leftovers from the contaminated lunch and their lives were not at risk.
"Incorrect," Ms Patterson says.
1m ago
Erin asks hospital staff about blood test to detect death cap mushroom toxin
By Joseph Dunstan
Ms Patterson agrees she asked a doctor at Leongatha Hospital if there was a blood test to detect the death cap toxin in people.
"I remember asking 'is there not a blood test you can do to find out if death cap mushrooms are the toxin that we've ingested', and I remember her saying something along the lines of 'there is a blood test but it's not going to tell us an answer for days, so we treat for the worst-case scenario'. That's the gist of what I remember from that conversation," she says.
Dr Rogers suggests that this was not asked out of concern but because she wanted to know if a test could detect the death cap toxin in her lunch guests.
She also asserts that Ms Patterson was "initially reluctant" to have her children assessed because she knew they'd not eaten leftovers from the contaminated lunch and their lives were not at risk.
"Incorrect," Ms Patterson says.
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2021
- Messages
- 722
- Reaction score
- 8,160
Key Event
Just now
Prosecution questions Erin over feeding children leftovers that made her unwell
By Joseph Dunstan
Dr Rogers puts to Ms Patterson that she's effectively saying she fed her children leftovers from Saturday's lunch on Sunday, even though she'd been experiencing diarrhoea in the aftermath of the lunch.
"It was the same lunch, yes," Ms Patterson says.
Dr Rogers asks if that was "even though you thought you had food poisoning from the same lunch".
"I didn't think that," Ms Patterson says.
Just now
Prosecution questions Erin over feeding children leftovers that made her unwell
By Joseph Dunstan
Dr Rogers puts to Ms Patterson that she's effectively saying she fed her children leftovers from Saturday's lunch on Sunday, even though she'd been experiencing diarrhoea in the aftermath of the lunch.
"It was the same lunch, yes," Ms Patterson says.
Dr Rogers asks if that was "even though you thought you had food poisoning from the same lunch".
"I didn't think that," Ms Patterson says.
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2025
- Messages
- 823
- Reaction score
- 10,083
Patterson denies sending Health Department on ‘wild goose chase’ to track down Asian grocery
ByMarta Pascual Juanola
Prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC then asked accused mushroom killer Erin Patterson about the information she provided Department of Health manager Sally Ann Atkinson about the suburb the Asian grocer was located in, and her familiarity with that part of Melbourne.
The prosecutor suggested to Patterson that the fact she was able to name several streets in the south-eastern suburbs of Oakleigh, Clayton and Glen Waverley showed she was familiar with the area, to which Patterson disagreed.
Rogers then pointed out to Patterson that she had owned a property at Mount Waverley for several years and once worked for the Monash City Council.
“I did, many many years ago,” Patterson said of her council employment.
Rogers also referred her to evidence from her children, who described spending time at the Mount Waverley property in March and April 2023. Patterson agreed she was familiar with Mount Waverley and the adjacent area.
Rogers: And yet you are unable to tell any person with any degree of certainty where you purchased those dried mushrooms. I suggest you were deliberately vague about the subject when you were asked.
Patterson: Incorrect.
Rogers: Your story kept changing, I suggest.
Patterson: I don’t think it did.
Roger: Your description of the packaging kept changing.
Patterson: I don’t think it did.
Rogers: And that’s because the Asian grocery story was a deliberate lie.
Patterson: Incorrect.
Rogers then referred Patterson to evidence from Atkinson earlier in the trial about several unsuccessful attempts Atkinson made to contact her on the phone. She sent Patterson a text message on August 2 with a list of questions about the lunch and the mushrooms, in which she offered to communicate via email. Patterson agreed she had not responded to Atkinson’s message.
Patterson: I don’t remember reading it, I probably did but I don’t remember.
Rogers: I suggest you weren’t very, very helpful to the [health] department at all.
Patterson: I was trying to be.
Rogers: In fact you sent them on a wild goose chase trying to find this Asian grocer.
Patterson: Incorrect.
Patterson denied the suggestion that she had not engaged with Atkinson because she didn’t want to be pressed on details about the Asian grocery store.
Erin Patterson murder trial LIVE: Accused questioned about strong smell of mushrooms from Asian grocer that were served in beef Wellington
Accused killer Erin Patterson is expected to return to the witness box during her murder trial. She has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
- Locked
- Locked
- Locked
Online statistics
- Members online
- 178
- Guests online
- 552
- Total visitors
- 730