Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #2

[ch_13]

It's damning if you are convinced she is guilty.
It's explanatory if your mind is still open to possibilities.
eg did she imagine that if she didn't get rid of it that something would be planted on it?
Was she afraid of her former husband?
Was she so upset at the attack on her that she simply deteriorated mentally?

There are multitudes of reasons for why women take certain actions because of the words or actions of a man, perceived or real.

We simply do not know enough.

That's my opinion anyways.
Come what may, I won't ever be sorry for remaining unprejudiced and objective, no matter what the case is.

Regardless of their mental state, I think there are very few people who would try to destroy evidence that was exculpatory. If someone accused me of stealing something--no matter how upset I was--I couldn't imagine that I would run home and get rid of the receipt that proved I'd purchased it.

And of course it's not just the dehydrator. There's so much in her story that's implausible. Such as she only used store-bought mushrooms and has no idea where the poison came from. Or that she can't remember where the dried mushrooms were purchased. Or that she somehow avoided the illness even though the way Beef Wellington is prepared means everyone should have received a hefty dose of the toxin.

When you look at the totality of the facts in evidence, it becomes really hard for me to swallow her story. If that makes me unobjective and prejudiced, so be it.

 

[SMK777]

Truth.
I wonder what her present status is with them?
Not a word so far this morning, that I can find..

There’s not much new, but days ago a slew of online mainstream articles had said that police detectives confirmed that she was the suspect, and that the medical conditions leading to death and critical illness were consistent with death cap mushroom toxicity.

There’s been no retraction of these statements anywhere.

 

[kittythehare]

Agree, that investigators should be able to verify that part of EP's statement. The ABC already seems to have verified that she was sent to Monash from the Gippsland Medical Centre. (Privacy Act would prevent GMC providing more details than what is reported below).
Moo

Woman who cooked suspected poisoned meal details where she bought mushrooms

The woman who cooked a meal that is believed to have contained poisonous mushrooms and led to the deaths of three people gives a lengthy written statement to police detailing her account of what happened, and revealing she was hospitalised after the incident.

www.abc.net.au

"She said she was transported by ambulance from the Leongatha Hospital to the Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne on July 31.

The Gippsland Southern Health Service confirmed a fifth person who presented at Leongatha Hospital on July 30 with suspected food poisoning later returned and was sent to Monash."

Correct and she received a prophylactic liver drug.

 

[kittythehare]

Regardless of their mental state, I think there are very few people who would try to destroy evidence that was exculpatory. If someone accused me of stealing something--no matter how upset I was--I couldn't imagine that I would run home and get rid of the receipt that proved I'd purchased it.

And of course it's not just the dehydrator. There's so much in her story that's implausible. Such as she only used store-bought mushrooms and has no idea where the poison came from. Or that she can't remember where the dried mushrooms were purchased. Or that she somehow avoided the illness even though the way Beef Wellington is prepared means everyone should have received a hefty dose of the toxin.

When you look at the totality of the facts in evidence, it becomes really hard for me to swallow her story. If that makes me unobjective and prejudiced, so be it.

We don't have access to the totality of facts, we have almost nothing.
That is the substantive issue here.
Speculation is not the same as the acquisition of the actual facts.

 

[MsMarple]

Do they have farmer’s markets in Australia where a bunch of different vendors sell products, including produce they’ve grown themselves? If so, and if she is guilty, THAT would’ve been the place to say they were purchased and dried months ago, not a regulated grocery store. In my state at least (Midwest USA), there are no regulations/testing/oversight on consumables sold at farmer’s markets.

EDIT: Could a small niche grocery store have purchased some products from a farmer’s market to supplement their inventory? Highly unlikely, but scary to think what we could be buying at farmer’s markets…

It would be easier to track down a dried mushroom seller in a farmer’s market than one of a number of different Asian markets.

And to add, IMO she doesn’t want LE to find the source of the mushrooms because either there was no such purchase or else she knows the mushrooms were non poisonous. Since she allegedly gave LE the leftovers it shouldn’t take long for the lab to identify how many species of mushrooms were used. And if any were deadly.

 

[LaborDayRN]

Correct and she received a prophylactic liver drug.

I must have missed this. Do you have a link or can you point me to your previous post?

 

[SMK777]

We don't have access to the totality of facts, we have almost nothing.
That is the substantive issue here.
Speculation is not the same as the acquisition of the actual facts.

That’s absolutely true for us; but again, not for law enforcement investigators.

 

[SMK777]

I must have missed this. Do you have a link or can you point me to your previous post?

This would be given as a precaution for anyone who said they’d been present at a poisonous lunch. She wasn’t even held for observation.

 

[ch_13]

We don't have access to the totality of facts, we have almost nothing.
That is the substantive issue here.
Speculation is not the same as the acquisition of the actual facts.

Please don't take my words out of context. I did not say we had "access to the totality of the facts."

What I said was "when you look at the totality of the facts in evidence...", which is not the same thing.

Of course not all the facts are in. But I believe we do know quite a bit about what happened in this case and enough to make some logical inferences and draw some conclusions.

I respect those who feel otherwise and believe that new information may arise that could exonerate Ms. Patterson. It's just that in my experience when the improbabilities keep piling up, and the suspect has to change their story to fit the known facts, then it's indicative that they are not telling the whole truth.

 

[Baby baby Jane]

Blaming on the Asian mushrooms is not cool.

 

[LaborDayRN]

This would be given as a precaution for anyone who said they’d been present at a poisonous lunch. She wasn’t even held for observation.

Yes, I completely understand that. I was just wondering if we had an acutal link to this information on the thread or is it a case of JMO.

 

[kittythehare]

I must have missed this. Do you have a link or can you point me to your previous post?

Ms Patterson said it had not been previously reported that she was also hospitalised after the lunch with bad stomach pains and diarrhoea, and was put on a saline drip and given a "liver protective drug".

She said she was transported by ambulance from the Leongatha Hospital to the Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne on July 31.

The Gippsland Southern Health Service confirmed a fifth person who presented at Leongatha Hospital on July 30 with suspected food poisoning later returned and was sent to Monas

Woman who cooked suspected poisoned meal details where she bought mushrooms

The woman who cooked a meal that is believed to have contained poisonous mushrooms and led to the deaths of three people gives a lengthy written statement to police detailing her account of what happened, and revealing she was hospitalised after the incident.

www.abc.net.au

 

[LaborDayRN]

Ms Patterson said it had not been previously reported that she was also hospitalised after the lunch with bad stomach pains and diarrhoea, and was put on a saline drip and given a "liver protective drug".

She said she was transported by ambulance from the Leongatha Hospital to the Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne on July 31.

The Gippsland Southern Health Service confirmed a fifth person who presented at Leongatha Hospital on July 30 with suspected food poisoning later returned and was sent to Monas

Woman who cooked suspected poisoned meal details where she bought mushrooms

The woman who cooked a meal that is believed to have contained poisonous mushrooms and led to the deaths of three people gives a lengthy written statement to police detailing her account of what happened, and revealing she was hospitalised after the incident.

www.abc.net.au

Thanks @kittythehare

 

[MsMarple]

Please don't take my words out of context. I did not say we had "access to the totality of the facts."

What I said was "when you look at the totality of the facts in evidence...", which is not the same thing.

Of course not all the facts are in. But I believe we do know quite a bit about what happened in this case and enough to make some logical inferences and draw some conclusions.

I respect those who feel otherwise and believe that new information may arise that could exonerate Ms. Patterson. It's just that in my experience when the improbabilities keep piling up, and the suspect has to change their story to fit the known facts, then it's indicative that they are not telling the whole truth.

I agree and add that some of the known facts come directly from the statement EP sent to LE:

That she bought the mushrooms from a supermarket and an unidentified Asian market.

That she initially refused to speak with LE due to bad advice.

That she fed her children the Wellington after scraping the mushrooms off the meat.

That she herself became ill and was put on a saline drip and given medication to protect her liver.

That she disposed of a food dehydrator in a tip (garbage dump).

That she lied to LE about it.

We can accept or reject her story. For me those facts are suspicious. I’m open to changing my mind if new information is disclosed but until then EP’s own words IMO point to something amiss in this case.

 

[CityKid]

I must have missed this. Do you have a link or can you point me to your previous post?

From Shock twist after mushroom poisoning as woman who cooked meal speaks
From the story: Erin said she was then hospitalised with bad stomach pains and diarrhoea, and was put on a saline drip and given a 'liver protective drug'.

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

mushrooms are just great -breakfast/soup/pasta/casserole/stirfry. a moments silence for the good mushie x

I love mushrooms, especially fried with garlic and rosemary hmmm mmmm. However, this case could put a person off slightly and I'd definitely be wary of anyone who forages.

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

I swear earlier in this thread today I saw a media link saying EP was (in essence) MIA. However I just flicked back through the thread and can’t see anything.
Anybody know?
Innocent or guilty, I hope she is okay. Especially for her kids’ sake. It’d be gut wrenching to see your mum dragged over hot coals in the media.

There was something about her lawyer or a journalist waiting at her property but no one was home or something? Sorry can't recall more detail.

 

[jjenny]

Correct and she received a prophylactic liver drug.

It sounds like she went in and was sent home. She returned the next day. By that time it was obvious the rest of the people who ate her meal were in deep trouble from poisoning. So I am sure doctors would have wanted to examine her. I don't think it means she actually had poisoning symptoms.

 

[jjenny]

This would be given as a precaution for anyone who said they’d been present at a poisonous lunch. She wasn’t even held for observation.

She went in and was send home. She returned the next day and it looks they treated her with saline drip (fluids) and some sort of liver protecting drug. I don't think that even means anything was actually wrong with her. By the time she returned it was obvious the 4 people who ate her meal were in deep trouble. The treatments she got sound like precautions.

 

[Salah11]

Yes there is a big difference between diarrhoea and a tummy ache then eating poisonous mushrooms ( likely symptoms) that shuts down your organs.