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

[Lexiintoronto]

I haven’t followed the case closely—what may be the motive if this was intentional? I understand her ex-husband was supposed to have been there, so he may have been a potential target. But why not order pizza if your main intended victim canceled?

 

[Kemug]

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/mushroom-cooks-stern-warning-to-lurking-media/news-story/6458ceb118a696d46ff7e26569122879

Seems its about a note to the media, on a gate at her home.

Mushroom cook’s stern warning to lurking media


Behind paywall I think. Posting it here for those who subscribe.

Something like "Leave me alone, or you'll be sorry"?

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Any media trespassing will be reported to the police is the gist of the note.

 

[jepop]

yes I was replying to your mention that it's possible that she may have - but if she did, why not say it - it would likely be harder to trace her purchase at a random farmer's market (cash only?) than a retail store

It's not a popular option to consider but maybe she didn't say it (I bought dried (?) or fresh (?) mushrooms from [untraceable] farmers market or off side-of-the -road set up) because she didn't do that. Maybe she said what she said in her statement about button mushrooms from super-market and dried from Asian Grocer in Melbourne because it's true.Moo

 

[jepop]

If she'd already bought dehydrated mushrooms from the Asian store, why is the dehydrator even a part of the story?? Beef Wellington doesn't typically involve dehydrated mushrooms, and since she (claims she) bought fresh button mushrooms from the grocer I am presuming she purchased enough to complete the recipe.

Dehydrated mushrooms were unnecessary but let's pretend she thought they'd add great flavor; I've read she has a known love of cooking so yeah, ok. But they were already in a dehydrated state so what was the dehydrator used for??

This case hurts my brain!

The button mushrooms? All I know is that the less moisture in the mushrooms the better because the layer between the meat and the pastry is meant to prevent juices from the meat leaking through into the pastry and to that purpose some/many(?) recipes call for the moisture in the mushrooms to be reduced as much as possible. Can be done over the stove but could be quicker to dehydrate the buttons first. Just speculating. In the end the duxelle would ideally be like a paste rather then very small pieces of mushroom. I'm not sure we know what recipe she followed for the Wellington. Moo

 

[LadyL]

It's not a popular option to consider but maybe she didn't say it (I bought dried (?) or fresh (?) mushrooms from [untraceable] farmers market or off side-of-the -road set up) because she didn't do that. Maybe she said what she said in her statement about button mushrooms from super-market and dried from Asian Grocer in Melbourne because it's true.Moo

yes I know I was only responding to someone saying it was a possibility

 

[LadyL]

Good grief I hope it's not possible. Because where's the device now? In the house where her ex has been living?

what do you mean by 'device'?

what kind of device?

 

[renah]

The button mushrooms? All I know is that the less moisture in the mushrooms the better because the layer between the meat and the pastry is meant to prevent juices from the meat leaking through into the pastry and to that purpose some/many(?) recipes call for the moisture in the mushrooms to be reduced as much as possible. Can be done over the stove but could be quicker to dehydrate the buttons first. Just speculating. In the end the duxelle would ideally be like a paste rather then very small pieces of mushroom. I'm not sure we know what recipe she followed for the Wellington. Moo

Thanks for replying!
It's true that the duxelle should be "dry" but that doesn't mean dehydrated. Any mushroom previously dehydrated must first be RE-hydrated to work in a duxelle (or any recipe that I can think of). Un- rehydrated mushrooms are brittle like cardboard or worse: they are inedible in that form. Ditto for partially dehydrated mushrooms!

I really wish I could give this woman my benefit of doubt but something is definitely askew.

 

[gitana1]

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.

How long was she there for?

 

[gitana1]

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.

Excellent post. 100% agreed.

 

[gitana1]

This article is great for providing some context around EP’s financial situation:

Credit: C Sutton, The Daily Mail

“The woman who cooked the fatal beef wellington pie with Death Cap mushrooms has a multimillion dollar property portfolio funded by a stunning oceanfront property she inherited from her mother.”

“Ms Patterson's mother, noted children's literature professor, Dr Heather Scutter, left a house on the South Pacific Ocean headland at Eden in her will when she died in early 2019.”

Fatal mushroom cook's multimillion property portfolio

She didn’t die “mysteriously”, did she?

 

[JLZ]

Suppose (edible) dried mushrooms were stored in a container that had previously held amanitas. The container might still hold amanita spores, correct? Could amanitas begin to grow afresh in the dried mushroom base?

 

[JLZ]

what do you mean by 'device'?

what kind of device?

I'm hopeful it doesn't exist. So I really can't tell you its nature.

 

[silvercrown]

She didn’t die “mysteriously”, did she?

A few pages back there were links that reported both EP’s mother and father died from cancer.

 

[gitana1]

A few pages back there were links that reported both EP’s mother and father died from cancer.

Thanks!

 

[jepop]

Thanks for replying!
It's true that the duxelle should be "dry" but that doesn't mean dehydrated. Any mushroom previously dehydrated must first be RE-hydrated to work in a duxelle (or any recipe that I can think of). Un- rehydrated mushrooms are brittle like cardboard or worse: they are inedible in that form. Ditto for partially dehydrated mushrooms!

I really wish I could give this woman my benefit of doubt but something is definitely askew.

See what you mean! Still, maybe dehydrate then soaking the dehydrated mushrooms in water prior to cooking achieves the desired consistency of the duxelle better than chopping fresh buttons then reducing on stove top. Soaked dried/dehydrated mushrooms would not return to their original mass? Just tossing out ideas as I really have no idea. Moo

 

[jepop]

She didn’t die “mysteriously”, did she?

No, she died of cancer in 2019. Her father also died of cancer in 2011 according to Msm. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in many western nations. Moo

 

[gitana1]

He may have commented on Erin's manner, but until there is further information, who knows.

He may have said something about a completely different aspect of the meal.
Off the top of my head - "I hope it wasn't caused by the pavlova my wife made. She was a bit worried
about the cream's 'use by' date." (Just a random example - I'm not suggesting that a pavlova even existed.)
All JMO

I think if it was something that innocuous, the EMT’s wouldn’t have felt the need to report it to police.

 

[silvercrown]

See what you mean! Still, maybe dehydrate then soaking the dehydrated mushrooms in water prior to cooking achieves the desired consistency of the duxelle better than chopping fresh buttons then reducing on stove top. Soaked dried/dehydrated mushrooms would not return to their original mass? Just tossing out ideas as I really have no idea. Moo

Moo all the additions to the dried mushrooms would be enough to soften them for the duxelles. Butter etc. not that I’m convinced I believe there were dried mushrooms.

Moo The dehydrator could have been used on the button/supermarket mushrooms (and/or maybe the ‘you know what’s) to take most of the moisture out of them but not dry them out completely. IMO

 

[Charlot123]

I haven't read anything indicating that the money wasn't hers according to Australian laws.
Any link or reference to a post?
TIA

Not references. I was absolutely positive that if the money came from her mom's will and were invested by her, it was hers. People in this (previous) thread made a comment that as long as they were married, S. had the right for the part of it. I don't know Australian laws, nor this specific inheritance. I would be very much interested in the financial part of it. IMHO, this might be the clue to the whole case.