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

[jepop]

I don't agree that it's a fact that SP suffered a poisoning. His illness has not been explained.

Imo, his illness being caused by poisoning is very far from being a fact.

 

[jepop]

Is it known for certain that it is something that Simon ingested.
It could very well be from a disease.

If it was something he ingested and it was serious which it was, did anyone search his home for what this substance was to remove it. To prevent the same thing happening to others.

Seriously, the idea that SP was deliberately poisoned in 2022 is in the cateogory of rumour as far as I'm concerned. It's been put out there by someone, Imo, via Msm, but apparently not by SP himself (at least not directly - the unverified source being reported as "Simon's friend" ), he has made no official statement. Moo. There are hospital records and if necessary and relevant the police will investigate. Moo

 

[Shamrock1]

Imo, his illness being caused by poisoning is very far from being a fact.

Appx 4.1 million Australians suffer food poisoning every year. In the US, appx 3k die annually from food-borne illnesses. Simply leaving food at room temp for too long can be fatal. Even something as bland as rice can be deadly.

https://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/consumer/food-poisoning#:~:text=Food%20poisoning%20is%20the%20name,4.1%20million%20Australians%20each%20year.

Burden of Foodborne Illness: Findings | Estimates of Foodborne Illness | CDC

Illnesses, hospitalizations, and death research estimates related to foodborne illness in the United States including findings on Salmonella, Toxoplasma, Listeria, Campylobacter, E. coli O157, Clostridium perfringens, and norovirus. Estimates of burden of illness are designed to give the most...

www.cdc.gov

You Can Get Food Poisoning from Leftover Rice—Here’s How to Avoid It

Learn how to cook, cool, and store your rice properly so that you don’t get rice food poisoning. Find out how this bacteria gets into your food and how to keep your leftovers safe from contamination.

www.bhg.com

 

[jepop]

Appx 4.1 million Australians suffer food poisoning every year. In the US, appx 3k die annually from food-borne illnesses. Simply leaving food at room temp for too long can be fatal. Even something as bland as rice can be deadly.

https://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/consumer/food-poisoning#:~:text=Food%20poisoning%20is%20the%20name,4.1%20million%20Australians%20each%20year.

Burden of Foodborne Illness: Findings | Estimates of Foodborne Illness | CDC

Illnesses, hospitalizations, and death research estimates related to foodborne illness in the United States including findings on Salmonella, Toxoplasma, Listeria, Campylobacter, E. coli O157, Clostridium perfringens, and norovirus. Estimates of burden of illness are designed to give the most...

www.cdc.gov

You Can Get Food Poisoning from Leftover Rice—Here’s How to Avoid It

Learn how to cook, cool, and store your rice properly so that you don’t get rice food poisoning. Find out how this bacteria gets into your food and how to keep your leftovers safe from contamination.

www.bhg.com

I should have qualified by saying deliberate poisoning. But even so, IIRC he was in hospital for about 16 days , self described on fb posts I believe as "intestinal". I think he would have described it as food poisoning if he'd been told that by the hospital and I think the hospital would have been able to identify food poisoning if that was the case. Jmo.

 

[Ellery84]

But the fact he suffered a poisoning is what really keeps us centred on EP.

I don’t think police have said that husband Simon suffered a poisoning…

 

[JLZ]

I should have qualified by saying deliberate poisoning. But even so, IIRC he was in hospital for about 16 days , self described on fb posts I believe as "intestinal". I think he would have described it as food poisoning if he'd been told that by the hospital and I think the hospital would have been able to identify food poisoning if that was the case. Jmo.

It's the media who have called it a mystery illness. It could be that the hospital is satisfied with its knowledge about the episode.

 

[jepop]

It's the media who have called it a mystery illness. It could be that the hospital is satisfied with its knowledge about the episode.

Good point, a rumour born out of an anonymous source mixed with reporting style, aka poetic licence. Moo

 

[LadyL]

we're not allowed to discuss anyone else's social media footprint but the poi's not been very active on Instagram considering her last post was 553 weeks ago which I think is 10+ years?

 

[LadyL]

Not necessarily. I might just ignore, or mute, rather than doing something like unfollow that the other person could notice.

and you likely wouldn't do anything if you haven't been active on Instagram for 6 or more years

 

[LadyL]

I wouldn’t be surprised if someone is attempting to frame EP. Beginning to think that the mushrooms she served were perfectly safe and she panicked when someone accused her of mushroom poisoning. And wondering if someone reminded the contractor of the “death wall” and suggested he contact the news. JMO.

Occam's Razor

 

[Charlot123]

I think this is one of the only "alternate theories" I could entertain (end result still being EP did it).

E.g. she wants them to test the Beef Wellington, nothing there. Make a big show of suddenly dumping the dehydrator, make LE think they've recovered a key piece of evidence, but surprise! Nothing there either. In the meantime, the real origin of the poison has been obfuscated, and the actual incriminating evidence gotten rid of discreetly.

Am I remembering correctly that everyone bought a different dish to the meal? If we want to go even further with this theory... perhaps she managed to lace one of the guests' contributions? Then if / when the police get around to testing the other attendees' cookware, the only trace of poisonous mushroom will appear to originate with one of the other guests.

....I'm just not sure if she'd be playing such 4D chess.

I don't know if everyone brought a "contribution". If so, then it is really important to know who, and what.

Was it a form of "Leongatha potluck", so to say? They probably knew that Erin was a good cook. And Beef Wellington must be tasty. But out of courtesy to a kind hostess, everyone probably said what exactly they were going to bring.

And I am sorry to dwell on beverages, but they are easy to use in this case.

Imagine, someone says, "I shall bring my favorite icewine". Not necessarily that, Australia is famed for nice, expensive wines. And EP knows what her in-laws like.

Well, imagine them saying, Glenlivet 18.

Then it is so easy to purchase the same whiskey and add some poison into it in advance. And keep it in the house.

Then the guests come in. All she needs to do is to bring the contribution into the kitchen, switch the bottle, open, pour Scotch into glasses, bring them in and serve. The guest bottle stays in the bar.

Pavlova, especially homemade, is hard to reproduce. Unless EP knows her MIL's cooking style. Then, possible.

She thought Simon would be there. It had to be something Simon wouldn't have missed. Something Simon would have eaten (made by his mother) or drank (bought by his father). Because he didn't trust Erin's cuisine anymore.

Heck, it could be in the sugar added to coffee. You know who in the family likes coffee with sugar. And you can skip it yourself.

The phrase that one of the victims could have said to EMTs was, "I said to myself, this new coffee Erin bought tastes strange". That could have been the beginning.

 

[LadyL]

I think this is one of the only "alternate theories" I could entertain (end result still being EP did it).

E.g. she wants them to test the Beef Wellington, nothing there. Make a big show of suddenly dumping the dehydrator, make LE think they've recovered a key piece of evidence, but surprise! Nothing there either. In the meantime, the real origin of the poison has been obfuscated, and the actual incriminating evidence gotten rid of discreetly.

Am I remembering correctly that everyone bought a different dish to the meal? If we want to go even further with this theory... perhaps she managed to lace one of the guests' contributions? Then if / when the police get around to testing the other attendees' cookware, the only trace of poisonous mushroom will appear to originate with one of the other guests.

....I'm just not sure if she'd be playing such 4D chess.

we don't know if the victims brought anything to the luncheon

 

[JLZ]

I don't know if everyone brought a "contribution". If so, then it is really important to know who, and what.

Was it a form of "Leongatha potluck", so to say? They probably knew that Erin was a good cook. And Beef Wellington must be tasty. But out of courtesy to a kind hostess, everyone probably said what exactly they were going to bring.

And I am sorry to dwell on beverages, but they are easy to use in this case.

Imagine, someone says, "I shall bring my favorite icewine". Not necessarily that, Australia is famed for nice, expensive wines. And EP knows what her in-laws like.

Well, imagine them saying, Glenlivet 18.

Then it is so easy to purchase the same whiskey and add some poison into it in advance. And keep it in the house.

Then the guests come in. All she needs to do is to bring the contribution into the kitchen, switch the bottle, open, pour Scotch into glasses, bring them in and serve. The guest bottle stays in the bar.

Pavlova, especially homemade, is hard to reproduce. Unless EP knows her MIL's cooking style. Then, possible.

She thought Simon would be there. It had to be something Simon wouldn't have missed. Something Simon would have eaten (made by his mother) or drank (bought by his father). Because he didn't trust Erin's cuisine anymore.

Heck, it could be in the sugar added to coffee. You know who in the family likes coffee with sugar. And you can skip it yourself.

The phrase that one of the victims could have said to EMTs was, "I said to myself, this new coffee Erin bought tastes strange". That could have been the beginning.

I don't know if there was a salad--but how about mushroom infused olive oil, brought as a dressing.

 

[LadyL]

I don't know if there was a salad--but how about mushroom infused olive oil, brought as a dressing.

does that exist?

 

[JLZ]

does that exist?

There are commercial versions, but some people probably make their own, or perhaps buy it at markets from small/hobbyist producers.

 

[kiwilaura]

I consider SP's mystery illness a red herring, likely a coincidence latched on to by an excited media. Personally I think it will end up not being connected.

But I still find it a stretch to think that one of the guests brought in poisoned food OR EP was set up and yet she still didn't get sick and die. Remarkable coincidence to also not eat the food your guests brought, or the poisoned food you were tricked into cooking and was presumably to kill people with?

So I lean towards it either being a horrible accident, and the mushrooms really were placed by some terrible mix up.... OR EP knew exactly what was going on. The thing with the former, is that I just don't really buy that scraping the DC mushrooms out of a cooked meal would protect you from some significant tummy upset. Or that you would take such a risk with DC mushrooms to merely scrape them out and willingly eat the dish they were cooked in.

So I lean towards her not eating it at all. And if that's the case, I think she did it on purpose.

And then, she's smart enough to know "good bl**dy luck proving anything!"

MOO

 

[silvercrown]

Someone asked the question why EP would think she would get away with it…. In my opinion, she will get away with it. An intentional act will be very hard to prove I believe and there will be enough reasonable doubt. Any evidence will be circumstantial.

Accident or not, I personally don’t think anyone will be held accountable. If EP has any awareness of the law, she would probably feel reasonably confident. If she did it on purpose.

Circumstantial evidence can be an extremely strong form of evidence and murderers have definitely been convicted based solely on it.

Maybe she’s confided to a friend how much she hates her in laws and was going to kill them?
There may be google searches on where to forage for DC mushrooms?
There may be google searches of how to best hide them in food or drink? And how long until they take effect?

This isn’t physical evidence but it would be pretty convincing for me if I was a juror.

Who knows?

Moo imo if EP guilty, of course.

 

[silvercrown]

Does anybody here read anything into the fact (presumably a fact anyway) that SP was invited to lunch but cancelled? Or just a very fortunate coincidence?

Thinking out loud.

Edit - not necessarily saying he’s complicit, but maybe EP warned him not to come?
I’d like to know why he cancelled when it was his family that EP was hosting.

 

[JLZ]

Does anybody here read anything into the fact (presumably a fact anyway) that SP was invited to lunch but cancelled? Or just a very fortunate coincidence?

Thinking out loud.

Edit - not necessarily saying he’s complicit, but maybe EP warned him not to come?
I’d like to know why he cancelled when it was his family that EP was hosting.

I'd need to know why he was going in the first place.

 

[silvercrown]

I'd need to know why he was going in the first place.

Yes. What exactly was the reason for the lunch. I’m not convinced they were there to hear her pleas of how ‘worthy’ she was.