Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #6 *Arrest*

[JBowie]

I'd like to know how they know it was hidden.

They may not have known; merely suspected.

On the other hand, for instance, maybe someone told police that EP owned (say) a Dell Laptop, and that had not been discovered in earlier searches -- hence the tech-sniffing dogs.

And I guess once the dogs found one piece of hidden equipment then they would be set loose all over the property for as long as it then took.

 

[Megnut]

I'm really late to this macabre dinner party, but do we have any sense of the actual evidence against her? Internet searches, purchases?

History is obviously going to be a factor here.
JMO

 

[iamshadow21]

I'm really late to this macabre dinner party, but do we have any sense of the actual evidence against her? Internet searches, purchases?

History is obviously going to be a factor here.
JMO

I think a lot of that won't come out until further in the judicial process. Australia is like the UK in that way.

MOO

 

[JBowie]

I'm really late to this macabre dinner party, but do we have any sense of the actual evidence against her? Internet searches, purchases?

As the brief of evidence is still being compiled, we have nothing official until March when it is due to be presented to the defence.

As regards purchases, we have her reported claims about having bought mushrooms from an "Asian supermarket".

I guess the fastest way to catch up is to Google Erin Patterson, mushroom cook, mushroom chef.

 

[ch_13]

I think if a crime occurred at the family lunch, it was a crime of passion. Of anger. Not logical at all.

Snipped.

If she did poison Simon's family, then I don't think it was a crime of passion. Whatever she did had to have been well thought out in advance. She had to acquire the mushrooms, plan a complicated meal and arrange things so that she alone didn't get any contaminated food without her guests realizing it. Later she would make sure sure the leftovers were kept away from the kids and dog. She would pretend to have symptoms of gastric distress so as to seem like she was also poisoned and she would have to dispose of evidence, like the dehydrator. All that speaks to a great deal of planning.

It certainly would not have been a crime of passion in any legal sense, with "no malice aforethought". I agree it may not have been a 'logical' killing, but I think that could be said about nearly every murder, especially a murder involving family.

 

[JBowie]

If she did poison Simon's family, then I don't think it was a crime of passion. Whatever she did had to have been well thought out in advance.

I agree. Such poisonings strike me as acts of revenge or spite.

As the saying goes: "Revenge is a dish best served cold" ... (cold as in without passion).

 

[mirage1]

Me too. Some of the dumb stuff might be explained by acting in the heat of the moment, before thinking things through, but other stuff like this is harder to reconcile with being very bright.

That was 20 years ago. Drugs, and mental issues could have had a big effect on her intelligence and the decline. Her actions now are not of an intelligent person. Her plan was idiotic along with her excuses.

 

[JBowie]

That was 20 years ago. Drugs, and mental issues could have had a big effect on her intelligence and the decline.

As recently as late August/early September we have this description of her by a Facebook poster:

'She's meticulous and very smart,' the person stated. 'Her whole family are extremely smart people.'

Mushroom chef's Facebook messages leak

Mushroom chef Erin Patterson lashed out at her local community while putting together the local newspaper, an insider has revealed.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Baby baby Jane]

She's said and done a number of dumb things. I'm having trouble reconciling that with claims from a former colleague that she's "very bright and much brighter than people might think".

Probably hated working with other “incredibly bright” people. No opportunities to feel superior.

 

[Baby baby Jane]

I'd like to know how they know it was hidden.

I have stuff packed away in all kinds of places, all kinds of technology, old phones, laptops, drives etc.
Just because they're not out on a desk or shelf doesn't automatically mean they are hidden.
Some of my old stuff even used to be in a shed, and an old house.

New build house. Probably did loads of clearing out before moving (twice) and her now perfect home. Probably not much clutter at all!

 

[Charlot123]

She went onto work at Tullamarine Airport before leaving the job in 2002, a former colleague said.

'She was rated in the field and was actually responsible for running airspace for a while,' he said.

'She's very bright and much brighter than people might think. She managed to get guys wrapped around her little finger although she was very unkempt,' he added

Airservices Australia confirmed Patterson worked for them between February 2001 and November 2002.

Mushroom cook's past life: 'Genius' was an air traffic controller

Erin Patterson once worked as an air traffic controller and was regarded as highly intelligent by her peers, it has emerged.

www.dailymail.co.uk

eta: This woman is very deliberate. Her intelligence does not surprise me. She implemented a career and personal strategy that worked well for her. Until lately… imo

Her academic intelligence doesn't surprise me at all. She would probably score lower on emotional intelligence and empathy intelligence as the case shows. I think she could have been very successful in many fields, there are some where excessive aggression is more of a helper than a hindrance, or else she could get into IT sector. In fact, the way I see it, she unfortunately belongs to the generation of women who still fell into "having a family or a career" pit, because it is difficult to juggle both, unless you have an exceptionally supportive husband. I believe her complaints about most in the household chores falling on her, and see it as the source of a serious rift with SP. I am not sure EP was that successful until the inheritance, because in her messages she mentions constant renting. But I understand why she was not, either. IMHO she was brilliant but feeling not accomplished and as soon as she became financially independent, with the inheritance and own investments, she left. Again, it is a common situation these days and some of her posts I can only commiserate with. But, she is obviously a very abstract thinker - I love reading Agatha Christie, but who in his right mind would think of recreating her crimes IRL, for example? So something was very much off there. And, thinking realistically, it would have cost her less to invest into the best lawyer during the divorce to get more in financial benefits than pay the criminal lawyer now when she is fighting for her freedom. So, brilliant but not too logical.

 

[Charlot123]

She's said and done a number of dumb things. I'm having trouble reconciling that with claims from a former colleague that she's "very bright and much brighter than people might think".

Totally understand. I could bet she'd score in the "superior" range on neurocognitive testing, but could walk out of the office and immediately do impulsive stuff. I have seen it more in boys and men, women are biologically wired better to hold their emotions, as some of the genes involved are sex-linked, but if she is one of the few unfortunate ones who got two copies of the "warrior gene", for example, it can be miserable.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

I'd like to know how they know it was hidden.

I have stuff packed away in all kinds of places, all kinds of technology, old phones, laptops, drives etc.
Just because they're not out on a desk or shelf doesn't automatically mean they are hidden.
Some of my old stuff even used to be in a shed, and an old house.

I think we have to take their word for it. They should know the difference between hidden and disorganised, in their line of work.

 

[Salah11]

I've been thinking this too. They somehow ate his portion or his portion got mixed up in their meals and when I say portion it could be anything.

This makes no sense so you believe a potion could feed 4 people at a dinner table?

It’s such a fancy complex dish you don’t slice it up hours before the guests arrive. This isn’t a Big Mac and chips , it would have taken hours of prep and cooking time. If responsible then she would have had to have been aware of where the poison was at all times so she didn’t become a casualty. Of course she may not be guilty though.

Moooooooooooo

 

[iamshadow21]

This makes no sense so you believe a potion could feed 4 people at a dinner table?

It’s such a fancy complex dish you don’t slice it up hours before the guests arrive. This isn’t a Big Mac and chips , it would have taken hours of prep and cooking time.

Moooooooooooo

Slice it up in advance and it's just going to be dried out, cold and nasty. A complete waste of a whole day cooking and wrapping and chilling and baking. There's a reason it's generally carved at the table, like a Christmas goose or turkey. It's about the spectacle as much as the eating of it.

MOO

 

[Baby baby Jane]

Maybe I’m splitting hairs … but thinking the “genius” criminals aren’t the ones being caught. I’m going to put EP in the Low-Average criminal basket today. She was immediately under suspicion and her own kids very quickly ratted her out to SP about the dehydrator. Maybe at trial we’ll see some genius activity, but right now I’m seeing lower than average iq person, can’t hold a job, difficult to live with, poor conflict resolution, at least a bit racist, and perhaps worst of all - thinks she is smarter than she is.

 

[AussieIan]

She's said and done a number of dumb things. I'm having trouble reconciling that with claims from a former colleague that she's "very bright and much brighter than people might think".

Is it possible she was doing dumb things on purpose so it seemed more genuine or she'd look like a poor ( but innocent) bumbling idiot to wider australia.....

 

[Baby baby Jane]

Slice it up in advance and it's just going to be dried out, cold and nasty. A complete waste of a whole day cooking and wrapping and chilling and baking. There's a reason it's generally carved at the table, like a Christmas goose or turkey. It's about the spectacle as much as the eating of it.

MOO

Like the Xmas dinner, the leftovers reheated can be a nice meal, for a single person who maybe doesn’t cook… it’s possible she sent a click clack (Tupperware) home with the 4, to give to SP. but since he wasn’t home, they decided to incorporate that meal into their own meal rather than it go to waste. It might have been prepared separately and boxed up ready to go before the 4 arrived at EP for lunch. EP saying I made this for SP since he couldn’t be here- saying its special meal. EP wouldn’t have expected the 4 to eat it, rather expecting it goes to SP who has a relapse of stomach prob & dies, not suspicious as he’s been very ill before.
Imagine her surprise seeing SP alive and well at hospital and the others sick and dying ….

 

[Salah11]

Like the Xmas dinner, the leftovers reheated can be a nice meal, for a single person who maybe doesn’t cook… it’s possible she sent a click clack (Tupperware) home with the 4, to give to SP. but since he wasn’t home, they decided to incorporate that meal into their own meal rather than it go to waste. It might have been prepared separately and boxed up ready to go before the 4 arrived at EP for lunch. EP saying I made this for SP since he couldn’t be here- saying its special meal. EP wouldn’t have expected the 4 to eat it, rather expecting it goes to SP who has a relapse of stomach prob & dies, not suspicious as he’s been very ill before.
Imagine her surprise seeing SP alive and well at hospital and the others sick and dying ….

Why would all 4 have another meal together when they didn’t live together and all lived in different parts?

There has never been a suggestion that they got sick anywhere apart from lunch time.

 

[LordCyrus]

The accused at Leongatha on 29/07/2023 did attempt to commit an indictable offence namely the murder of Simon Patterson

If Simon wasn't at the meal, then this particular charge is purely speculative and hypothetical.