Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #7 *Arrest*

[ch_13]

I think the fake cancer claim is the most stunning piece of new information we've learned since the trial began. It's the whole reason that the lunch was arranged. And it turns out it was all a lie. IMO, it makes any claim that this was just a terrible accident unbelievable.

It sure seems like the whole thing was just a ruse to get a bunch of people she hated in one place and eating food she had prepared.

Did she expect all four (or five including Simon) to die, so no one would ever find out about the fake diagnosis? Even that doesn't make sense, because it would be a slow death, so plenty of time for the victims to relate what happened at the lunch. The whole thing is hard to fathom.

 

[Detechtive]

Thanks for that, but I am wondering if the Prosecution is saying that police forensics found evidence that EP had actually Googled "where are death caps growing at the moment" or something similar.

Had she done that then IMO that's dynamite.

The prosecution said she had been on a forum where it was reported by experts that death caps were found and on one occasion she was there (at Loch) that very day, had bought a mushroom dehydrator 2 hours later, and at the other location reported by the experts, she was there the next morning according to her phone ping/gps tracking.

 

[Ruby12345]

Erin Patterson said she was hiding powdered mushrooms in everything, court hears​

15:05​

Tiffanie Turnbull
Live reporter

Prosecutor Nanette Rogers tells the jury Ms Patterson had posted in Facebook groups about using a food dehydrator to reduce the size of mushrooms to use in cooking.

She said online she had been “hiding powdered mushrooms in everything", the prosecutor says, including chocolate brownies fed to her children.

Why? Why would you do this?

 

[Detechtive]

Why? Why would you do this?

practising?

 

[JennieM]

The cancer thing is enraging! Allegedly lying about it is just so wrong

Her victims prayed for her.

 

[Sarahlou]

practising?

Yeah, sounds like she did trial runs.

 

[Megnut]

It almost sounds like (all allegedly) there was a plan to make everyone sick but especially the estranged husband AND herself, but just a touch. Then everybody would be sick, some might die, it wouldn't look like a murder because mass casualties/illnesses.

I wonder if she had minimums symptoms from handling the mushrooms or if she purposefully licker the spoon, so to speak. Exposure just not fatal exposure. Underplayed it, afraid to risk overplaying. Perhaps she hoped to get sick, just not too sick, but sick enough for it all to look accidental.

Why she continued on with the dinner party when her guest of honor couldn't be there, that I don't understand. Maybe she thought, even without him there, she could win him back. Play on his sympathy, sad accident, sick but survived, plus "cancer"....

I wonder if there's a history of manipulation...

JMO

 

[JBowie]

It almost sounds like (all allegedly) there was a plan to make everyone sick but especially the estranged husband AND herself, but just a touch.

I had thought maybe that was her intention, however then recalling the extreme toxicity, it's hard to accept that she thought she could control the 'doses':

As the common name suggests, the fungus is highly toxic, and is responsible for the majority of fatal mushroom poisonings worldwide. Its biochemistry has been researched intensively for decades, and 30 grams (1.1 ounces), or half a cap, of this mushroom is estimated to be enough to kill a human.

[...]

the toxicity is not reduced by cooking, freezing, or drying. --Wiki

 

[ch_13]

I had thought maybe that was her intention, however then recalling the extreme toxicity, it's hard to accept that she thought she could control the 'doses':

As the common name suggests, the fungus is highly toxic, and is responsible for the majority of fatal mushroom poisonings worldwide. Its biochemistry has been researched intensively for decades, and 30 grams (1.1 ounces), or half a cap, of this mushroom is estimated to be enough to kill a human.

[...]

the toxicity is not reduced by cooking, freezing, or drying. --Wiki

I agree. I don't think she ever ingested even a little bit of the death caps. From opening statements, it doesn't seem like she has any symptoms from the toxin, as that would show signs of internal damage that could lead to organ failure.

If she really did have diarrhea, she could have just taken a laxative to make it seem like she was ill.

 

[MsMarple]

Key Event
4m ago

Erin Patterson admits picking mushrooms, lying to police​

​

By Judd Boaz​

Reporting by Kristian Silva

As Mr Mandy's address comes to an end, Erin Patterson tilts her head back in the dock with tears welling in her eyes.

Mr Mandy concedes his client never had cancer.

Mr Mandy also argues his client did eat some of the same meal that the other lunch guests, despite not falling as sick.

Then he addresses what Ms Patterson did after the lunch, disputing claims by the prosecution that she was trying to cover her tracks.

Mr Mandy says his client "panicked" and now admitted dumping the dehydrator and lying to police.

But that was because she was overwhelmed that people had died because of a meal she served, he says.

Finally, he concedes she did forage the mushrooms at the centre of the case.

But Ms Patterson denied ever deliberately seeking out death cap mushrooms, he argues.

Erin Patterson's lawyer tells jury mushroom poisoning deaths were 'a terrible accident' — as it happened

A Supreme Court jury hears opening submissions in the trial of Victorian woman Erin Patterson, who is accused of using a poisoned meal to murder three relatives. Look back at how it unfolded on our live blog.

www.abc.net.au

And there it is, the big reveal that Erin did forage the mushrooms and picked deadly poisonous ones by “mistake.” Another change in her story. As many of us expected.

In my personal opinion I believe Erin is filled with rage, though her reasons may not be known or even rational, as others have pointed out.

Furthermore, I believe she helped keep her anger at bay through small actions that only she knew. For example, remember how she told online friends that she secretly hired a cleaning person behind Simon’s back after being frustrated at his lack of helping around the house?

And her children who didn’t like mushrooms? She said she dehydrated mushrooms and added them to a brownie mix.

I don’t know the core circumstances that made Erin so (theoretically) angry and perhaps feeling like she had little control in her life - didn’t she once write about a difficult childhood? But IMO her way of dealing was secret actions that gave her a smug sense of revenge. Kind of like a pissed off chef spitting in a plate of food served to a difficult customer.

Of course I could be way off but I really don’t see a happy, contented woman in her. Her downfall IMO was thinking she was smarter than everyone else when the reality is that she left a lot of incriminating evidence in her wake.

All my own opinion based on what we’ve learned so far.

 

[Megnut]

I agree. I don't think she ever ingested even a little bit of the death caps. From opening statements, it doesn't seem like she has any symptoms from the toxin, as that would show signs of internal damage that could lead to organ failure.

If she really did have diarrhea, she could have just taken a laxative to make it seem like she was ill.

Much better explanation! Would explain being dehydrated too.

You're right, she wouldn't risk exposing herself to the toxin, but mirroring the symptoms artificially, I can totally see that.

JMO

 

[angelainwi]

I think the motive was to hurt Simon if it has not been posted yet.

 

[JennieM]

@angelainwi this seems to fit your thoughts.

Erin Patterson married her husband Simon in 2007 and had two children together, the court heard.

They separated temporarily several times, before splitting permanently in 2015. They remained amicable, sharing custody of the children and going on family holidays together.

That changed in 2022 when Simon listed himself as separated on a tax return, Rogers said, with communication deteriorating and the pair disagreeing over child support.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/alleged-australian-mushroom-murderer-faked-cancer-diagnosis-lure-victims-2025-04-30/

 

[LordCyrus]

Erin has already scored 2 small wins. Firstly managing to reset her phone whilst the police were present. Secondly the dropping of the charges of attempted murder of Simon.

Her many admitted lies and the colour of the dinner plates prove nothing.

Her odd behaviour at the hospital and refusal to have the children tested may just point to an aversion to medical treatment.

I'm trying to stay open minded here in terms of "beyond reasonable doubt". Too soon to reach any conclusion.

 

[JennieM]

Erin has already scored 2 small wins. Firstly managing to reset her phone whilst the police were present. Secondly the dropping of the charges of attempted murder of Simon.

Her many admitted lies and the colour of the dinner plates prove nothing.

Her odd behaviour at the hospital and refusal to have the children tested may just point to an aversion to medical treatment.

I'm trying to stay open minded here in terms of "beyond reasonable doubt". Too soon to reach any conclusion.

Lying about having cancer?

 

[rockthecasbah]

[…]



About four weeks before the beef wellington lunch, Patterson invited Simon and his parents, Don and Gail, to lunch.

Simon texted to say he could not come, and the meal passed without incident.

Erin Patterson concocted cancer diagnosis to ensure children missed fatal mushroom lunch, murder trial hears

Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in South Gippsland in 2023

www.theguardian.com

She was annoyed he cancelled and tried again. Did she have a poisoned dish prepared that time too? IMO

 

[HongKongPhooey]

Erin has already scored 2 small wins. Firstly managing to reset her phone whilst the police were present. Secondly the dropping of the charges of attempted murder of Simon.

Her many admitted lies and the colour of the dinner plates prove nothing.

Her odd behaviour at the hospital and refusal to have the children tested may just point to an aversion to medical treatment.

I'm trying to stay open minded here in terms of "beyond reasonable doubt". Too soon to reach any conclusion.

Blimey.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

 

[Salah11]

Erin has already scored 2 small wins. Firstly managing to reset her phone whilst the police were present. Secondly the dropping of the charges of attempted murder of Simon.

Her many admitted lies and the colour of the dinner plates prove nothing.

Her odd behaviour at the hospital and refusal to have the children tested may just point to an aversion to medical treatment.

I'm trying to stay open minded here in terms of "beyond reasonable doubt". Too soon to reach any conclusion.

I wonder when she is locked up for decades if she will look back at these so called “small wins”

IMO from opening day

 

[Porky1]

I wonder if we will hear more about why she lied about having cancer.
It’s such a weird lie to make up, as at some point, people would realise she was lying. Unless you decide to murder the people you have told, I suppose.

Iam sure it’s a lie and an odd one to tell but not all cancer or the treatment is obvious. If it was a lie, it was very calculating and deceitful.

Maybe….she was led to believe that there was a high chance but in the end she was found to have a benign cyst or pre-cancerous cells and removal of her ovaries was sufficient.

I had cancer 33 years ago, and monitored closely since. I’ve been through many scares where my specialist thought it returned and surgery was my only treatment. I do wonder what severity/level is reported. I’d be surprised if mine was recorded.

 

[Porky1]

But at what time that day before? It could've been 10pm or even later. Did he cancel by text message/email/phone call and was it directly or through another party?

I guess we will hear about that if and when he is called to the stand.

Text message as she said replied saying she was disappointed, she’d gone to a lot of effort. He said if she wanted to talk, happy to do so over the phone. He then told his parents he wouldn’t be attending. I read this yesterday.