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

[Montrealaise]

How long is the trial meant to last?

Six weeks - so until mid-June. BTW June 3 is the date set for the trial of Donna Adelson, the wealthy Florida woman who is accused of conspiring to hire a hit man to kill her son-in-law and I'll be following that, too. I'm fascinated by women who don't fit the "sugar-and-spice-and-everything-nice" mold.

 

[Spectrix]

I keep trying to play devil's advocate and see my way to imagining that it was a terrible accident after all, but the stumbling block that I cannot get past is herself and the children not getting sick. Theres just no way.

I know there have been stories of accidental ingestion of death caps and I read one of an experienced forager I believe who had been from china but had relocated to USA.. it was discussed on an earlier thread...

I'd also considered an accidental poisoning, I researched how to identify Death Caps and found that they are quite distinct and easy to identify, especially for someone involved in a mushroom foraging forum.



[modsnip: sub judice]

 

[Salah11]

Unless the world hates her, I just don’t believe this can be an accident. But it’s early days, so I may change my mind, but at the moment I'm convinced of her guilt.


It seems like she was generous with her inheritance so I can see why she would feel slighted.

IMO MOO

 

[dalsglen]

This video makes me so angry. I think I've watched it once with sound on. Checking her fingers for tears, try bloody harder Erin, remember that FIL that you LOVED so much, ya know the one you poisoned? Aye, that would bring actual tears to my eyes!

She's calculated and very me, me, me. She really reminds me of my sister in law, gives me shudders. Book smart but thick as sheet, thankfully!

I messed up the quote and on pills for slipped disc so not firing all cylinders, brain cannot remember how to fix it. Apologies folks.

 

[Baby baby Jane]

I said earlier in this thread that I thought the motive was to hurt Simon.

Imo
She was getting rid of Simon & Simon’s parents so she could be mother to her kids without interference from anyone. No tut-tutting in-laws giving advice & meddling, no Simon sharing custody and decisions.

If none survived, and if they had died quickly without going to hospital … she could control the narrative and say Simon/his parents had brought the poison dish or they ate after leaving her house. She would have the clean Beef Wellington leftovers to prove that her meal was good.
And that Simon’s family must be responsible for the bad food.

 

[Cartie]

I'm going to throw out a motive, although I'm not convinced.

She has loaned what sounds like a fair bit of money to Simon's siblings, I got the impression it wasn't recent.
If she is starting to get annoyed by Simon she might also feel used and resentful towards them.
With their parents deceased they could have inheritance and be able to pay her back.

 

[Corina]

For anyone wondering how to identify a Death Cap mushroom, this video explains.

Still image below showing Death Caps in various stages of growth.
Note the unique bulbous vulva (base), the skirt (partway up the stem), and the white gills underneath. Also note green/yellow tinge on the top and the stem.

Death Caps rely on a symbiotic relationship with particular hardwood trees, usually Oak trees.

View attachment 582991

The correct word for the structure at the base of a mushroom is Volva

Volva (mycology) - Wikipedia

 

[Little Jack]

Imo
She was getting rid of Simon & Simon’s parents so she could be mother to her kids without interference from anyone. No tut-tutting in-laws giving advice & meddling, no Simon sharing custody and decisions.

If none survived, and if they had died quickly without going to hospital … she could control the narrative and say Simon/his parents had brought the poison dish or they ate after leaving her house. She would have the clean Beef Wellington leftovers to prove that her meal was good.
And that Simon’s family must be responsible for the bad food.

Aha! You've hit on a good theory - someone brought a dessert and didnt the others bring something too? If they can prove she asked them to bring something this could absolutely be what her plan was. Showing her leftovers are fine and she ate them and her kids ate them. So it must have been so and sos dessert that made everyone sick and oh too bad there is none remaining to test

 

[Little Jack]

Aha! You've hit on a good theory - someone brought a dessert and didnt the others bring something too? If they can prove she asked them to bring something this could absolutely be what her plan was. Showing her leftovers are fine and she ate them and her kids ate them. So it must have been so and sos dessert that made everyone sick and oh too bad there is none remaining to test

That would mean that her pretending she was also sick would have to have been a pivot from her original plan and would explain why she thought her kids would be kept out of it

 

[MsMarple]

Aha! You've hit on a good theory - someone brought a dessert and didnt the others bring something too? If they can prove she asked them to bring something this could absolutely be what her plan was. Showing her leftovers are fine and she ate them and her kids ate them. So it must have been so and sos dessert that made everyone sick and oh too bad there is none remaining to test

Edited to correct my post. Deleting my comment as I was wrong.

 

[ch_13]

I keep trying to play devil's advocate and see my way to imagining that it was a terrible accident after all, but the stumbling block that I cannot get past is herself and the children not getting sick. Theres just no way.

I can't get past the lies. Especially claiming that the mushrooms were store-bought instead of foraged.

I understand the idea that she panicked and lied in the moment. But these were her children's grandparents who were on death's door. Their survival depended on a quick diagnosis. We already heard that there was a delay in prescribing one lifesaving drug because the doctors weren't sure if they had ingested death caps.

I know that if it was my food that had made people sick, I would be at the hospital listing out all the ingredients and where I had sourced them from, regardless of the consequences.

 

[MsMarple]

I can't get past the lies. Especially claiming that the mushrooms were store-bought instead of foraged.

I understand the idea that she panicked and lied in the moment. But these were her children's grandparents who were on death's door. Their survival depended on a quick diagnosis. We already heard that there was a delay in prescribing one lifesaving drug because the doctors weren't sure if they had ingested death caps.

I know that if it was my food that had made people sick, I would be at the hospital listing out all the ingredients and where I had sourced them from, regardless of the consequences.

Damn straight. In Erin’s interviews all she really said was how devastated she was that her in-laws were so sick. Yet she never came forward to share potentially lifesaving information about the foraged mushrooms. She never panicked that the so called scraped off mushrooms might have bled through to her children’s dinner.

She even released a false narrative through her own attorneys! She was so devastated and panicked that she proceeded to make up lies and tried to hide evidence. Blaming an Asian grocer.

Simon said he considered her to be a doting mother. IMO a doting mother would have been at the emergency room with her kids the minute she heard that her food may have poisoned her lunch guests. Unless of course she was certain they didn’t eat any tainted food. JMO

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

As far as we know the relatives didn’t bring any dishes although that could change as the trial progresses. That was something a couple posters suggested early on as a theoretical possibility. IIRC we spent a considerable amount of time trying to suss out what happened.

A few other theories were mushroom powder in gravy or coffee/tea. But if investigators found traces of death caps in the leftovers then IMO it was in the Wellingtons. JMO

I think we’ll get more info once the experts take the stand.

The relatives did bring dessert - it was specified that one of the couples brought a cake that they all ate for dessert.

They also ate fruit salad / chopped fruit for dessert, although I don't recall it being specified if the other couple brought that or EP had prepared it.

There's been conflicting info upthread about whether traces of DC were found in any leftovers or scraps in the bin. IIRC LE also pulled EP's plumbing and waste water system apart looking for traces.

JMO MOO

 

[MsMarple]

The relatives did bring dessert - it was specified that one of the couples brought a cake that they all ate for dessert.

They also ate fruit salad / chopped fruit for dessert, although I don't recall it being specified if the other couple brought that or EP had prepared it.

There's been conflicting info upthread about whether traces of DC were found in any leftovers or scraps in the bin. IIRC LE also pulled EP's plumbing and waste water system apart looking for traces.

JMO MOO

Help me out here, was that in the opening statements or from prior msm? I really don’t recall that but I certainly could be wrong. Do you have a link?

Thanks!

 

[SouthAussie]

As far as we know the relatives didn’t bring any dishes although that could change as the trial progresses. That was something a couple posters suggested early on as a theoretical possibility. IIRC we spent a considerable amount of time trying to suss out what happened.

A few other theories were mushroom powder in gravy or coffee/tea. But if investigators found traces of death caps in the leftovers then IMO it was in the Wellingtons. JMO

I think we’ll get more info once the experts take the stand.

The Pattersons and Wilkinsons brought cake and a fruit platter for dessert.

Gail Patterson brought cake and Heather Wilkinson brought a fruit platter.



Mistake or murder? Unmissable moments from mushroom trial day 2

 

[MsMarple]

The Pattersons and Wilkinsons brought cake and a fruit platter for dessert.

Gail Patterson brought cake and Heather Wilkinson brought a fruit platter.

View attachment 583069

Mistake or murder? Unmissable moments from mushroom trial day 2

Thank you! That passed me by completely!

 

[MsMarple]

The relatives did bring dessert - it was specified that one of the couples brought a cake that they all ate for dessert.

They also ate fruit salad / chopped fruit for dessert, although I don't recall it being specified if the other couple brought that or EP had prepared it.

There's been conflicting info upthread about whether traces of DC were found in any leftovers or scraps in the bin. IIRC LE also pulled EP's plumbing and waste water system apart looking for traces.

JMO MOO

@SouthAussie posted a link that confirms your post. Apologies and thanks for your comments!

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

Help me out here, was that in the opening statements or from prior msm? I really don’t recall that but I certainly could be wrong. Do you have a link?

Thanks!

I read it up-thread here somewhere - I know this for sure as I haven't followed the case anywhere else. I guess it must have been Ian's (survivor's) account - how the two of them ate their full meal and one of them only ate half and gave their other half to Don and afterwards they all said how much they'd all eaten. Will try and locate an account of this if I can.

 

[SouthAussie]

Damn straight. In Erin’s interviews all she really said was how devastated she was that her in-laws were so sick. Yet she never came forward to share potentially lifesaving information about the foraged mushrooms. She never panicked that the so called scraped off mushrooms might have bled through to her children’s dinner.

She even released a false narrative through her own attorneys! She was so devastated and panicked that she proceeded to make up lies and tried to hide evidence. Blaming an Asian grocer.

Simon said he considered her to be a doting mother. IMO a doting mother would have been at the emergency room with her kids the minute she heard that her food may have poisoned her lunch guests. Unless of course she was certain they didn’t eat any tainted food. JMO

I think that is what gets to me, too.

No ... "OMG they all fell sick! And I felt a bit sick too. I foraged some mushrooms and used them. I hope the mushrooms were okay."

Then it may truly have been an accidental poisoning, if she had actually lifted a finger to help the doctors in their diagnosis.

We have read of accidental mushroom poisonings (in our prior research) and no-one was charged with murder.

 

[JLZ]

As per news article:

The leftovers collected from Erin Patterson’s bin and transported to Monash Medical Centre and the Royal Botanic Gardens were tested and did not show any sign of death cap mushrooms, the jury heard.

I'll add the link for the news article you quote: Alleged mushroom cook didn’t ingest death caps, ‘no record’ she had cancer, jury told: Trial day one, as it happened

ABC and SMH seem to have heard Dr Rogers differently. (Maybe there are audio problems in the room after all. I wonder what the jury heard.)