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

[JLZ]

That's what occurred to me. Without getting myself in trouble here- could she have built up some personal immunity to the toxin she was adding?

No. But it would take ingestion of a reasonable amount of death cap mushroom to kill a person. I have read different estimates of the quantities required--some say several mushrooms, but at least several mouthfuls of actual mushroom. How much would make a person sick though, presumably rather less than that.

 

[LadyL]

Question to everyone who likes cooking.
I asked my husband it yesterday, as I like mushrooms and he likes cooking.
Is it possible to cook anything without trying it, at least once? That there's enough salt, that it feels spicy enough? He said, no way.

Do you think a cordon Bleu cook, or anyone with such aspirations, would ever prepare a dish without trying it in the process, at least once?

I do it all the time. But I'm no cordon bleu chef or even an aspiring one. Especially dishes that I often make. In fact, come to think of it, I really only taste test when I'm making a new recipe.

 

[Kemug]

I must admit that for me, cooking is just another chore. So I don't taste.

 

[Halloqueenie]

I must admit that for me, cooking is just another chore. So I don't taste.

I'm the same. Mostly because I'm so bad at it, I'm hyper-focused on following the recipe, adding the ingredients, etc. If left alone I could probably burn water!

 

[LordCyrus]

I would expect a guilty person to use this obvious defence. "I foraged some mushrooms and there has been a terrible accident. I don't like mushrooms, so my serving excluded them."

 

[JLZ]

I would expect a guilty person to use this obvious defence. "I foraged some mushrooms and there has been a terrible accident. I don't like mushrooms, so my serving excluded them."

So . . . if you were the guilty person in this situation, would you use that defence or not?

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I can also see a person who really did pick wild mushrooms and thought they were ok, getting into a panic and saying they bought them.
Not thinking that it only made it a whole lot worse for them.

I'm not saying that is what happened in this case.
I don't know.
I just think that inviting someone to a meal to murder them with a home cooked meal seems like a pretty stupid thing to do.
From what I've heard EP isn't stupid.

 

[iamshadow21]

That's what occurred to me. Without getting myself in trouble here- could she have built up some personal immunity to the toxin she was adding?

Death caps don't work like that. You can't build up an immunity to them, any amount is toxic, and it's a roll of the dice whether you survive even if you have early treatment.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

In my opinion, saying you picked them is the most likely to be believed as an accident.

 

[MsMarple]

I can also see a person who really did pick wild mushrooms and thought they were ok, getting into a panic and saying they bought them.
Not thinking that it only made it a whole lot worse for them.

I'm not saying that is what happened in this case.
I don't know.
I just think that inviting someone to a meal to murder them with a home cooked meal seems like a pretty stupid thing to do.
From what I've heard EP isn't stupid.

It’ll be interesting to see if EP recants her previous story and changes it to accidentally foraging death caps. I’m not sure about the charges of attempted murder on her ex husband though as it would be more difficult to explain it away as accidental.

But in any case being smart doesn’t always equate to making smart choices. A lot has to do with emotions, which frequently supersedes the wiser path. Ted Bundy was a law student with a promising career ahead yet his urges to kill overcame logic. If EP is guilty of murder we can only guess at what drove her to wipe out an entire family.
JMO

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Well if she is in fact guilty and planned to murder her guests whether smart or dumb you would know that you'd be arrested.
You can't have people die at a meal that you prepared and expect to not be held accountable.

 

[Rumination1]

Let’s say she did buy them, wasn’t intentional , behaviour thereafter a panic !
Would you buy and eat dried mushrooms from a grocery store in Melbourne now ??

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I've never actually bought dried mushrooms, something about them made me wonder how sure I could be that they were safe to eat. Not that I thought they could be death cap ones.

Other things like was pesticide used, or could they contain insects.

And it's not because they're mushrooms because I do love them.

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

Well if she is in fact guilty and planned to murder her guests whether smart or dumb you would know that you'd be arrested.
You can't have people die at a meal that you prepared and expect to not be held accountable.

That's what I've always thought, she is a writer with a vivid imagination seemingly. It's not rocket science to go figure that if you kill everyone at your dinner table, you'll be hauled in for murder. However, then again there's clues of a cover up. I began to wonder if she was covering up for someone else (who I can't say here) -or- if she'd been victim of a manipulation and targeted attack that cleverly framed her.

Also to this day, we are not certain what the source of the DC mushroom poison was, although it certainly looks like it was her meal served, there's no forensic and scientific proof verified to us the public (yet). One imagines that LE have figured all this out or they wouldn't have the legal right to hold her in custody. JMO

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I began to wonder if she was covering up for someone else (who I can't say here)

Same here.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

DBM

 

[LinasK]

Let’s say she did buy them, wasn’t intentional , behaviour thereafter a panic !
Would you buy and eat dried mushrooms from a grocery store in Melbourne now ??

Can't answer for Australians, but I stick mostly to buying Bella or Crimini mushrooms, occasionally Shitake or Portabella ones. Never dried one.

 

[LordCyrus]

There are instances in the USA where serial killers have been given separate trials for each alleged murder. This happens when there is some dissimilarity in the circumstances. I expect Erin Patterson's lawyers to apply for this.

We can't discount Erin being framed at the dinner party by someone with knowledge of Simon's mystery illnesses. A single trial would be extremely prejudicial to her.

 

[Kemug]

But who would frame her? Not any of the 3 who died. Not the pastor who almost died, but lost his wife and her family. And not Simon IMO. If he believes she tried to kill him, which he may, he could go about that legally, no need to kill 3 innocent people, including his own mother!

 

[JBowie]

We can't discount Erin being framed at the dinner party

I think we most definitely can discount that when we consider that prosecutors have also charged Patterson with attempting to kill her ex-husband on three other occasions: in November 2021, May 2022, and September 2022, not to mention her various actions reportedly trying to destroy evidence.

IMO she's a practised poisoner, no doubt about it whatsoever.