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

[Porky1]

And a good mum, and let’s just forget about the “death wall” in the house. Good mum, though. Very caring.

The death wall…we don’t know the backstory but perhaps that was suggested on a whiteboard (Counsellor?) as a way of kids dealing with emotions from multiple separations, death of maternal grandparents, other anxiety or conditions. Kids visually sketching their deepest thoughts while perhaps Erin kept it light hearted, as a way of monitoring their coping mechanisms. Contained and easy to repaint once mh improved.

If Simon was able to confidently state that she is a good mum (in spite of separation, suspected attempts to poison him and his relatives, resulting in death) he must believe she is. He knows her better than anyone.

 

[Little Jack]

Is it possible she could have poisoned her mom? No love lost, huge inheritance ? Am I allowed to speculate on that if it is against rules I will delete

 

[MsMarple]

As you say, perhaps death caps are seasonal (or come with wet weather or similar?). But I got the impression from the article I read that she went foraging immediately after the Death Caps were reported on a forum, in two nearby locations, went to both locations, and bought the dehydrator the same day.

It was also suggested that she'd mixed some sort of mushroom into a cupcake for her daughter to taste test, perhaps that's where the dried/ground idea came from.

I haven’t been able to find the dates when Erin went to the locations posted on the naturalist forum but an article in the BBC wrote:

The jury's now being given a little overview of where poisonous death cap mushrooms grow.

They're reliant on tree hosts for nutrition, the prosecutor explains, so are only found amongst or very near to the roots of certain trees. In Australia, that's oak trees.

Around Victoria, the mushrooms are most commonly observed in the month of May, prosecutor Nanette Rogers says.

They live for about one to two weeks, or once picked survive a few weeks if refrigerated, she adds.
——-
The court is being told about a website where concerned local people had been posting pictures and warnings about death cap mushrooms, geotagged to towns near Leongatha, where Ms Patterson lives.

The prosecutor says mobile phone transmission data suggested Patterson travelled to one of the nearby towns.
——-
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.

Erin Patterson: Trial begins for Australia woman accused of toxic mushroom lunch

Erin Patterson, from Victoria, is facing three counts of murder and one of attempted murder over the alleged beef wellington poisoning in July 2023.

www.bbc.com

 

[SouthAussie]

Is it possible she could have poisoned her mom? No love lost, huge inheritance ? Am I allowed to speculate on that if it is against rules I will delete

IIRC her mum died of cancer. I may not be correct about that, but I think it is somewhere back in the early threads. I don't recall any of us being suspicious about her mum's death.

imo


Erin Patterson's own mother Heather died aged 72 in early 2019 and left her daughters the house she had been living in at Eden.
Dr Scutter was a Monash University lecturer in 19th century adult literature and a children's book critic and author of articles and reviews on children's literature.
Erin Patterson grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverley with her sister Ceinwen, and parents Heather and Eitan.

Fatal mushroom cook's multimillion property portfolio

The woman who cooked the beef wellington pie with Death Cap mushrooms has a multimillion dollar property portfolio funded by an oceanfront property inherited from her mother.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Salah11]

I haven’t been able to find the dates when Erin went to the locations posted on the naturalist forum but an article in the BBC wrote:

The jury's now being given a little overview of where poisonous death cap mushrooms grow.

They're reliant on tree hosts for nutrition, the prosecutor explains, so are only found amongst or very near to the roots of certain trees. In Australia, that's oak trees.

Around Victoria, the mushrooms are most commonly observed in the month of May, prosecutor Nanette Rogers says.

They live for about one to two weeks, or once picked survive a few weeks if refrigerated, she adds.
——-
The court is being told about a website where concerned local people had been posting pictures and warnings about death cap mushrooms, geotagged to towns near Leongatha, where Ms Patterson lives.

The prosecutor says mobile phone transmission data suggested Patterson travelled to one of the nearby towns.
——-
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.

Erin Patterson: Trial begins for Australia woman accused of toxic mushroom lunch

Erin Patterson, from Victoria, is facing three counts of murder and one of attempted murder over the alleged beef wellington poisoning in July 2023.

www.bbc.com

It makes you question her story on her scrapping off the mushrooms with the left overs so her kids could eat it.It doesn’t add up if she was feeding her kids brownies with hidden mushrooms in them.

IMO

 

[Little Jack]

IIRC her mum died of cancer. I may not be correct about that, but I think it is somewhere back in the early threads. I don't recall any of us being suspicious about her mum's death.

imo


Erin Patterson's own mother Heather died aged 72 in early 2019 and left her daughters the house she had been living in at Eden.
Dr Scutter was a Monash University lecturer in 19th century adult literature and a children's book critic and author of articles and reviews on children's literature.
Erin Patterson grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverley with her sister Ceinwen, and parents Heather and Eitan.

Fatal mushroom cook's multimillion property portfolio

The woman who cooked the beef wellington pie with Death Cap mushrooms has a multimillion dollar property portfolio funded by an oceanfront property inherited from her mother.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Ah ok.

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

Insight

To my knowledge, nobody here has been diagnosed so this is just a general observation.

Narcissism is pervasive. It's not insanity, it's coherent. It's a personality disorder.

In this context, if a person who has NPD and toxic NPD at that, used a toxin which killed multiple people, due to the disorder, that person by their very nature might still demand less attention to the loss of the deceased and more attention to their own dramatic suffering, from a toxin they never even ingested. That's why it's a disorder. It's utterly disordered.

To highlight a story from this case -- the 70th birthday party. All focus should be on the 70 year old, right? 70 years, a big deal in families. But some people need it to be all about them. A missed invite? Even if it was an intentional slight, big people out it aside. 70 only happens once. If it's truly injurious, raise it in private, outside of the party, but by all means, attend. You're celebrating 70 years, not one event (not being invited, which could well be a misunderstanding or oversight). Erin made it about her. Her feelings of being slighted (with zero actual proof of it) was GREATER than any feelings she would hurt by not going, by blowing up a minor infraction which is more likely to be NO infraction -- it was probably understood to be an open invitation). She's a drama stirrer. Like she's the control tower and she vinyls all the planes.

Exhausting to be married to.

JMO

IMO you're bang on point with your thoughts in your most recent posts.

This part BBM particularly reminds me of hopeless narcissistic personality disordered Sarah Paulson nee Boone who tormented, tortured and murdered poor Jorge Torres by zipping him into a suitcase and violently abusing him whilst he was utterly defenceless then leaving him to die a slow agonising death of suffocation. In her recorded interviews and even in court, she bemoaned the fact that nobody was taking into account she had lost her partner and made it all about *her* suffering, even using the trial as an opportunity to twist the knife and re-victimise the deceased and his family.

It's so hard to comprehend this type of thinking (disorder) as it's very extreme and completely alien to how the average person would think. JMO MOO

 

[JBowie]

It makes you question her story on her scrapping off the mushrooms with the left overs so he kids could eat it.It doesn’t add up if she was feeding her kids brownies with hidden mushrooms in them.

IMO

My take on that is the brownies may have had a mushroom flavor mixed with other flavors, and not been an issue, whereas whole/chopped mushroom flesh was considered unpalatable by them.

I'm like that with cabbage -- I don't like it as a boiled specimen on a plate but if it's included in a roll with other vegetables and condiments then I'm fine with it.

 

[JBowie]

who tormented, tortured and murdered poor Jorge Torres by zipping him into a suitcase and violently abusing him whilst he was utterly defenceless then leaving him to die a slow agonising death of suffocation.

That's psychopath territory in my book.

 

[MsMarple]

IIRC her mum died of cancer. I may not be correct about that, but I think it is somewhere back in the early threads. I don't recall any of us being suspicious about her mum's death.

imo


Erin Patterson's own mother Heather died aged 72 in early 2019 and left her daughters the house she had been living in at Eden.
Dr Scutter was a Monash University lecturer in 19th century adult literature and a children's book critic and author of articles and reviews on children's literature.
Erin Patterson grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverley with her sister Ceinwen, and parents Heather and Eitan.

Fatal mushroom cook's multimillion property portfolio

The woman who cooked the beef wellington pie with Death Cap mushrooms has a multimillion dollar property portfolio funded by an oceanfront property inherited from her mother.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Found this link in thread #2:

rin Patterson had a collection of books about mushrooms which she kept at her home where her fatal beef wellington lunch took place, Daily Mail Australia has been told.

A friend claimed the shelves of her family home at Leongatha included books about delicious yet potentially deadly fungi.

Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday reported Ms Patterson, 48, was an 'experienced forager' who - like many families in the area - picked mushrooms when they were in season.

The friend said she had a number of books on the subject in her library.
…
And on Friday, a false claim that Erin's own parents had died due to poisoning was exposed as a lie. The pair actually died of natural causes.

According to a neighbour of Ms Patterson's mother, the death of Dr Heather Scutter from cancer in 2019 was not quick.

'It took her slowly. She went to Melbourne for treatment and came back. Then she died,' a neighbour told Daily Mail Australia.

Her husband had died in 2011 after his own battle with cancer - with his ashes sprinkled on the beach.

Ms Patterson's mother was a noted children's literature professor who left a house on the South Pacific Ocean headland at Eden in her will to her two daughters when she died in early 2019.

A copy of the will obtained by Daily Mail Australia on Friday shows she left her entire estate in equal shares to her daughters.

Erin Patterson had a 'collection of mushroom books' at her home

Deadly cook Erin Patterson had a collection of books about mushrooms she kept at her home where three people died, Daily Mail Australia has been told.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[BreakingNews]

I think this will be all over finances, remembering her estranged husband could have been next on the casualty list, doesn't look like any love lost there

No mention of friends, acquaintances, etc. at this stage

The interest will be when we hear from lone survivor Ian Wilkinson

Did she eat some of the meal? If so, there must have been a prepared one without the mushrooms?

Weren't the Beef Wellingtons made as individual ones, not one whole one?

 

[SouthAussie]

Weren't the Beef Wellingtons made as individual ones, not one whole one?

Yes. Easy to keep toxic ones apart from non-toxic ones.


The jury has heard Erin Patterson, 50, served the four guests individual beef wellingtons when they attended her home for a family lunch on 29 July 2023.

Australia’s mushroom murders trial: who are Erin Patterson and the other key figures?

As the trial over the deadly 2023 beef wellington lunch continues in the Victorian supreme court, here’s what you need to know about the people involved

www.theguardian.com

 

[Porky1]

Allegedly… (edited)
she went foraging immediately after the Death Caps were reported on a forum, in two nearby locations, went to both locations, and bought the dehydrator the same day.

It does sound like she wanted some and buying the dehydrator the same day is very concerning. She might have been curious though, just to look at them, to learn, so she could avoid them. Unfortunately it’s her explanation, reactions or denial that makes her sound guilty.

If I knew they were growing in a particular area nearby, I’d go for a drive, to review characteristics. I used to love foraging for field mushrooms as a kid. As she was a known forager, she may have also picked edible fungi on that day too, which she used in cooking. In Melbourne, at Prahan Markets, there is a mushroom stall and the types of local mushrooms are fascinating. And using dried mushrooms, porcini, truffle, etc adds richness to dishes all year round. If you forage or a keen gardener, a dehydrator is a handy appliance. Not unusual to buy one.

Given she had also experimented with adding dried or ground mushrooms to kids food for nutritional reasons you’d hope (only) . Iam not surprised and she could have been testing flavour strength for future nefarious purposes too, to use on others in tiny quantities.

 

[Porky1]

Weren't the Beef Wellingtons made as individual ones, not one whole one?

Sounds like they were individual. I guess a simple explanation was the older guests may have eaten beef well done vs Erin who may like it cooked less, medium rare for eg. Also would explain different plate also.

 

[SouthAussie]

"Analysis was conducted on the devices, with an expert concluding that she travelled to Loch and Outtrim, two nearby areas where death cap mushrooms had been identified as growing on the iNaturalist.org website.

The trip to Outtrim was made one day after a positive sighting of the mushrooms was listed on the website, Dr Rogers says.

That dehydrator was purchased from a Leongatha shop two-and-a-half hours before a trip to Loch, the prosecutor says."

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

 

[Little Jack]

Found this link in thread #2:

rin Patterson had a collection of books about mushrooms which she kept at her home where her fatal beef wellington lunch took place, Daily Mail Australia has been told.

A friend claimed the shelves of her family home at Leongatha included books about delicious yet potentially deadly fungi.

Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday reported Ms Patterson, 48, was an 'experienced forager' who - like many families in the area - picked mushrooms when they were in season.

The friend said she had a number of books on the subject in her library.
…
And on Friday, a false claim that Erin's own parents had died due to poisoning was exposed as a lie. The pair actually died of natural causes.

According to a neighbour of Ms Patterson's mother, the death of Dr Heather Scutter from cancer in 2019 was not quick.

'It took her slowly. She went to Melbourne for treatment and came back. Then she died,' a neighbour told Daily Mail Australia.

Her husband had died in 2011 after his own battle with cancer - with his ashes sprinkled on the beach.

Ms Patterson's mother was a noted children's literature professor who left a house on the South Pacific Ocean headland at Eden in her will to her two daughters when she died in early 2019.

A copy of the will obtained by Daily Mail Australia on Friday shows she left her entire estate in equal shares to her daughters.

Erin Patterson had a 'collection of mushroom books' at her home

Deadly cook Erin Patterson had a collection of books about mushrooms she kept at her home where three people died, Daily Mail Australia has been told.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Thanks for this

 

[Doesitmakesense]

It makes you question her story on her scrapping off the mushrooms with the left overs so her kids could eat it.It doesn’t add up if she was feeding her kids brownies with hidden mushrooms in them.

IMO

This does make sense to me. The kids didn't know mushrooms were in the brownies, but would know they were on the meat. Hence scrapping them off so the kids would eat it

 

[Porky1]

At the time he refused to pay the medical bill, he had not been given the amount child support would be.
He could have suspected he would be asked to pay a considerable amount more.

Maybe, but at the end of the day, you wouldn’t quibble over surgery costs, they’re not regular expenses.

 

[BreakingNews]

Seems like some mushrooms are good for keeping cancer in check, great for heart, and generally a good source of vitamins, minerals, fibre and protein.
But not good if you are on some blood pressure tablets.

Health and Nutrition | Australian Mushrooms

Australian Mushrooms contain B Vitamins, Essential Minerals and Antioxidants - that’s one super little package!

www.australianmushrooms.com.au

 

[Officer Dibble]

I think so, from her text:


I think she expected him to change his mind and when he didn't attend -

a/ the food was prepared and she had nothing else to serve up and
b/ she had already come to terms with killing them too, and if she called off the lunch on the spot it would look obvious she was only doing it to get her husband there, and it was not about her [fake] illness.

I would go further and say I think her husband was her main intended target and she decided to invite others to make accident more plausible.



JMO, if she's found guilty.

You make some good points.