Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #8 *Arrest*

[Sjöberg]

Why couldn't she keep the details of her marriage private, why did she need to tell the whole world?

In principle, I don't agree with this approach. Forbidding people to talk about their marrital issues is a blessing (and tactic) for domestic violence.

Hiding the problems does not make the problems go away. We should encourage discussing marrital problems. Period. Pulling the face that everything is fine when it is not is bad for both the couple and and all the other couples, as it creates a culture of competing fake happiness.

Whether you should remain in a relationship if you constantly have issues to complain about - that's a whole different issue. But in that case at least, she did initiate a divorce, so it's not a case of "constantly complaining and nothing changing" either. In any case, to how many people she vented is not so very relevant to the crime at hand.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Nothing in today's trial that is a surprise to me.

 

[SouthAussie]

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/the-mushroom-cook/inside-the-courtroom-mushroom-cook-erin-patterson-faces-court-for-day-5-of-murder-trial/live-coverage/d8c8352b5cbfdde978b53e962d14c6f1?amp

Inside the courtroom: Mushroom cook Erin Patterson faces court for day 5 of murder trial​

Simon Patterson is continuing his evidence in the murder trial of his estranged wife, mushroom cook Erin Patterson. FOLLOW LIVE

Miles Proust, Laura Placella and Brooke Grebert-Craig

less than 2 min read
May 5, 2025 - 5:00AM

Paywalled

From this ^^^ paywalled article .... (paraphrased)

Erin told her FB friends - as per Christine Hunt - that Simon disagreed with her a lot, particularly that one of their children was not well.
And in decisions about divorce, separation, how the children should be educated and brought up.

 

[Tweet57]

And I wonder what words she kept dripping into her children's ears?

And perhaps vice versa too?Poor kids.

 

[LadyL]

From this ^^^ paywalled article .... (paraphrased)

Erin told her FB friends - as per Christine Hunt - that Simon disagreed with her a lot, particularly that one of their children was not well.
And in decisions about divorce, separation, how the children should be educated and brought up.

[bbm]

I hope she wasn't poisoning those children.

 

[SouthAussie]

But in that case at least, she did initiate a divorce, so it's not a case of "constantly complaining and nothing changing" either.

Well, I don't think she actually initiated a divorce. She was extraordinarily upset that Simon wrote "separated" on his tax return as his marital status. And he was only being honest.


The court was shown messages Ms Patterson sent to a family group chat in December 2022, where she complained about her husband formally declaring himself as separated on his tax return.

Erin Patterson told friends she'd been 'hiding powdered mushrooms in everything', court hears

Erin Patterson "seemed to really like mushrooms", her friends say, and shared pictures of a food dehydrator in the lead-up to a deadly lunch hosted at her home.

www.abc.net.au

 

[JLZ]

In principle, I don't agree with this approach. Forbidding people to talk about their marrital issues is a blessing (and tactic) for domestic violence.

Hiding the problems does not make the problems go away. We should encourage discussing marrital problems. Period. Pulling the face that everything is fine when it is not is bad for both the couple and and all the other couples, as it creates a culture of competing fake happiness.

Whether you should remain in a relationship if you constantly have issues to complain about - that's a whole different issue. But in that case at least, she did initiate a divorce, so it's not a case of "constantly complaining and nothing changing" either. In any case, to how many people she vented is not so very relevant to the crime at hand.

Did she initiate a divorce? Remind me please?

 

[JLZ]

Well, I don't think she actually initiated a divorce. She was extraordinarily upset that Simon wrote "separated" on his tax return as his marital status. And he was only being honest.

And then she got even more upset when she bizarrely interpreted Don as saying Simon was proposing to unseparate.

 

[Ellery84]

[bbm]

I hope she wasn't poisoning those children.

Omg me too.

 

[SouthAussie]

[bbm]

I hope she wasn't poisoning those children.

I don't get that vibe. I think she probably was a genuinely devoted mother. She protected the children from the lunch, didn't want them to stay at their dad's because his home didn't meet her standards, someone was paying for the son's flying lessons at a young age, took the kids to NZ for a holiday ....

imo

 

[Ellery84]

Well, I don't think she actually initiated a divorce. She was extraordinarily upset that Simon wrote "separated" on his tax return as his marital status. And he was only being honest.


The court was shown messages Ms Patterson sent to a family group chat in December 2022, where she complained about her husband formally declaring himself as separated on his tax return.

Erin Patterson told friends she'd been 'hiding powdered mushrooms in everything', court hears

Erin Patterson "seemed to really like mushrooms", her friends say, and shared pictures of a food dehydrator in the lead-up to a deadly lunch hosted at her home.

www.abc.net.au

I think we also need to remember that it’s not a family law court matter, it’s a triple murder trial, which perhaps has been a tactic of the defence - to kind of pivot the case away from the murdery things. JMO.

 

[SouthAussie]

I think we also need to remember that it’s not a family law court matter, it’s a triple murder trial, which perhaps has been a tactic of the defence - to kind of pivot the case away from the murdery things.

I keep wanting to say to the defence ... if Erin was so perturbed about money, why didn't she go to family court and have a proper mediation.

When my niece and her hubby went to family court mediation, they hammered out all of the details. Who was paying for what, where the children would stay and when, etc etc. And it all worked out quite amicably.

Instead Erin was trying to pull Simon's family into the fray, trying to control a situation that was now starting to go out of her control.

For me, all the defence is doing is showing me (so far) is why Erin may have been vindictive toward Simon (and his family).

imo

 

[secretGeek]

I actually love mushrooms and I'm kind of embarrassed to admit this trial makes me want to eat yummy wild mushrooms

Same.

You’d think that reading about this whole story would make you want to avoid Beef Wellington and all mushrooms, forever. But thinking about how the chosen beef was of particularly high quality, has only led me to hanker for a beef welly.

 

[JLZ]

I keep wanting to say to the defence ... if Erin was so perturbed about money, why didn't she go to family court and have a proper mediation.

When my niece and her hubby went to family court mediation, they hammered out all of the details. Who was paying for what, where the children would stay and when, etc etc. And it all worked out quite amicably.

Instead Erin was trying to pull Simon's family into the fray, trying to control a situation that was now starting to go out of her control.

For me, all the defence is doing is showing me (so far) why Erin may have been vindictive toward Simon (and his family).

imo

IMO she didn't want resolution. She wanted ongoing conflict.

 

[ch_13]

Coincidentally I came across these in the shops today…. I wasn’t even slightly tempted…. the Hand Picked bit worried me, but the “Blessed” bit made me wonder….


View attachment 583743

For what it's worth, "hand-picked" is just a bit of advertising fluff. It doesn't mean the mushrooms were wild. Even commercially farmed mushrooms are almost all hand-picked. It's not like harvesting wheat or rice, where they have giant machines they can use to pick crops.


While they are working on mushroom-picking robots that use AI to determine if a mushroom is ripe, that's still new tech.

 

[JBowie]

IMO she didn't want resolution. She wanted ongoing conflict.

A true narcissist is unable to resolve conflict constructively. Any attempts to do so are likely to leave you mentally drained, emotionally damaged and could negatively affect those around you – children, colleagues, and friends, for example.

[...]

Remember, conflict with a narcissist is destructive. It is not the kind of conflict that leads to a deeper understanding of another person’s values or beliefs, and neither can it be resolved with empathic, creative solutions. Don’t expect to receive an apology or acknowledgement from a narcissist for the pain they have caused you.

The best way to deal with a narcissist is avoid them, either by creating physical distance from them or mental and emotional distance. Either way, protect yourself as much as you can from their rage.

How to handle conflict with a narcissist AND stay sane - The Conflict Expert

Learn how to manage conflict with a narcissist while protecting your wellbeing. Practical tips to stay calm, set boundaries, and keep your sanity.

the-conflictexpert.com

 

[Salah11]

Considering she was known as a super sleuth her plan wasn’t very well thought out.

 

[JBowie]

Considering she was known as a super sleuth her plan wasn’t very well thought out.

Sleuthing after the act is one thing; planning the act is another.

 

[arrogantcat]

I know some here believe the accused to show narcissistic traits, but as the daughter of a diagnosed NPD, I don’t see anything so far that’s particularly indicative of this.

The communication in messages etc all seems pretty normal and domestic. I imagine similar messages are exchanged amongst families all the time and nobody gets killed.

It’s tempting to ascribe a pathology to help us understand the accused but so far I’m just not seeing it. Not every killer has a personality disorder or a diagnosable cause. I think it’s entirely possible that she really was a good mother, a committed community member, a good friend, and also a murderer.

This would align with what the prosecution have already said about not be putting forward a motive.

I wonder if she received a psych evaluation, and if we will hear about that in due course.

 

[Bats]

After thinking this one through, I'm starting to see this as being more like the actions of a child that has accidentally burnt the house down because they were playing with matches rather than a criminal that has intentionally burnt the house down to make a claim on insurance.
Apologies for that analogy. I know it may not sit well as there are people's lives we are talking about.

It's preposterous that someone who has somewhat planned and intentionally killed members of the family wouldn't actually ask how they are going.
"How are your mum and dad doing? How's Heather and Ian going? Can i do anything to help?"
Isn't that murder 101 ? - Make sure it kind of looks like you care, not like you've killed them intentionally.


She hasn't even done the most basic things that a murderer would do to try to cover things up. In fact, id go as far as saying she's done nothing a murderer would do. With the dehydrator, wouldn't you bury/burn/ dispose of it before the meal. At the very least? Instead it looks like a silly child has thrown the evidence down the drain thinking nobody will notice.

Everything that has been done to try to cover things up has been a reaction to the 4 guests falling extremely ill.

Also, it wasn't impulsive, so her actions can't be explained by some spur of the moment occurrence.

I know, some people may have examples of silly things murderers have done but if she is found guilty, she'll be going down as one of the silliest murderers in history. Isn’t she supposed to be very intelligent?

My opinion only.

Perhaps I'll change my mind after seeing more evidence but that's my gut feeling at the moment.