Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #9 *Arrest*

[MsMarple]

Erin told doctor she'd brought lunch leftovers to hospital, court hears​

By Judd Boaz​

Professor Stuart says she then asked about any remains from the lunch.

"Did you ask her specifically about any leftovers of the meal?" prosecutor Sarah Lenthall says.

"Yes I did ask her that ... she did say there were some leftovers she put in a bag in the rubbish bin," Professor Stuart says.

"She also mentioned that she'd brought some leftovers into the emergency department, but there was no evidence to me that there were leftovers in the emergency department."

She says after the interview, she checked with medical staff and learned Erin's blood work had come back looking fine and showing no ill health.

 

[Detechtive]

1m ago11.00 AEST
Prof Rhonda Stuart says she interviewed Erin when she was in the emergency department at Monash hospital.







Stuart said Erin told her about the dish she cooked for the lunch:


She told me she had made a beef wellington and she had made the beef Wellington with a mushroom paste.

Erin Patterson murder trial day 10 – as it happened

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www.theguardian.com

A (singular) Beef Wellington - or Beef Wellington(s)?

Sounds like she told the doctor she made A Beef Wellington, which we know isn’t true.

She also didn’t take leftovers into the hospital, the police took them?

 

[MsMarple]

Cripes, so she even lied to the doctor and claimed she brought leftovers to the hospital.

Did she really think no one would check her stories? Duh.

 

[drsleuth]

1m ago21.06 EDT

Prof Rhonda Stuart asked Erin where the mushrooms were sourced​

The doctor tells the court:

One of the types, she said, came from the supermarket with plastic over the top. The other pack she said she got from an Asian food shop a number of weeks prior.

Stuart says Erin said she no longer had the packet the dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer came in.

She said they were in a packet but she’d opened the packet and put them in a container.

Stuart says Erin told her the Asian grocer had been in Oakleigh or Glen Waverley.

She said she couldn’t remember but perhaps if she drove past the shop she could recognise it.

She did say they had a strong smell.

Stuart says she asked Erin if she had been mushroom foraging. Erin told her she had not and only used store-bought mushrooms, the court hears.

Stuart says Erin asked why she was questioning her:

I said I was trying to make sure there was no public health issue.

There is no cross-examination.

Erin Patterson murder trial day 10 – as it happened

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www.theguardian.com

 

[Detechtive]

Cripes, so she even lied to the doctor and claimed she brought leftovers to the hospital.

Did she really think no one would check her stories

So this was a few days after the lunch - had anyone died by this point?

So she at least knows they’re critically ill and is still lying to people.

 

[drsleuth]

1m ago21.06 EDT

Prof Rhonda Stuart asked Erin where the mushrooms were sourced​

The doctor tells the court:


Stuart says Erin said she no longer had the packet the dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer came in.


Stuart says Erin told her the Asian grocer had been in Oakleigh or Glen Waverley.



Stuart says she asked Erin if she had been mushroom foraging. Erin told her she had not and only used store-bought mushrooms, the court hears.

Stuart says Erin asked why she was questioning her:


There is no cross-examination.

Erin Patterson murder trial day 10 – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

BBM : Everyone else was concerned about danger to the public health , except for Erin!

Again no x exam of medical witnesses........

 

[MsMarple]

Monash emergency doctor now giving evidence​

By Tim Callanan​

The next witness is Laura Muldoon, who is an emergency registrar at Monash Health.

She's being questioned on the stand by chief prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC.

Dr Muldoon confirms she saw Erin Patterson on July 31, 2023. and took information from her about how she had become unwell and the symptoms she had reported.

She says there had been a concern Erin may be suffering from death cap mushroom poisoning and she'd been transferred from Leongatha Hospital.

She says Erin was being given an infusion for suspected liver damage due to toxicity as a preventative measure.

Dr Muldoon says Erin reported vomiting and nausea and she was under the impression she was sick due to food poisoning at the lunch she organised.

 

[Jess D]

1m ago21.06 EDT

Prof Rhonda Stuart asked Erin where the mushrooms were sourced​

The doctor tells the court:


Stuart says Erin said she no longer had the packet the dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer came in.


Stuart says Erin told her the Asian grocer had been in Oakleigh or Glen Waverley.



Stuart says she asked Erin if she had been mushroom foraging. Erin told her she had not and only used store-bought mushrooms, the court hears.

Stuart says Erin asked why she was questioning her:


There is no cross-examination.

Erin Patterson murder trial day 10 – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

If I bought dried mushrooms from an Asian grocers, I would definitely remember if it was in Oakleigh or Glen Waverley.

 

[drsleuth]

So this was a few days after the lunch - had anyone died by this point?

So she at least knows they’re critically ill and is still lying to people.

No they had not yet died

August 4

Heather dies at 2:50am.

Gail dies at 5:55pm.

Police travel to Koonwarra Transfer Station and find a black Sunbeam dehydrator in an e-waste bin.

August 5

Donald dies at 11:30pm.

A search warrant is executed at Erin's Leongatha house, where police seize Phone B with SIM card number 04XX 835.

Erin is taken to Wonthaggi Police Station and interviewed.

The timeline prosecutors allege in the mushroom murder trial

The six-week murder trial of Erin Patterson is underway in the regional Victorian town of Morwell. Here's what we know so far about the case, based on material put to the jury.

www.abc.net.au

Edit to add Erin was being questioned on the 1st August

August 1

Heather and Ian arrive at Austin Hospital.

Despite escalating medical treatment, Donald, Gail and Heather continue to deteriorate.

Erin is assessed by a doctor at Monash, who says she appears clinically well and all her vital signs are within normal limits. She is discharged from hospital about 1pm.

The Department of Health interviews Erin about the lunch. She says she bought dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer in Melbourne's south-east.

 

[MsMarple]

Witness after witness, including medical staff are testifying to Erin’s lies. IMO reasonable doubt is falling rapidly.

 

[MsMarple]

Erin Patterson 'looked well', doctor says​

By Tim Callanan​

Dr Muldoon says Erin told her she'd bought mushrooms for the dish from an Asian grocery in Oakleigh or Glen Waverley and said she didn't have the packet anymore.

Dr Muldoon is asked if she made observations about Erin's health during that meeting and she says yes.

"She had some chapped lips but otherwise looked well," she says.

She confirms blood test results were all normal and remained that way the following day.

Dr Muldoon says there was no evidence of amanita mushroom poisoning and no sign of any other toxic substance being consumed.

She says she delivered leftovers from the meal, which had been recovered by police, to an expert for identification.

 

[Jess D]

Erin told doctor she'd brought lunch leftovers to hospital, court hears​

By Judd Boaz​

Professor Stuart says she then asked about any remains from the lunch.


She says after the interview, she checked with medical staff and learned Erin's blood work had come back looking fine and showing no ill health.

Erin's blood tests results would have been a red flag for medical staff I imagine...

 

[Jess D]

Witness after witness, including medical staff are testifying to Erin’s lies. IMO reasonable doubt is falling rapidly.

Tick tock...

 

[drsleuth]

Expert reveals to court he posted location of death caps online before mushroom lunch

Erin Patterson is accused of killing three people with poisonous death cap mushrooms.

7news.com.au

Patterson did not have packet for ‘Asian store’ mushrooms, director of public health says​

Rhonda Stuart, the director of public health and infection prevention at Monash Health, has described her interview of Patterson at Monash Hospital.

She said she was tasked with speaking with Patterson to find out more about the lunch and whether there was a risk to the public’s health.

“She was in bed, she was hooked up to an IV line, and she had a man and two children in the room when I knocked on the door,” Stuart said, recalling when she first saw her.

“I introduced myself as the director of the public health unit.

“When I introduced myself, Erin asked if they (the others in the room) could be excused while I spoke to her, I said that was fine. She told me it was her ex husband and her two children.

“The interview was about trying to understand what happened at the lunch, who was there and how she prepared the meal

“She told me that she came (to the hospital) because her children needed to be checked out because there had been a lunch and there was a concern they might be affected.

“She had said she had given the children some of that meal the following day but had scraped off the mushrooms.

“She said she had been unwell, the following day, with gastro type symptoms.

“She told me that she had made a beef wellington with a mushroom paste -and she said there were two different type of mushrooms that she used.

“I quizzed her about the mushrooms. She said one came from the supermarket in a container with plastic over the top - so I presumed they were button mushrooms - and she said there were mushrooms from an Asian shop.

“She said she put them (the Asian mushrooms) into another packet - so the (original) packet was gone. She said they were dried.

“When I asked her about the dried mushrooms she said she used the entire lot so there was nothing left over. She said she made a paste and put it over the top of the meat.

“I was trying to understand if there was a risk with those mushrooms so I asked her where she bought them from, she said it was either Oakleigh or Glen Waverley. She said she couldn’t remember but perhaps she would be able to if she drove past it.”

Prosecution: “Was she able to identify the type of mushrooms?

Stuart: “No, but she said they had a strong smell.”

Prosecution: “Did you discuss if wild mushrooms were in the meal?”

Stuart: “Yes, I did, asked if she had foraged or used wild mushrooms, but she said they were only the mushrooms she described.

“She told me she was having lunch with her ex husband’s relatives. I said that is a nice thing to do seeing as you are separated from your ex and she said that was not unusual as they had a good relationship.

“She asked why I was asking those questions and I said I needed to know if there was going to be a public health issue.”

​

Expert reveals to court he posted location of death caps online before mushroom lunch

Erin Patterson is accused of killing three people with poisonous death cap mushrooms.

7news.com.au

 

[drsleuth]

1m ago11.18 AEST
The prosecution’s next witness is Dr Laura Muldoon, who assessed Erin in the Monash hospital emergency department.

Muldoon says she spoke to Erin on 31 July - two days after the lunch when she was transferred to Monash hospital. She says Erin’s reported symptoms were nausea and abdominal pain.

Erin reported she had experienced nausea and diarrhoea since the day of the lunch, Muldoon says.

Erin said she was under the impression it was due to food poisoning from the beef wellington she had cooked, Muldoon says.

Erin Patterson murder trial day 10 – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

 

[MsMarple]

Honestly Erin’s litany of lies makes me sick. She lied, knowing that every minute delayed meant that the relatives wouldn’t get proper treatment. IMO she knew this and did it on purpose. JMO

 

[MsMarple]

A photo of the beef Wellington leftovers is shown to the jury​

K
By Kristian Silva​

The court is shown a photo that was sent to Dr Muldoon from doctor Veronica Foote at the Leongatha Hospital, where Erin Patterson first presented.

The picture is of beef Wellington leftovers which were retrieved from Erin Patterson’s bin.

The image shows a piece of hollowed-out pastry placed on a white piece of paper, with a teaspoon-sized substance which appears to the beef Wellington filling next to it.

 

[drsleuth]

1m ago11.20 AEST
Muldoon says she asked Erin about the ingredients in the meal.

Erin said she had used beef eye-fillet meat, puff pastry, garlic, beans and potatoes.

Erin also described the mushrooms in the beef wellington:

“Dried dehydrated mushrooms, possibly shiitake or porcini... she stated she purchased them from a Chinese grocery store in Oakleigh or Glen Waverly,” Muldoon says.

Nanette Rogers SC, the prosecutor, asks Muldoon if Erin had the packaging of the dried mushrooms.

“She replied she did not,” Muldoon says.

She says Erin denied using foraged mushrooms in the meal.

Muldoon says Erin had chapped lips but looked “clinically well”

Muldoon also assessed Erin the following day on 1 August 2023 when she reported feeling better.

All her blood tests had come back and were normal and all her vitals were normal.

She says there was no medical evidence of death cap mushroom poisoning.

Erin Patterson murder trial day 10 – as it happened

This blog is now closed

www.theguardian.com

 

[Detechtive]

Erin said she was under the impression it was due to food poisoning from the beef wellington she had cooked, Muldoon says.

 

[MsMarple]

Leftovers were sent to Royal Botanic Gardens by taxi, court hears​

By Judd Boaz​

The court hears Dr Muldoon then went on to email the photo to a mycologist, an expert in mushrooms and fungi.

The email stated the photo was of "finely chopped and cooked mushrooms as discussed" and states the remains of the lunch were to be delivered to Monash Health, and then eventually to the Royal Botanic Gardens by taxi on the same day.

Now, Colin Mandy SC is up to cross-examine Dr Muldoon.

Defence zeroes in on Erin's symptoms at hospital​

By Tim Callanan​

Mr Mandy focuses in on the symptoms Erin Patterson claimed she was suffering, including nausea and diarrhoea.

"At no stage did Erin Patterson tell you there had been vomiting," Mr Mandy asks.

"Yes that's correct," Dr Muldoon says.

"In relation to the diarrhoea, did she tell you that it initially had been brown in colour and it had then become watery on the Sunday," Mr Mandy says.

"Yes, initially explosive ... and then becoming watery and clear," Dr Muldoon says.

Mr Mandy concludes his cross-examination and Dr Muldoon is excused.