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

[Ellery84]

Good. So this 'shocking revelation' that Dr Truong didn't find any toxins in the leftovers is really a nothing-burger. IMO

It means nothing to me.

We know that Erin herself did not get sick. The left overs that the police found were probably hers. IMO

The smoking gun (and alleged weapon) is the dehydrator. The death caps were the bullets. IMO

 

[JBowie]

It means nothing to me.

We know that Erin herself did not get sick. The left overs that the police found were probably hers. IMO

The smoking gun (and alleged weapon) is the dehydrator. The death caps were the bullets. IMO

True, but the facts need to be put to bed in front of the jury via expert witnesses, all of whom are open to be challenged by the defence in cross-examination.

 

[Porky1]

Most people use Google on their mobile phones for directions now, instead of a GPS. I bet Erin did too.

I wonder whether telematics comes into play?

 

[SouthAussie]

In a murder trial I expect either the prosecution, in their questioning of a witness or witnesses, to assert that the woman shown is definitely the accused and the defence in their cross-examination to create doubt about it.

I don't expect the jury to be shown video "a woman" and have to guess that it's EP. IMO, something is missing here.

Oh to be present and see and hear all of this through my own eyes and ears.

There are quite a few articles that describe the woman as Erin .... here are a couple.
Although we don't know exactly what was said in court today, it is apparent that it is obvious that the woman is Erin.

ETA: Also please see my next post (right after this one) for bits of what the prosecution said and showed about this in their opening statement. Today's evidence is a continuation of that outline, with more detail shown, and a witness testifying.


"CCTV from the Koonwarra Transfer Station And Landfill was played to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, showing Ms Patterson's red car pull up outside a large green shed on August 2, 2023.

Ms Patterson is seen retrieving the dehydrator from her boot and taking it inside the shed. Tip manager Darren Canty said the item was later retrieved from an e-waste bin and given to police."

Jury shown security footage captured at local tip four days after deadly mushroom lunch

Prosecutors in the triple-murder trial of Erin Patterson allege traces of death cap mushrooms were found in a food dehydrator Erin Patterson disposed of at a local tip.

www.abc.net.au

"Video showed to the jury detailed Patterson, 50, of nearby Leongatha, rocking up to the Koonwarra tip in her red MG SUV, registration number 1XZ-40Z, about 11.30am on August 2, 2023."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/video-and-pictures-have-been-shown-of-erin-patterson-at-tip-allegedly-disposing-dehydrator/news-story/8d898e53934ca3c2519fa00565afc70f?amp

 

[SouthAussie]

30th April 2025:
"The jury is being shown a CCTV photo showing Erin Patterson at her local tip on 2 August. Bank transactions show she paid $13.50 to dump some items, the prosecutor says.

Among the things she was seen disposing of was a large black box. When inspected a couple of days later, a staff member found a black Sunbeam dehydrator, Nanette Rogers says.

Fingerprints were found on the dehydrator and compared to Ms Patterson's, Dr Rogers says - and they matched.

It also tested positive for death cap mushrooms, the jury is told."

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

 

[JBowie]

"CCTV from the Koonwarra Transfer Station And Landfill was played to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, showing Ms Patterson's red car pull up outside a large green shed on August 2, 2023.

Ms Patterson is seen retrieving the dehydrator from her boot and taking it inside the shed. Tip manager Darren Canty said the item was later retrieved from an e-waste bin and given to police."

Thanks, that's the definite assertion/identification that I would expect rather than "footage of a woman" as per today's report that I queried.

 

[Deleted member 363451]

IMO, I'm really hoping its full murder (x3) attempted murder x1, and whatever else they can throw.
It's not just that she killed three people, it's the method by which the final days of their lives were so painful, unpleasant and undignified.
The abuse of trust to people that loved and cared about her, and clearly intending to kill the entire family of her own children.

I hope that the sentencing is reflected by the gravity of everything she's done. She should be made to spend the rest of her days behind bars with no chance of continuing her life after parole, because she made sure that each of her victims had no chance to continue their own lives, not just through the initial poisoning, but by withholding information (about foraging) that meant that they didn't receive treatment that could have saved them until it was too late.

 

[Kemug]

Exactly! In that circumstance any normal and innocent human being would be beside themselves with worry and concern over their relatives and would do anything and everything they could to actively assist medical staff.

Doing nothing, and/or worse, lying and misleading staff, speaks volumes for me, and I hope also the jurors.

I suppose that it is just possible that she had poisoned them accidentally, but when she realised what was happening, she thought "Oh well, serves them right, I don't think I'll bother to tell anyone."

 

[Elley Mae]

30th April 2025:
"The jury is being shown a CCTV photo showing Erin Patterson at her local tip on 2 August. Bank transactions show she paid $13.50 to dump some items, the prosecutor says.

Among the things she was seen disposing of was a large black box. When inspected a couple of days later, a staff member found a black Sunbeam dehydrator, Nanette Rogers says.

Fingerprints were found on the dehydrator and compared to Ms Patterson's, Dr Rogers says - and they matched.

It also tested positive for death cap mushrooms, the jury is told."

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

That is all I would need to here as a juror.
Jmo

 

[JBowie]

I suppose that it is just possible that she had poisoned them accidentally, but when she realised what was happening, she thought "Oh well, serves them right, I don't think I'll bother to tell anyone."

Such lack of empathy is associated with narcissism, if not psychopathy.

 

[Detechtive]

Yes the leftovers that she volunteered the location of for the police to find were found to be clear.

Although we don't know if there was an extra serve of tainted wellington for SImon given that she was preying he'd change his mind about attending. Or perhaps bits and pieces of tainted leftovers from the guests. If there was anything left, she likely flushed it.

IMO, the reason she insisted on checking her self out of hospital (despite the doctors protests) as soon as questions were being asked, was to give herself time to go home, dispose of evidence, and then stage the non-tainted leftovers for the health authorities to find.
Remember that she even packed ONLY the untainted leftover wellington into a nice visible Woolworths bag for them? No other rubbish in with that lot.

I think you’re spot on. Simon said she told him she fell asleep on the floor for those 45 minutes. What a ridiculous story

She was definitely cleaning up the crime scene, IMO.

 

[303gmf]

It's rare the someone accused of murder takes the stand. Gerard Baden Clay was an exception, going against his legal teams advice. But he just couldn't help himself!

Alex Murdaugh just couldn’t help himself either, the gift of gab

 

[Cartie]

She tells the court the only mushrooms she found were field mushrooms that are commonly found at supermarkets.

So where are the other mushrooms, that she's now admitted to foraging and using.

There should still be 2 types of mushrooms, regardless if they a dcm or not.

 

[Detechtive]

It means nothing to me.

We know that Erin herself did not get sick. The left overs that the police found were probably hers. IMO

The smoking gun (and alleged weapon) is the dehydrator. The death caps were the bullets. IMO

Actually it solidifies my thoughts more.

Those guests ate deathcaps. Deathcaps were found in her dehydrator which she got rid of.

but no death caps in the leftovers?

And this was clearly orchestrated prior to the “panic” after everyone was sick.

So where did she hide the evidence? That’s what it points to, to me.

 

[Detechtive]

She tells the court the only mushrooms she found were field mushrooms that are commonly found at supermarkets.

So where are the other mushrooms, that she's now admitted to foraging and using.

There should still be 2 types of mushrooms, regardless if they a dcm or not.

It is only Erin who says she used two types of mushrooms (button mushrooms from Woolworths and dried mushrooms from the supermarket). I think this evidence shows that in the food she and her kids were served there was only button mushrooms.

 

[Montrealaise]

if it were me … I’d say:

I hadn’t made enough of the duxelles mushroom paste. The mushrooms reduced so much during sauté that there was barely enough for 3 BW, it would not stretch to 4.

I made 3 BW with the just enough duxelles mushroom paste, the hastily made one without duxelles or with a new batch. I reserved that inferior DW for myself as I felt it wouldn’t be my best, and didn’t want to disappoint my guests.

The defense team should hire you as their consultant!

 

[Spectrix]

The smoking gun (and alleged weapon) is the dehydrator. The death caps were the bullets. IMO

In my mind, the dehydrator isn't a smoking gun, because its existence along with the Deathcap residue and Erin's fingerprints is not disputed. The guests ate their own murder weapons, the tainted Beef Wellingtons. That is not in dispute either.

Her defence, simply put, is that she accidentally picked Deathcaps while foraging for edible mushrooms, unknowingly dehydrated and stored them, and unknowingly fed them to her guests in Beef Wellingtons at the ill fated lunch.
When questions were asked, she panicked, claimed the mushrooms to be store bought, and dumped the dehydrator.

If those actions alone were her only indiscretions, perhaps one could at least see it as being plausible.

I think the broader question is how Erin and her defence are going to explain away the massive trail of other indiscretions, and in my opinion, there are so many of them that it boggles the mind how she thinks she has any chance of walking free.

I'm curious whether she actually might take the stand in this trial, because without her testimony, how will she explain the aforementioned indiscretions?
Some might say she doesn't need to, and technically it's true. The defence tactic at this point in time is simply trying to cast doubt on each of the prosecutions witnesses. That's standard practice for defence attorneys, but thus far, I don't think its really working.

 

[Montrealaise]

Yes the leftovers that she volunteered the location of for the police to find were found to be clear.

Although we don't know if there was an extra serve of tainted wellington for SImon given that she was preying he'd change his mind about attending. Or perhaps bits and pieces of tainted leftovers from the guests. If there was anything left, she likely flushed it.

IMO, the reason she insisted on checking her self out of hospital (despite the doctors protests) as soon as questions were being asked, was to give herself time to go home, dispose of evidence, and then stage the non-tainted leftovers for the health authorities to find.
Remember that she even packed ONLY the untainted leftover wellington into a nice visible Woolworths bag for them? No other rubbish in with that lot.

I read your post, thought "shouldn't it be she was praying he'd change his mind" and then realized, given the circumstances, that "preying" is just as appropriate.

 

[Kemug]

But that has exactl6 the same consequences as not guilty.

Not really, only in theory. It would likely mean that for the rest of your life most people will shun you, and believe you are a murderer. It wasn't quite the same for Lizzie Borden of course, being in America, but after being acquitted of the axe murder of her father and stepmother, she kept on living in her home town, but then, and to this day, she is generally believed to be guilty. It would be quite a burden.

 

[Little Jack]

Yes the leftovers that she volunteered the location of for the police to find were found to be clear.

Although we don't know if there was an extra serve of tainted wellington for SImon given that she was preying he'd change his mind about attending. Or perhaps bits and pieces of tainted leftovers from the guests. If there was anything left, she likely flushed it.

IMO, the reason she insisted on checking her self out of hospital (despite the doctors protests) as soon as questions were being asked, was to give herself time to go home, dispose of evidence, and then stage the non-tainted leftovers for the health authorities to find.
Remember that she even packed ONLY the untainted leftover wellington into a nice visible Woolworths bag for them? No other rubbish in with that lot.

I believe it was the leftovers of HER Wellington which wasnt poisoned. Ian said he did not recall how much of hers she ate. But all the poisoned ones were eaten by the guests.