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

[TootsieFootsie]

I don't believe the mention of buying mushrooms from Asian grocery stores was meant to be racist.
When I used to go to Sydney more often I would buy from Asian grocery stores.
My then husband was Asian.

Many of the stores actually didn't have a name in English on them.

So in my mind when I wanted to buy again in a few months time, I would just remember the "third Asian grocery store" on whatever street.

I can really taste that delicious diced pork we used to get, that was my absolute favourite.
Yes and they did used to have stuff in plastic bags with no labels, and handwritten what the contents were.

But anyway now she has confessed to picking them so the grocery stores are not in the picture anymore.

 

[TLobo]

I don't believe the mention of buying mushrooms from Asian grocery stores was meant to be racist.
When I used to go to Sydney more often I would buy from Asian grocery stores.
My then husband was Asian.

Many of the stores actually didn't have a name in English on them.

So in my mind when I wanted to buy again in a few months time, I would just remember the "third Asian grocery store" on whatever street.

I can really taste that delicious diced pork we used to get, that was my absolute favourite.
Yes and they did used to have stuff in plastic bags with no labels, and handwritten what the contents were.

But anyway now she has confessed to picking them so the grocery stores are not in the picture anymore.

I agree, I've always thought the reason behind the "Asian grocer" was more along the lines of not being able to trace where the mushrooms originated...implying they were packaged in nondescript packaging without producer labels and batch numbers, etc. makes the mushrooms a lot more anonymous.

Also apropos of little in this post, but as I follow along here, I can't help thinking how much I detest mushrooms and would be upset if someone dehydrated them to add incognito to anything they intended for me to eat. I firmly believe there was some sort of twisted power/control thing involved for EP - like, "I'm the only one who knows there are mushrooms in my kids' brownies" and "I'm the only one who knows there are death caps in the duxelle" are along the same lines IMO. But then the cover-up attempts were seemingly so dumb, from what we know up to this point.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I love mushrooms but a few years ago I got the worst stomach ache after eating them,
yes they were supermarket ones.

I spent a couple of days in real agony.
I've been too afraid of eating them since then.

I have had a similar thing eating brussel sprouts and had to give them up too, and they were one of my favourite vegetables

 

[Eloise]

I agree, I've always thought the reason behind the "Asian grocer" was more along the lines of not being able to trace where the mushrooms originated...implying they were packaged in nondescript packaging without producer labels and batch numbers, etc. makes the mushrooms a lot more anonymous.

Also apropos of little in this post, but as I follow along here, I can't help thinking how much I detest mushrooms and would be upset if someone dehydrated them to add incognito to anything they intended for me to eat. I firmly believe there was some sort of twisted power/control thing involved for EP - like, "I'm the only one who knows there are mushrooms in my kids' brownies" and "I'm the only one who knows there are death caps in the duxelle" are along the same lines IMO. But then the cover-up attempts were seemingly so dumb, from what we know up to this point.

Agree with you on that. I feel like there's a difference between blending up veges to very small pieces to put them in say, bolognese to get extra veg into your child's diet, and making mushroom into a form that you want to be undetectable. Maybe I'm just very biased against her but I feel like one is being a bit cheeky-sneaky about veg (its not fully hidden, just made more palatable) and one is deception.

As for the Asian grocer, its apropos of nothing anymore really given she ended up admitting to it, but I still just can never get past a white woman pointing the finger at people of colour. Even when its not overt, deliberate racism, there's still inherent privilege involved. What if it had resulted in other racist attacks against Asian grocers? What if they'd lost more money than they did already because of her claims? Woolworths can take the hit, small businesses can't. I simply don't like it, and it has absolutely made me feel very poorly of her choices.

 

[Detechtive]

Or a gravy. Given she had been trialling adding mushrooms to everything, this wouldn’t surprise me. Not sure if there has been confirmation of gravy or not.
Reason for this suggestion is, regardless of different colour plates and guest selection of plates, she could choose to not use gravy. Also, gravy is flushable down the sink.

There was confirmation she used gravy from a "reheatable packet" - which I assume is one of those ready made gravies you buy in liquid form from the supermarket.
Gravy on Beef Wellington is odd. The duxelle and the meat is usually so tender and juicy and it is not traditionally served with gravy. I also found it odd that you'd go to the trouble of making a Beef Wellington from scratch and buy packet gravy.

 

[iamshadow21]

I love mushrooms but a few years ago I got the worst stomach ache after eating them,
yes they were supermarket ones.

I spent a couple of days in real agony.
I've been too afraid of eating them since then.

I have had a similar thing eating brussel sprouts and had to give them up too, and they were one of my favourite vegetables

Could be FODMAP.

 

[ch_13]

I don't believe the mention of buying mushrooms from Asian grocery stores was meant to be racist.

snipped

I think Erin knew that if she just said that the death caps were from Woolworth's she wouldn't be believed. After all, no one else had gotten sick from mushrooms bought there.

But a claim that the mushrooms were from an Asian market was more likely to be accepted. It's a common Western trope that those markets have "exotic" and "weird" foods that are sourced from dubious locations. (And if you read back through the early days of the thread, some posters did believe her.)

Of course, the reality is that Asian markets get their wares from wholesalers, just like any other store. They certainly aren't going into the woods and foraging mushrooms to sell.

Many of the stores actually didn't have a name in English on them.

So in my mind when I wanted to buy again in a few months time, I would just remember the "third Asian grocery store" on whatever street.

There's a big difference between not knowing the name of a store, but knowing its general location / place on the street and what Erin said. She claimed not to be able to remember anything about the store. In fact, at one point she even wasn't sure what town it was in.


Edit - The trope about buying strange items in Asian markets goes back a long ways. I remember it from the 80's film Gremlins. But I'm sure it extends back much farther than that.

 

[Megnut]

I think Erin cried fir the jury because her children testified to the version of the data events she fed to them.

I suspect the toxin was delivered via the store bought gravy.

The gray probably had enough fat and salt in it to make it an especially delicious marinade (like secretly adding MSG to anything). As such, the children got NO mushrooms and NO GRAVY. And one BW, made unnoticably without gravy.

Where was THAT wrapper? Was it recovered? Indeed it feels like an odd ingredient, given the elaborate recipe.

JMO

 

[Megnut]

What were the children doing while Erin was in her Lego fort? Was she online? Was she even home? Did the children actually know where she was or did they just believe whatever she may have told them?

JMO

 

[Officer Dibble]

Do we know when EP found out that her lunch guest were all in hospital with food poisoning like symptoms? For there to be an glimpse of innocence, once she had known, no way she would take her son to flying lessons over an hour away each way!

I'd like to know this too

 

[Officer Dibble]

I'll reserve my sympathy for Erin Patterson's victims thank you, who must of died a horrific and cruel death whilst their organs melted away. I also feel sorry for her husband & other family members, including Erin's own children, who lost their loved ones in a way that should never have happened.

I agree with your sympathy towards them all. It's beyond horrific.

 

[Corina]

I don't believe the mention of buying mushrooms from Asian grocery stores was meant to be racist.
When I used to go to Sydney more often I would buy from Asian grocery stores.
My then husband was Asian.

Many of the stores actually didn't have a name in English on them.

So in my mind when I wanted to buy again in a few months time, I would just remember the "third Asian grocery store" on whatever street.

I can really taste that delicious diced pork we used to get, that was my absolute favourite.
Yes and they did used to have stuff in plastic bags with no labels, and handwritten what the contents were.

But anyway now she has confessed to picking them so the grocery stores are not in the picture anymore.

The use of the term "Asian" like this in Australia and some other countries is not intended to be racist.
One would say "Asian" as one might say "Italian" or "Turkish" or "Dutch".
Nothing to do with colour or racism at all.

 

[Spectrix]

Do we know when EP found out that her lunch guest were all in hospital with food poisoning like symptoms? For there to be an glimpse of innocence, once she had known, no way she would take her son to flying lessons over an hour away each way!

I'd like to know this too

What we do know, thus far, is that there was a group chat involving Erin, Simon and the inlaws. I think it's reasonable to suspect that the inlaws would have been concerned about Erin and asking after her since they were all very sick and had been admitted to hospital by that time.

 

[MsMarple]

The use of the term "Asian" like this in Australia and some other countries is not intended to be racist.
One would say "Asian" as one might say "Italian" or "Turkish" or "Dutch".
Nothing to do with colour or racism at all.

What? No, no one is claiming that the word Asian is racist, the anger is directed at Erin implying that a small Asian grocer sold her dried death cap mushrooms.

It may be that Erin used that lie in order to camouflage the fact that she had foraged the mushrooms and thus take suspicion off herself. What we're pointing out is that her claim cast a negative result on not only a small grocery business but by association a minority class.

Imagine how many people opened their morning paper in 2023 and read that mushrooms bought at an Asian grocery were likely responsible for four poisonings. It may or may not have been Erin’s intent to slur a minority but there is something called unintended consequences where one’s actions cause an outcome not anticipated.

Erin doesn’t get a pass for not caring about blaming a convenient scapegoat no matter why she chose to lie.
JMO

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Actually yes it has been mentioned quite a few times that Erin was being racist calling them Asian stores.

 

[Montrealaise]

I love mushrooms but a few years ago I got the worst stomach ache after eating them,
yes they were supermarket ones.

I spent a couple of days in real agony.
I've been too afraid of eating them since then.

I have had a similar thing eating brussel sprouts and had to give them up too, and they were one of my favourite vegetables

Did you wash the mushrooms and Brussels sprouts thoroughly before you ate them? If a farm hand picks vegetables after using the toilet and doesn't wash his hands afterwards, pathogens (like E. coli) could be transferred from his hands to the produce he picks.

 

[drsleuth]

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-victoria/trial-for-accused-mushroom-cook-killer-erin-patterson-resumes/news-story/6fd8204a5e2d7dbf4934b94634421ed7?amp

Trial for accused mushroom cook killer Erin Patterson resumes​

The high-profile murder trial of Erin Patterson will resume today, with the jury expected to hear evidence from several expert witnesses.

 

[drsleuth]

Mushrooms, motive and reasonable doubt – your questions answered - ABC listen

Erin Patterson’s trial has taken a break today, but the Mushroom Case Daily team hasn’t – we’ve prepared this special Q&A episode. Today, Kristian Silva and Stephen Stockwell open up the Mushroom Case Daily mailbag and answer some of the hundreds of questions we’ve received, including the...

www.abc.net.au

Mushrooms, motive and reasonable doubt – your questions answered​

 

[mamamama9873]

Actually yes it has been mentioned quite a few times that Erin was being racist calling them Asian stores.

I don’t believe it’s the expression “Asian stores” itself but more so that she threw them under the bus. She is a privileged white woman and thought she would get away with this lie as she would be trusted rather than an “Asian store”
Blaming the source unfoundedly and labelling it ‘Asian’ comes across as very racist to me as well.

 

[JBowie]

I don’t believe it’s the expression “Asian stores” itself but more so that she threw them under the bus. She is a privileged white woman and thought she would get away with this lie as she would be trusted rather than an “Asian store”
Blaming the source unfoundedly and labelling it ‘Asian’ comes across as very racist to me as well.

Another aspect of this is that the inference is -- or could be taken to be -- that Asian stores could be selling poisonous food.