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

[katydid23]

Erin Patterson has since admitted that she did indeed forage for the poisonous mushrooms, and it was panic that made her lie and say that she bought them from a Chinese grocer. She also lied about not owning a food hydrator. Her lawyer said that it was a 'terrible accident' that she picked the poisonous mushrooms. This is what the defence will put in their final summary and if the jury is dumb enough, they'll swallow it...

I'm not sure if that will be accepted or believed because there are problems.

If it was purely accidental then she would have been seriously ill as well.

Also, if she had foraged for the mushrooms, and she thought they were safe, I'd think she'd have used some of them while they were still fresh. Isn't that the biggest draw for foraging? Being able to taste and serve incredibly fresh mushrooms as opposed to dried, powdered ones.

I mean, if you want some powdered mushrooms to keep in the pantry, why not just buy some regular ones from Woolworths? Why spend the day foraging only to dry them out and turn them to powder? It doesn't ring true, imo.

 

[katydid23]

This is what people don't plan on when committing crimes. That you can deduce guilt by what they didn't do or what they excluded.

For example, she fed her kids leftover mash and beans, and steak (which, is pretty clear was not Beef Wellington. Like you said earlier Ellery, it was likely just steak from the eye fillet), but no pastry, no mushroom duxelle. No fancy Beef wellington for the kids.

That shows consciousness of what she knew was poisonous, IMO. And to me, it makes it even worse that she told the children it was leftovers from the previous day - in effect, gaslighting them to lie for her.

And here we have another lie. No "mushrooms" were "Scraped" off their "leftovers" IMO.

Yes, and talk about gaslighting----she tells her kids that she feels dizzy and has diarrhoea but then serves them leftovers from yesterday's luncheon. And I think they already knew the lunch guests were in the hospital when they were served the leftovers. That's just crazy.

 

[Ellery84]

Yes, and talk about gaslighting----she tells her kids that she feels dizzy and has diarrhoea but then serves them leftovers from yesterday's luncheon. And I think they already knew the lunch guests were in the hospital when they were served the leftovers. That's just crazy.

It is, it’s really crazy. I want to know how many dim sims she ate from Koo Rup on the morning after the lunch, when she took her son to his flying lesson.

IMO: She was fake sick after the lunch, had fake cancer to announce during the lunch, and what else has she faked?

 

[Deleted member 363451]

I'm not sure if that will be accepted or believed because there are problems.

If it was purely accidental then she would have been seriously ill as well.

Also, if she had foraged for the mushrooms, and she thought they were safe, I'd think she'd have used some of them while they were still fresh. Isn't that the biggest draw for foraging? Being able to taste and serve incredibly fresh mushrooms as opposed to dried, powdered ones.

I mean, if you want some powdered mushrooms to keep in the pantry, why not just buy some regular ones from Woolworths? Why spend the day foraging only to dry them out and turn them to powder? It doesn't ring true, imo.

You make some very good points. Her defence are going to have their work cut out for them, but expect the unexpected with court cases in Victoria...

 

[Yh5r]

Yes, and talk about gaslighting----she tells her kids that she feels dizzy and has diarrhoea but then serves them leftovers from yesterday's luncheon. And I think they already knew the lunch guests were in the hospital when they were served the leftovers. That's just crazy.

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!

 

[Kemug]

It is, it’s really crazy. I want to know how many dim sims she ate from Koo Rup on the morning after the lunch, when she took her son to his flying lesson.

IMO: She was fake sick after the lunch, had fake cancer to announce during the lunch, and what else has she faked?

Affection for her inlaws, tales about Simon, all her trips to the toilet, what else?

 

[Neet_Mc]

Out of interest, is there any evidence that says the beef wellington actually contained death cap mushrooms?

I mean, the poison may have been in the form of dried mushroom in the mashed potato that was served, could it not? Similar to how mushroom powder was hidden in muffins.

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.

 

[Neet_Mc]

The location of Erin’s son’s flying lesson was actually in Tyab, Victoria.

She, according to her son’s evidence, drove both ways without using the bathroom.

The Kids

Podcast Episode · The Trial: Australia Edition · 09/05/2025 · Subscribers Only · 19m

podcasts.apple.com

And no toilet stops in the ambulance trip to hospital.

 

[Bats]

You make some very good points. Her defence are going to have their work cut out for them, but expect the unexpected with court cases in Victoria...

One thing to keep in mind is that if the verdict is 'not guilty', it doesn't necessarily mean the jury has sided with the defence's assertions.

 

[Kemug]

Sometimes I wish we had the Scottish option, "Not Proven".

 

[SouthAussie]

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!

No, we don't know. I was trying to piece together when she might have found out, but it isn't clear.

Simon took his aunt and uncle, Heather and Ian, to the hospital. They arrived at 10:58am on the Sunday morning. Don and Gail were already ambulanced to the hospital about 1½ hours before that.

Did Simon contact Erin somewhere in there to see how she and the kids were? I would think that he might.

Their son thinks they left for the flying lesson around midday.


Erin's son says his mother was "a bit quieter" than usual that morning which he thinks was because she was sick. He confirms the drive to his flying lesson was about an hour and ten minutes and he thinks they left home around midday.

Erin Patterson took son on hours-long drive despite feeling sick, murder trial hears — as it happened

Erin Patterson is accused of murdering three relatives by serving them a beef Wellington that contained death cap mushrooms. Look back at how the day in court unfolded.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Deleted member 363451]

Sometimes I wish we had the Scottish option, "Not Proven".

Do you want her to get off?

 

[Deleted member 363451]

One thing to keep in mind is that if the verdict is 'not guilty', it doesn't necessarily mean the jury has sided with the defence's assertions.

Well what does it mean?

 

[SouthAussie]

Sometimes I wish we had the Scottish option, "Not Proven".

Scotland is in the process of working to abolish that verdict option. It seems that the general feeling is that it gives a judge or jury an easy way out.
They are also considering making their verdicts 'majority verdicts' of 8 out of 12 jurors.
They currently use 15 jurors, they want to reduce that to 12.


April 2024
The bill will abolish the not proven verdict in all criminal cases and retain the widely understood verdicts of guilty and not guilty.
The bill enables a time-limited pilot of single-judge rape trials. The proposal for the pilot is informed by complainers’ experiences of the trial process, by numerous studies on rape myths and by the fact that the conviction rate for rape is consistently lower than the rate for other crimes.

*

www.parliament.scot

 

[Bats]

Well what does it mean?

Here are a couple of reasons for a not guilty verdict were the jury don't necessarily agree with the defence's assertions.

- not unanimous
- they don't believe the prosecution’s case has made them beyond reasonable doubt of the allegations.

 

[Kemug]

Do you want her to get off?

Indeed not, if she's guilty, as I believe she is. But if one juror disagrees, I don't want her declared "Not Guilty". I'd much rather "Not Proven".

 

[Kemug]

Scotland is in the process of working to abolish that verdict option. It seems that the general feeling is that it gives a judge or jury an easy way out.
They are also considering making their verdicts 'majority verdicts' of 8 out of 12 jurors.

RSBM
Oh thanks South Aussie, I didn't know that!

 

[Cartie]

When I made food my children didn't like, I would still put a small amount to one side on the plate, for them at least to try. If I'd made the effort to forage the mushrooms, thought they are beneficial and they sometimes eat them, I would definitely put some on the plate.
Imo I don't believe she fed them meat that had had mushrooms scraped off.
Also imo as others have pointed out, if I thought that I might have food poisoning, I would think it was from the meat and definitely not fed it (day old, reheated) to my children.

 

[CityKid]

ngl the attempt to throw Asian grocers under the bus really rubbed me the wrong way. Any sympathy I'd have ever felt for her dissipated in that moment. Reminds me, in a way, of Sherri Papini throwing Hispanic people under the bus. In that its a white woman of privilege, blaming - with a confirmed lie - people of colour for something they did. You simply instantly lose my empathy in that moment, sorry.

Sadly, it's a tale as old as time. Create a culprit from another culture/color/ethnicity. All of these lead to suspicion and harassment and I agree, I lose any empathy/sympathy for people who do this to deflect from their culpability.

Charles Stuart (Black carjackers) Murder of Carol Stuart - Wikipedia
Susan Smith (Black carjackers) Susan Smith - Wikipedia
Jennifer Wilbanks ("runaway bride" kidnapped by a Hispanic man with a gun) Fleeing bride-to-be’s tale opens old racial wounds

 

[Spectrix]

It is, it’s really crazy. I want to know how many dim sims she ate from Koo Rup on the morning after the lunch, when she took her son to his flying lesson.
IMO: She was fake sick after the lunch, had fake cancer to announce during the lunch, and what else has she faked?

Including the stop for Coffee & Food, the return journey from Home to Tyabb and back via Koo Wee Rup would have been close to 3 hours, and she didn't use a bathroom even once.

Not only do I think that she didn't have diarrhoea, I think she consumed the Coffee, the Dim Sims, the Hotdogs, and also ate her son's friend (remember he'd mysteriously disappeared after staying the night with them?).