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

[SouthAussie]

Very interesting and informative, thanks for the link @SouthAussie
I bet her barristers would say she lied because of 'confusion and panic'... guess based on this concept, it would be up to the jury to decide whether that was the case or not

I thought the same about her (eventual) admission that she foraged the mushrooms. Her defence team is trying to avoid the parameters for consciousness of guilt.

imo

 

[Spectrix]

Yes, if the reporting is accurate -
Prosecutor Nanette Rogers, SC, said fingerprints found in the dehydrator matched those on Erin Patterson’s left hand. An analysis of the leftover beef Wellington taken from Erin’s bin, and vegetable matter taken from the dehydrator – discovered at the tip – also found signs of death cap mushrooms.

Interesting that you questioned if the reporting was accurate -

We now have more information (also by the ABC) that the leftovers that Erin volunteered to the Police did not contain death caps.

(ABC News: Penny McLintock)
Meanwhile, there was also testing being done on some leftovers that were found in a bin outside Erin Patterson's house, and interestingly, they don’t find amanita phalloides in those leftovers.

Buried in this article from today

 

[Deleted member 363451]

I seem to recall that Dr May said he had destroyed the ones he'd photographed for that reason, and posted the location as a warning to others in the area to look out. This was reported prior to his testimony today.
Mushrooms pop up overnight and it's possible that Erin searched the area thoroughly and found many more.

It may have been Dr May's post which mentioned there were death cap mushrooms in Loch that Erin viewed online...

 

[Neet_Mc]

When you look at the timeline , she really started to freak out after being interviewed by Dr Rhonda Stuart on Tuesday the 1st from the department of health. Erin the next day on Wed the 2nd does a factory reset on Phone B ( which seems to be her usual phone ?) before discarding the dehydrator the same day. Police start investigating the next day ( Thurs the 3rd ) when Erin than moves SIM card with the number 04XX 835 into Phone B . Police start investigation this day.

Thur 4th Heather & Gail die, Don dies on Friday the 5th. Police find the dehydrator this day.

Police get a search warrant on the 5th & seize Phone B with SIM card number 04XX 835 & take Erin in for questioning.

Erin allegedly remotely conducts a factory reset of Phone B, which is still held by police.

Erin allegedly continues to use Phone A with number 04XX 783. Police say they never recover this phone.

All allegedly

I really think she thought no one would suspect her & that the quests would get sick but not die?


In summary:

Sat 29th July 2023

• the lunch

Sunday 30th July

• Don & Gail get sick - go to Dandenong Hospital
• Simon takes Heather & Ian to Korumburra Hospital than to Leongatha Hospital
• Erin tells kids she feels unwell, but does errands & serves the kids leftovers

Monday 31st July

• Doctors at Leongatha and Dandenong Hospital confer about the poisonings
• Erin takes the kids to school than goes to Leongatha Hospital around 8am & leaves within 5 mins
• Erin returns to the hospital around 9:48am. She is transferred to Monash Medical Centre, and meets Simon and her children there.
• Don and Gail arrive at Austin Hospital.

Tuesday 1st August

• Heather and Ian arrive at Austin Hospital.
• Despite escalating medical treatment, Donald, Gail and Heather continue to deteriorate.
• Erin is assessed by a Dr at Monash ( Dr Laura Muldoon) . She is discharged from hospital about 1pm. She is well.
• The Department of Health interviews Erin about the lunch ( Dr Rhonda Stuart )

Wednesday 2nd August

• Erin allegedly conducts a factory reset on Phone B, which she had been using before February 12.
• She allegedly drives to Koonwarra Transfer Station and Landfill, and deposits items into an e-waste bin.
• Monash Council begins visiting Asian-style grocery stores in Melbourne's south-east to find products matching Erin's description.

Thursday 3rd August

• A Victoria Police investigation is launched into the July 29 lunch.
• Erin allegedly moves her SIM card with the number 04XX 835 into Phone B.

Friday 4th August

• 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.

Saturday 5th August

• Donald dies at 11:30pm.
• Police get search warrant, where police seize Phone B with SIM card number 04-- ---835.
• Erin is taken to Wonthaggi Police Station and interviewed.

Sunday 6th August -

• Erin allegedly remotely conducts a factory reset of Phone B, which is still held by police.
• Erin allegedly continues to use Phone A with number 04----- 783. Police say they never recover this phone.

Friday August 11th

• The Department of Health concludes its investigation and is unable to find any store selling mushrooms matching Erin's description

Monday 11th September

• Ian Wilkinson is moved into a rehabilitation ward.

The timeline prosecutors alleged in the mushroom murder trial

Erin Patterson has been found guilty of murdering three people and attempting to murder a fourth. Here's what we know about the case, based on material put to the jury.

www.abc.net.au

Basically she shat herself when the Dept of Health start asking questions about mushrooms. The dehydrator has been used with mushrooms so she disposed of it. And presumably the phones got reset to wipe evidence regarding her online search history, group conversations about her putting mushrooms in everything, potentially her looking up iNaturalist and maybe also her looking up locations. I wonder if her car has a gps and whether the locations from loch and outtrim were entered into it.

 

[Neet_Mc]

10 minutes ago

Mushroom expert gave 'very precise' pin of death caps growing in Gippsland​

Dr May is now being asked about a post he made on iNaturalist on May 21, 2023.
The jury has been shown a screenshot of his post under the username funkeytom.
He confirmed he posted an observation of death cap mushrooms, which included photos.
“It was in Outtrim and I believe it would have been Neilson St in Outtrim,” he said.
“I was in Outtrim because I was giving a presentation to a local community group about fungi. I went for a walk and saw these,” he said of the death cap mushrooms.
He said he provided a “very precise” pin for the latitude and longitude.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-victoria/trial-for-accused-mushroom-cook-killer-erin-patterson-resumes/live-coverage/6fd8204a5e2d7dbf4934b94634421ed7?amp#scroll-to-31573695

Look it up - basically middle of nowhere. The ordinary person is not going to happen across Outteim unless they are specifically going there for a purpose

 

[Deleted member 363451]

Basically she shat herself when the Dept of Health start asking questions about mushrooms. The dehydrator has been used with mushrooms so she disposed of it. And presumably the phones got reset to wipe evidence regarding her online search history, group conversations about her putting mushrooms in everything, potentially her looking up iNaturalist and maybe also her looking up locations. I wonder if her car has a gps and whether the locations from loch and outtrim were entered into it.

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

 

[Neet_Mc]

You would only hide the food dehydrator if you were guilty of a premeditated crime.

Especially given that the ‘Asian’ mushrooms were already dried, so the only mushrooms needing dehydrating were the Woolies mushrooms.

 

[Deleted member 363451]

Especially given that the ‘Asian’ mushrooms were already dried, so the only mushrooms needing dehydrating were the Woolies mushrooms.

Exactly.

 

[Neet_Mc]

I'm looking forward to see what digital evidence the cops have & any other evidence

Megnut, that’s a plausible theory imho.

It seemed odd using a pre made gravy but maybe her guests liked gravy. Maybe she isn’t a fan and had a dribble, only. Great excuse too. The gravy wouldn’t draw attention if it was prepackaged. Single satchet thrown out and none for the kids the following evening. She could have had the dried powdered DCs in the gravy boat and waiting to be poured in following 60 seconds in the microwave, all visible to guests.

All the discussion around individual BW and the plate, yes, the orange one, may have absolutely nothing to do with the fatal meal.

And best part is it could be washed away down sink. No evidence.

 

[Megnut]

I agree. I had ruled it out previously because she went to the inexplicable effort to make individual Beef Wellingtons, but it really could have been in the satchel of gravy. Mixed in, heated, poured. Pretty simple. Especially after reading Erin's comment to her group that the volume of the mushroom is 90% less when dried (if that is true). It would make it much much easier to get the 20gms (ish) of mushroom in per guest.

Also very easy to rinse down the sink, or flush down the toilet, and even burn the packet and then you don't have any poisoned leftovers anywhere.

However I doubt she would have risked doing it in front of the guests, in case a guest said "no gravy thank you". I think she may have had it already on or IN each "pie" to ensure it got to its intended target

That or, she only poisoned half of the gravy, or she had two satchels of it.

The thing is, she apparently seemed odd about people going into her butlers pantry. Did she have the oven in there? A microwave? A dishwasher? I wish we had more detail on what was in the kitchen and what was in the butlers pantry. Also, they nearly always have sinks in them - maybe that's where she prepared it all and that's why the kids never saw other plates.

I still think that the death caps were strategically placed inside each individual Beef Wellington, but agree that it's possible it was actually in the gravy.

I have never seen, made, eaten BW but word is, it doesn't call for gravy.

I think Erin may have added that ingredient to four BWs... making it a particularly flavorful BW. Deadly vehicle.

Hers, no gravy. No gravy for leftovers.

The toxin was never in mushrooms.

JMO

 

[Ruby12345]

I thought the same about her (eventual) admission that she foraged the mushrooms. Her defence team is trying to avoid the parameters for consciousness of guilt.

imo

Wow. I must have missed this. When did she admit to foraging them?

 

[Ellery84]

Erin should have done better research... lol

Yeah she really stuffed this case up. IMO

 

[TLobo]

Here's an idea: dehydrated death cap mushrooms were added to the gravy. The gravy was for the mashed potatoes, not the beef wellington; EP did not put any gravy on her mashed potatoes, but her guests did. The gravy is easily disposed of, and the duxelle in the beef wellington is a red herring and the reason that the leftovers - both those served to the kids, and those found in the garbage - did not test positive for the toxin.

Maybe EP thought she could really fool anyone who tried test the leftovers but did not find any trace of the death cap toxin. Still shortsighted on her part, given that medical testing would report that specific toxin, but it could have made sense to her. MOO.

 

[Detechtive]

The Chinese people who ate those mushrooms in 2012 did pick the mushrooms.
I remember at the time they said the mushrooms looked just like ones they'd picked at home in China.

Don't think that happened.

 

[JBowie]

Perhaps the biggest problem >>>---when her 4 guests were in the hospital, in critical condition, and doctors were asking her about the mushrooms SHE CONTINUED TO LIE.

She COULD HAVE SAVED THEM. But she chose not to. So at that point it was not accidental. They needed to know what kind of antidote was needed and she continued to stall and mislead them and her guests died.

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.

 

[Elley Mae]

The Chinese people who ate those mushrooms in 2012 did pick the mushrooms.
I remember at the time they said the mushrooms looked just like ones they'd picked at home in China.

Found this

Mushrooms Kill 2 as U.S. Poisoning Cases on the Rise

The accidental deaths of two California women from mushroom poisoning comes at a time of mounting reports of poisoning from wild toadstools across the county, according to a prominent liver specialist.

abcnews.go.com

And remember this

https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article298053353.html

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

Here's an idea: dehydrated death cap mushrooms were added to the gravy. The gravy was for the mashed potatoes, not the beef wellington; EP did not put any gravy on her mashed potatoes, but her guests did. The gravy is easily disposed of, and the duxelle in the beef wellington is a red herring and the reason that the leftovers - both those served to the kids, and those found in the garbage - did not test positive for the toxin.

Maybe EP thought she could really fool anyone who tried test the leftovers but did not find any trace of the death cap toxin. Still shortsighted on her part, given that medical testing would report that specific toxin, but it could have made sense to her. MOO.

I've been saying this the whole time that even the DC powdered mushrooms could have been served in coffee or any strong tasting food. I also suspect that if EP is guilty she only used a tiny amount and had the idea that her guests would just become slightly unwell or begin to develop long term conditions that could never be linked to her meal.

As a sort of revenge maybe if she were unhappy with the relatives or maybe even so they would become infirm and need her assistance and this would 'bring her back into the fold' as it were.

JMO MOO

 

[Detechtive]

I've been saying this the whole time that even the DC powdered mushrooms could have been served in coffee or any strong tasting food. I also suspect that if EP is guilty she only used a tiny amount and had the idea that her guests would just become slightly unwell or begin to develop long term conditions that could never be linked to her meal.

As a sort of revenge maybe if she were unhappy with the relatives or maybe even so they would become infirm and need her assistance and this would 'bring her back into the fold' as it were.

JMO MOO

If it were that easy, why go to the bother of cooking a fancy Beef Wellington meal which requires a lot of effort. Just serve coffee and cake like someone with actual cancer would...

 

[ch_13]

Here's an idea: dehydrated death cap mushrooms were added to the gravy. The gravy was for the mashed potatoes, not the beef wellington; EP did not put any gravy on her mashed potatoes, but her guests did. The gravy is easily disposed of, and the duxelle in the beef wellington is a red herring and the reason that the leftovers - both those served to the kids, and those found in the garbage - did not test positive for the toxin.

Maybe EP thought she could really fool anyone who tried test the leftovers but did not find any trace of the death cap toxin. Still shortsighted on her part, given that medical testing would report that specific toxin, but it could have made sense to her. MOO.

The problem with the gravy theory is that it doesn't seem that Ian, at least, consumed any gravy. In fact he's not even positive if there was gravy served at the meal. From his testimony...

“There was mash, potatoes, green beans and beef Wellington,” Ian says.

“Each person had an individual serve [of beef Wellington]. It was very much like a pasty, if you imagine a pasty being put on a plate. Pastry encased, and when we cut into it, there was steak and mushrooms.”

Ian says there may have been gravy on the table.

Doctor reveals mushroom antidote was in short supply after fatal meal: Trial day six, as it happened

Of the four guests who dined on beef Wellington at Erin Patterson’s house in 2023, only one survived. On Tuesday, that guest – Ian Wilkinson – will tell his story for the first time when he takes the stand as a witness in the cook’s murder trial.

www.smh.com.au

 

[Megnut]

How do we know about the gravy? From whom?