GUILTY Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 *Arrest* #18

[JBowie]

Interesting (pay-walled) article in the SMH where an American forensic psychologist has studied poisoners for years but is often mystified how their careful methodical planning before the events is not matched with much thought about the aftermath, leading to their being caught.

She also finds that the victims tend to be family and revenge is a common motivation.

‘They tend to be kind of sneakier’: Profile of a poisoner

In the aftermath of Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial, experts see a familiar pattern – meticulous planning before the crime, then telltale signs of unravelling.

www.smh.com.au

 

[Goosewhisperer]

I though you did not know the trip was from the very early days of their marriage. I see what you meant now as your post can be interpreted two different ways (the reason for what?).

My post had a quote from a previous member, in reply. No other way to take it if you read it.

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

This doctor I think is privy, and was very early on, to much more information than we realise. I think he’s been through the wringer with the weight of this case. He saw it all up close. He saw the suffering of Ian and Heather up close too. I wish him all the best.

I'm sure he's speaking from the heart and he's got zero media training but surely any fool knows that one does not make these type of statements openly on camera or they're running risk of all sorts of legal consequences, backlash, or just crazy stuff like being stalked / harassed etc. What I'm saying is I'm sure we'd mostly agree with his observations but some things are not for public broadcast and he has been unwise. Thank goodness he's been gagged before he really shoots self in foot. JMO MOO

 

[Ellery84]

DBM

 

[MaxDecimus13]

Someone posted this video earlier. It does a very good job of showing how much DC mushrooms she would have to have used. The large amount makes it unlikely she would have done so accidentally, or just as a late addition for flavoring after she started cooking.

To make a lethal dose, she would have to have used about 100g of DCs for each BW, which would be about 3 mushrooms of this size.

View attachment 601278


And she would need about 600g total for all the BWs.

View attachment 601277

Half of that or 300g is shown here after drying.

View attachment 601279

Then she would have chopped and added water to those mushrooms and applied them to the duxelles.

View attachment 601280

As you can see, she would be basically adding as much as was already there. And this is just from the DCs alone, not even counting the alleged Asian store mushrooms that were in the alleged container. The dish would not have come out as edible with this extra added layer of mushrooms.

If she added a reasonable amount for flavoring, it wouldn't have been enough to kill everyone. So the DCs had to have been already included in her original recipe.

And they would have to have been powdered. If she actually added chopped DCs of the necessary amount, there is no way investigators would haven't found DC pieces or DNA later.

She is as guilty as can be.

I've watched this fully now, and it certainly raised some interesting questions.

I didn't quite buy the idea that each BW would necessarily require 100g of DC to murder them. I tried to Chatgpt this and it suggested that the fatal dosage can be a lot less than this, and you could easily get it from a single mushroom.

Also, 100g of DC in powder form (approx 10g) is still a lot to hide.

However, even if 30g was added to each, this does a good job of demonstrating there'd be quite a lot of it. Certainly enough to be picked out by the mushroom expert.

 

[lisasimpson2010]

I honestly don't believe motive comes into things when dealing with a serial killer (or someone who was caught before they killed enough people to officially hold that label). Psychological motivation, yes, but that's not quite the same as motive in terms of, you know, you kill someone for their life insurance policy, that's a clear cut motive. Serial killers kill because their "motive" is that something in their psychology drives them to kill.

I'm sure a psychologist could have a field day with EP, especially in light of her comments about her childhood. But the other incidents she's been allegedly linked to paint a picture of someone who is just driven to hurt people. I'm sure she in her own mind thinks she has a reason to feel wronged by all four people at the lunch. But I don't think there's necessarily a specific concrete motive other than a general sense of having been wronged.

Just my 2c!

 

[jesse]

Interesting (pay-walled) article in the SMH where an American forensic psychologist has studied poisoners for years but is often mystified how their careful methodical planning before the events is not matched with much thought about the aftermath, leading to their being caught.

She also finds that the victims tend to be family and revenge is a common motivation.

‘They tend to be kind of sneakier’: Profile of a poisoner

In the aftermath of Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial, experts see a familiar pattern – meticulous planning before the crime, then telltale signs of unravelling.

www.smh.com.au

Now THAT'S interesting. I think many of us have been trying to figure how someone of reasonable intelligence was so shocked to be caught. Yes, I understand there's thinking that she didn't expect that they'd go to the hospital so soon, etc. But to me, you can't count on things that are out of your control. If I knew the consequences were spending the rest of my life in prison, I'd be planning for even the most unrealistic scenarios.

What I'm saying is, come to me before you plan a murder.

 

[Monstradamus]

Now THAT'S interesting. I think many of us have been trying to figure how someone of reasonable intelligence was so shocked to be caught. Yes, I understand there's thinking that she didn't expect that they'd go to the hospital so soon, etc. But to me, you can't count on things that are out of your control. If I knew the consequences were spending the rest of my life in prison, I'd be planning for even the most unrealistic scenarios.

What I'm saying is, come to me before you plan a murder.

It's the one thing I'm still baffled by. Meticulous planning, horrendous vengeful murder.
The only thing I can put it down to, is that she thought she was so much smarter than everyone else. Terrifying, imo.

 

[JBowie]

A pretty good summary of Patterson's history here published in the open article on the ABC's website on 7 July.

I had missed this [bbm]:

in 2022, Simon filed a tax return where he listed himself as single — the result of a mix-up with his accountant, he said.

'She's no dope': Who is the host of Australia's most infamous lunch?

The world has met Erin Patterson as the murderous cook behind a mushroom meal that killed three relatives. But years before her courtroom infamy, the woman from Melbourne's suburbs divided opinions.

www.abc.net.au

 

[JBowie]

Likely noticed by jurors, IMO:

Patterson, who only had one supporter in court — her friend Ali Rose Prior, was known among media to give death stares if they locked eyes with her.

Inside the mushroom trial: Special treatment, bizarre requests

What the jury couldn’t hear and the public wasn’t shown during Erin Patterson’s 11 weeks in court as the ‘mushroom cook’ case drew worldwide attention.

thenightly.com.au

 

[Hercule Holmes]

DBM

 

[Hercule Holmes]

Article from The Age that I referred to on Friday.

https://archive.md/cKN9x

 

[weepingangel]

Mushroom killer: How 'super sleuth' Erin Patterson became true crime obsession

A jury found Erin Patterson guilty on all charges - but the frenzy of speculation has only intensified.

www.bbc.com

 

[LinasK]

Interesting (pay-walled) article in the SMH where an American forensic psychologist has studied poisoners for years but is often mystified how their careful methodical planning before the events is not matched with much thought about the aftermath, leading to their being caught.

She also finds that the victims tend to be family and revenge is a common motivation.

‘They tend to be kind of sneakier’: Profile of a poisoner

In the aftermath of Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial, experts see a familiar pattern – meticulous planning before the crime, then telltale signs of unravelling.

www.smh.com.au

Can't read the article because of a paywall, but caught that poisoners are often "sneakier" types who meticulously plan and that revenge against family is a common motive. That little bit alone describes Erin to a "T"!

 

[LinasK]

My post had a quote from a previous member, in reply. No other way to take it if you read it.

Actually, I thought of one other interpretation- but the children WEREN'T twins.

 

[LinasK]

I honestly don't believe motive comes into things when dealing with a serial killer (or someone who was caught before they killed enough people to officially hold that label). Psychological motivation, yes, but that's not quite the same as motive in terms of, you know, you kill someone for their life insurance policy, that's a clear cut motive. Serial killers kill because their "motive" is that something in their psychology drives them to kill.

I'm sure a psychologist could have a field day with EP, especially in light of her comments about her childhood. But the other incidents she's been allegedly linked to paint a picture of someone who is just driven to hurt people. I'm sure she in her own mind thinks she has a reason to feel wronged by all four people at the lunch. But I don't think there's necessarily a specific concrete motive other than a general sense of having been wronged.

Just my 2c!

That in itself IS the motive- Revenge. The motive isn't always about money. Can also be jealousy, child custody, control, not wanting to leave a witness...

 

[LinasK]

It's the one thing I'm still baffled by. Meticulous planning, horrendous vengeful murder.
The only thing I can put it down to, is that she thought she was so much smarter than everyone else. Terrifying, imo.

Bingo! She didn't expect to be caught or called out on her lies. She didn't expect a doctor to see through her so quickly.

 

[LinasK]

Likely noticed by jurors, IMO:

Patterson, who only had one supporter in court — her friend Ali Rose Prior, was known among media to give death stares if they locked eyes with her.

Inside the mushroom trial: Special treatment, bizarre requests

What the jury couldn’t hear and the public wasn’t shown during Erin Patterson’s 11 weeks in court as the ‘mushroom cook’ case drew worldwide attention.

thenightly.com.au

I love this for her! From this article:

Most famous female murderer​

Erin Patterson will now go down as the most famous female murderer in Australia, according to senior criminology lecturer and researcher Brandy Cochrane.
The Victoria University senior lecturer said that historically women who kill tended to use “non-confrontational forms of murder” like poisoning, rather than shooting or stabbing.

 

[LinasK]

Article from The Age that I referred to on Friday.

https://archive.md/cKN9x

I'll bet she DID read it. The plot is identical to what she did.

 

[Eloise]

It's the one thing I'm still baffled by. Meticulous planning, horrendous vengeful murder.
The only thing I can put it down to, is that she thought she was so much smarter than everyone else. Terrifying, imo.

There was an article about this. About how that's really common with poisoners. Meticulous planning over a long period of time, often for some kind of revenge. Then they lose it after the murder is done because they didn't plan that part.

https://archive.md/OhCIB ‘They tend to be kind of sneakier’: Profile of a poisoner, SMH July 12 2025