Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023

[Jess M.]

Shock twist after mushroom poisoning as woman who cooked meal speaks

The woman who prepared a mushroom meal, which is thought to have caused the deaths of three individuals, says she purchased the mushrooms from both a supermarket and an Asian grocery store and was hospitalised herself after eating the meal.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I know, what about she's guilty because she got rid of a hydrator, case closed

 

[Ellery84]

I think her very expensive lawyer may have given her some tips...

Oh I absolutely agree. She’s subsequently spun a nice little yarn. Where’s your receipts or credit card bill Erin?

All imo

 

[Jess M.]

Asian grocery stores are just stores like any other.

The days of asian people mostly selling from market gardens are long gone.

Many people buy from Asian grocery stores.

They've become mainstream.

As far as I know all the products there have to pass all the usual standards and rules.

I'm sure the police would be thoroughly checking out the Asian grocery stores in Mount Waverley. Personally I think the toxic mushrooms originated in Leongatha...

 

[ch_13]

I know, what about she's guilty because she got rid of a hydrator, case closed

At the very least, she's guilty of obstructing a criminal investigation. I assume that's a crime in Australia as it is in the U.S.

 

[Ellery84]

I know, what about she's guilty because she got rid of a hydrator, case closed

She got rid of it and lied to police. What a goose.

Jmo

 

[Ellery84]

I'm sure the police would be thoroughly checking out the Asian grocery stores in Mount Waverley. Personally I think the toxic mushrooms originated in Leongatha...

My guess is they were picked from her property but JMO.

 

[JLZ]

not at all sure the hostility continued after they divorced in 2021?
She may well have disposed of it because it was simply malfunctioning or she had decided to buy a new one or a better one.

I'm not seeing evidence for a case against her from what I have read so far.

BBM, that's not what she said.

Ms Patterson said she was at the hospital with her children "discussing the food dehydrator" when her ex-husband, the son of the dead couple, asked: "Is that what you used to poison them?"

Worried that she might lose custody of the couple's children, Ms Patterson said she then panicked and dumped the dehydrator at the tip.

Woman who cooked suspected poisoned meal details where she bought mushrooms

The woman who cooked a meal that is believed to have contained poisonous mushrooms and led to the deaths of three people gives a lengthy written statement to police detailing her account of what happened, and revealing she was hospitalised after the incident.

www.abc.net.au

 

[kittythehare]

and her symptoms could've been faked - bad stomach pains and diarrhea - she just has to tell them she has

They automatically take a large selection of bloods when a patient presents with gastroenteritis, particularly so close to the fatalities in close associations.

Mushroom cook says she bought fungi from Asian grocer and her children ate the lunch leftovers

Erin Patterson told police she, too, was sick from the beef Wellington lunch that police suspect killed her former in-laws and another relative.

www.watoday.com.au

 

[silvercrown]

I know, what about she's guilty because she got rid of a hydrator, case closed

That act alone doesn’t make her guilty of course, but there is a silver thread that touches upon it.
If she wanted to get rid of it why not toss it in her regular council bin. I even see people giving away appliances they don’t want anymore on local Facebook pages etc. I definitely raise an eyebrow to it going to the tip.

The dehydrator needs to be considered in light of ‘dehydrated mushrooms’ that have been mentioned in news articles.

 

[k-mac]

I know, what about she's guilty because she got rid of a hydrator, case closed

If traces of poisonous mushrooms come up in it..it sure will be.

The good news here is police have it and the test will be done to yay or nay it.

IMO that is all they are waiting for now...tests on that kitchen dehydrator.

That will free or fry her.

 

[Jess M.]

She got rid of it and lied to police. What a goose.

Jmo

She has lied from the start. Why, if she genuinely bought the toxic mushrooms from an Asian grocery store?

 

[Jess M.]

My guess is they were picked from her property but JMO.

That's what I think as well.

 

[Ellery84]

BBM, that's not what she said.

Ms Patterson said she was at the hospital with her children "discussing the food dehydrator" when her ex-husband, the son of the dead couple, asked: "Is that what you used to poison them?"

Worried that she might lose custody of the couple's children, Ms Patterson said she then panicked and dumped the dehydrator at the tip.

Woman who cooked suspected poisoned meal details where she bought mushrooms

The woman who cooked a meal that is believed to have contained poisonous mushrooms and led to the deaths of three people gives a lengthy written statement to police detailing her account of what happened, and revealing she was hospitalised after the incident.

www.abc.net.au

Ahh yes, and she lost her children anyway afaik.

How dumb does she think the police are? Honestly….

 

[LadyL]

Ngl, I have a sudden craving to try making a homemade beef Wellington now.

What do we make of the children supposedly eating the BW the next day with the duxelles scraped off? Would it leave behind enough of a trace to cause harm?

It is quite puzzling how she was released after one night in hospital, but 3 others died and one is still critical. I’m really interested in what Ian has to say when he hopefully recovers.

hope they have him under police protection ...

 

[Jess M.]

and her symptoms could've been faked - bad stomach pains and diarrhea - she just has to tell them she has been in the bathroom having diarrhea - they're not going to ask her to prove it

No, I doubt if they asked her for a poo sample...

 

[LadyL]

No, my idea is that she reported symptoms that weren't necessarily confirmed by the hospital's observation. She was taken in as a matter of caution. Transported by ambulance between hospitals and a saline drip are neither here nor there. Given liver-protective drugs, well that could be of significance if true.

probably they were all given the drug and likely given to her as a matter of caution considering what the other 4 people were experiencing JMO

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Mt Waverley (and the next suburb, Glen Waverley) have a large Asian population and a LOT of Asian grocery stores. I have been known to wander around these areas and browse at several such stores in the one street, buying a few interesting items that caught my eye in each one. I would struggle to recall which items I bought at each store months down the track, even if I had receipts, as the name of the store would be in Chinese/ Vietnamese/ Korean etc and I would not be able to make the connection in my mind. No hope at all if I threw out the receipts

I'm a receipt keeper.

If anything happens and I have to produce a grocery receipt I can go to my receipt box and it will be there.

Every couple of years I go through and throw out the grocery ones.
I always ask for a receipt in the stores.

Anyway I know that most people throw them out and I used to til there was a big case in the news and some food item was recalled. I still had the product but had thrown the receipt away.

Since then I keep them for quite awhile.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Ahh yes, and she lost her children anyway afaik.

Yes funny that, hmmmm...

 

[jepop]

maybe the ones she didn't use in the dish were dehydrated.
no other reason to use a dehydrator to cook the meal, she rehydrated the Asian food store mushrooms.

unless the dehydrator was multifunction and also worked as a hydrator.
Is that a possibility?

I'm not seeing guilt here.
I think it's normal that she be investigated as she cooked the food..
But what was her motive?
There isn't one, is there?

Dumping dehydrator could just have been normal dumping because it was broken or whatever.

She was independently wealthy, had quite a property portfolio in her own name.. didn't need money and no evidence she would have benefited from the estates of the dead, is there?

I think the article may have mixed up dehydate and rehydrate. I see the issue now Imoo. All recipes I know of call for reducing mushrooms for the duxelle as essential- so if she is a good cook she would not be rehydrating the dried mushroom but she would be dehydrating the fresh buttons. Moo

ETA: I think the article is summarising rather than quoting her in regard to rehydrate vs dehydrate. Moo