Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #6 *Arrest*

[MsMarple]

Yes, I agree. I got a bit confused there, partly because -- I guess I never saw it confirmed anywhere that there WAS indeed poison found in her leftovers -- wasn't she initially claiming the poison couldn't have come from her lunch at all?

Yes, in an earlier interview before she released her statement she told the media that she had no idea of what happened. I believe that interview occurred either August 8 or 9, so about four days after Gail and Heather died.

I don’t think we have an exact source of how it was determined that death caps were the cause. I think LE hasn’t released any results of forensic tests on specific items yet but I may have missed something.

3 dead after eating wild mushrooms at family lunch in Australia; woman under investigation

Police have interviewed the woman who they say cooked the meal at her home on July 29 but didn't become ill herself.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Lady Bug]

Posting for those who haven't seen this article which includes mention of the test results on the leftovers. I was able to open the link, hopefully others can to.

"A surviving piece of the meat dish is said to have been sent to the Health Department for examination, to determine if it contained the deadly death cap mushroom."

"The good news is that detailed forensic tests have come back and confirmed the cause of the three deaths is indeed mushroom poisoning."

Forensic tests confirm mushrooms behind trio’s poisoning deaths

Leongatha lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson’s recollections will be vital for detectives, as they continue the long-haul investigation after tests confirm the mushrooms did it.

www.theage.com.au

 

[MIG214222]

DBM

 

[Auntie Cipation]

Posting for those who haven't seen this article which includes mention of the test results on the leftovers. I was able to open the link, hopefully others can to.

"A surviving piece of the meat dish is said to have been sent to the Health Department for examination, to determine if it contained the deadly death cap mushroom."

"The good news is that detailed forensic tests have come back and confirmed the cause of the three deaths is indeed mushroom poisoning."

Forensic tests confirm mushrooms behind trio’s poisoning deaths

Leongatha lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson’s recollections will be vital for detectives, as they continue the long-haul investigation after tests confirm the mushrooms did it.

www.theage.com.au

Thanks! I missed that earlier, thought their only confirmation was from the stomachs of the victims. Important to know that the poison mushrooms were indeed found in her meal.

 

[MsMarple]

Posting for those who haven't seen this article which includes mention of the test results on the leftovers. I was able to open the link, hopefully others can to.

"A surviving piece of the meat dish is said to have been sent to the Health Department for examination, to determine if it contained the deadly death cap mushroom."

"The good news is that detailed forensic tests have come back and confirmed the cause of the three deaths is indeed mushroom poisoning."

Forensic tests confirm mushrooms behind trio’s poisoning deaths

Leongatha lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson’s recollections will be vital for detectives, as they continue the long-haul investigation after tests confirm the mushrooms did it.

www.theage.com.au

There was a bit of controversy over that report. From another source:

VETERAN ‘Age’ crime reporter John Silvester reported on Wednesday this week that there has been “a breakthrough” in the case of alleged mushroom poisoning in Leongatha on Saturday, July 29.

He claims that the results of the forensic tests are in and that they are conclusive.

“The good news is that detailed forensic tests have come back and confirmed the cause of the three deaths is indeed mushroom poisoning,” he said in an article in The Age on September 27.

But police have declined to confirm or deny The Age report and have instead said there will be no running commentary.

“The investigation remains ongoing and as such, we are not providing any comment on any aspects of that investigation,” said police today.

Police 'no comment' on reports it was mushroom poisoning - South Gippsland Sentinel Times

Members of the media have been warned not to enter the Patterson property in Leongatha. VETERAN ‘Age’ crime reporter John Silvester reported on Wednesday this week that there has been “a breakthrough” in the case of the alleged mushroom...

www.sgst.com.au

I would think if LE received negative results on all tests then they’d have to release EP or at the very least wouldn’t her lawyer fight for her bail? So I think they have some evidence but what it is exactly is not being shared at the moment.
MOO

 

[JLZ]

Thanks! I missed that earlier, thought their only confirmation was from the stomachs of the victims. Important to know that the poison mushrooms were indeed found in her meal.

That's not my reading of the article. The cause of death was mushroom poisoning, but whether the sample of beef wellington tested contained poison, that hasn't been revealed.

 

[JLZ]

I would think if LE received negative results on all tests then they’d have to release EP or at the very least wouldn’t her lawyer fight for her bail? So I think they have some evidence but what it is exactly is not being shared at the moment.
MOO

Maybe she doesn't want bail? If she's expecting a gaol sentence she might prefer to serve some of the time now, so as to be younger at release.

 

[Salah11]

I haven't ruled out it being an accident of some kind.

That would read like a fairytale imo

It’s just doesn’t add up at all.

 

[RickshawFan]

What I can't understand is, why didn't EP eat any of the "beef wellington lunch" she served her guests? Pretty convenient....

I speculate EP has an acquired natural immunity to toxic mushrooms that she'd built up during the obviously several years' planning for this heinous crime. Let's not forget she's clever and thinks of everything .
This is mere speculation on my part, however.

 

[RickshawFan]

I don't think it's really fair to equate the suffering of Ian Wilkinson who was in the hospital for seven weeks and was on the brink of death with that of Erin who was treated as an outpatient and released the same day.

Also, I think it's important to note that while the authorities sent EP to Monash which is the closest regional hospital, the other three were sent to The Austin, which is the state's center for poison control. It seems the authorities did not feel her symptoms merited the same level of concern as the others.

They also kept the potential perp away from the victims. This was very astute.

 

[ch_13]

I haven't ruled out it being an accident of some kind.

I think the chance of it being an accident is a lot lower following the statement that she put out a few weeks after the shooting. Before the statement was released, I thought it was likely that she had mistakenly picked some death caps. Even if she claimed she didn't forage any mushrooms in her initial police interview, I can imagine her anxiety leading her to lie under stress.

However, the statement was released after consulting with counsel and long after she had time to reflect and reconsider anything she may have said in the immediate aftermath. It was her chance to correct the record. Yet, she continued to say that she never foraged any mushrooms for the Wellington and the mushrooms were bought in stores.

So, if she's not lying, then foraging the wrong mushroom is no longer a possibility. The only way it could be an accidental poisoning is if another party is responsible for the mushrooms. Either the death caps made it into the supply chain somehow, the mushrooms were in a dish brought by one of the victims, or the mushrooms were consumed somewhere other than EP's home. I find all of those scenarios rather unlikely. Especially as we also know about the discarded dehydrator, EP presenting with symptoms, EP's kids being unharmed, EP being unable to identify the Asian market where she bought the mushrooms, and so forth. All of those items point away from a source other than EP.

And to be clear, I'm not saying there's proof beyond a reasonable doubt that she did it. There may be exculpatory evidence that we're not aware of. However, based on her statement I don't think what happened was accidental.

 

[Lady Bug]

I think the chance of it being an accident is a lot lower following the statement that she put out a few weeks after the shooting. Before the statement was released, I thought it was likely that she had mistakenly picked some death caps. Even if she claimed she didn't forage any mushrooms in her initial police interview, I can imagine her anxiety leading her to lie under stress.

However, the statement was released after consulting with counsel and long after she had time to reflect and reconsider anything she may have said in the immediate aftermath. It was her chance to correct the record. Yet, she continued to say that she never foraged any mushrooms for the Wellington and the mushrooms were bought in stores.

So, if she's not lying, then foraging the wrong mushroom is no longer a possibility. The only way it could be an accidental poisoning is if another party is responsible for the mushrooms. Either the death caps made it into the supply chain somehow, the mushrooms were in a dish brought by one of the victims, or the mushrooms were consumed somewhere other than EP's home. I find all of those scenarios rather unlikely. Especially as we also know about the discarded dehydrator, EP presenting with symptoms, EP's kids being unharmed, EP being unable to identify the Asian market where she bought the mushrooms, and so forth. All of those items point away from a source other than EP.

And to be clear, I'm not saying there's proof beyond a reasonable doubt that she did it. There may be exculpatory evidence that we're not aware of. However, based on her statement I don't think what happened was accidental.

I still can't understand her lawyer allowing her to release such a poorly thought-out statement. I wonder what the rest of the statement said - the parts the public didn't get to see.

 

[iamshadow21]

I speculate EP has an acquired natural immunity to toxic mushrooms that she'd built up during the obviously several years' planning for this heinous crime. Let's not forget she's clever and thinks of everything .
This is mere speculation on my part, however.

I'm pretty sure it was gone over at length earlier in the threads that that isn't how the toxin in death caps works. There is no safe level.

Death cap mushrooms | Health

www.health.act.gov.au

MOO

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I have a feeling that the first time/times she talked to the media, she didn't actually have a lawyer.
At least that is my recollection.

Then she must have seen the reaction to her speaking with the media and how they were camped out at her place, and chasing her to door, she then realised that they weren't going to leave her alone.

And how everything she said and even her body language would be constantly picked over, and judged and insinuations made. Or hinted at. The media can get away with a lot by just hinting at something,

From what I've learned here on Websleuths, the very first thing you should do in cases where someone has died, is get yourself a lawyer. Don't even attempt to talk to the media. SAD.

 

[MsMarple]

I have a feeling that the first time/times she talked to the media, she didn't actually have a lawyer.
At least that is my recollection.

Then she must have seen the reaction to her speaking with the media and how they were camped out at her place, and chasing her to door, she then realised that they weren't going to leave her alone.

And how everything she said and even her body language would be constantly picked over, and judged and insinuations made. Or hinted at. The media can get away with a lot by just hinting at something,

From what I've learned here on Websleuths, the very first thing you should do in cases where someone has died, is get yourself a lawyer. Don't even attempt to talk to the media. SAD.

Who do you think gave her advice to tell LE “no comment” early on? Just curious as I thought it might have been a lawyer. And why on earth would she agree to release the statement which caused so much discussion when all she had to do was stay silent?

In the statement, Ms Patterson said advice she received immediately after the deaths was to give a "no comment" interview to police, which she said she now regretted.

"I am now wanting to clear up the record because I have become extremely stressed and overwhelmed by the deaths of my loved ones," Ms Patterson said.

"I am hoping this statement might help in some way. I believe if people understood the background more, they would not be so quick to rush to judgement.

"I now very much regret not answering some questions following this advice given the nightmare that this process has become," she said.

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

 

[Ellery84]

Posting for those who haven't seen this article which includes mention of the test results on the leftovers. I was able to open the link, hopefully others can to.

"A surviving piece of the meat dish is said to have been sent to the Health Department for examination, to determine if it contained the deadly death cap mushroom."

"The good news is that detailed forensic tests have come back and confirmed the cause of the three deaths is indeed mushroom poisoning."

Forensic tests confirm mushrooms behind trio’s poisoning deaths

Leongatha lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson’s recollections will be vital for detectives, as they continue the long-haul investigation after tests confirm the mushrooms did it.

www.theage.com.au

I had never seen that article before! Wow! Unbelievable!

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Ellery84]

Who do you think gave her advice to tell LE “no comment” early on? Just curious as I thought it might have been a lawyer. And why on earth would she agree to release the statement which caused so much discussion when all she had to do was stay silent?

If that advice was given by a lawyer, I think it was good advice.

IMO she should have stuck with that.

In the statement, Ms Patterson said advice she received immediately after the deaths was to give a "no comment" interview to police, which she said she now regretted.

"I am now wanting to clear up the record because I have become extremely stressed and overwhelmed by the deaths of my loved ones," Ms Patterson said.

"I am hoping this statement might help in some way. I believe if people understood the background more, they would not be so quick to rush to judgement.

"I now very much regret not answering some questions following this advice given the nightmare that this process has become," she said.

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

 

[Salah11]

Just imagine being elderly and waking up to the news your wife and in-laws were dead. I can not imagine the pain and suffering he has gone through since this happened.

 

[Ellery84]

I have a feeling that the first time/times she talked to the media, she didn't actually have a lawyer.
At least that is my recollection.

Yes - I thought this also.

Then she must have seen the reaction to her speaking with the media and how they were camped out at her place, and chasing her to door, she then realised that they weren't going to leave her alone.

And how everything she said and even her body language would be constantly picked over, and judged and insinuations made. Or hinted at. The media can get away with a lot by just hinting at something,

They hounded her.

From what I've learned here on Websleuths, the very first thing you should do in cases where someone has died, is get yourself a lawyer. Don't even attempt to talk to the media. SAD.

100 percent.

 

[Lady Bug]

The lawyers in the dailymail article were her first lawyers. The visit to Melbourne in the watoday artilce was to meet with her 2nd lawyer Bill Doogue who represented her in court as reported in the news.com article. IMO

Lawyers acting for deadly mushroom chef forced to snail mail messages

Lawyers acting for deadly mushroom chef Erin Patterson have been forced to camp outside her home to hand deliver her legal instructions after she went missing on Thursday.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Erin Patterson visits lawyers as mushroom deaths investigation continues

The woman who cooked a meal suspected of resulting in the deaths of three people has visited her lawyers in Melbourne.

www.watoday.com.au

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/crime/accused-mushroom-murderer-to-appear-in-court-three-months-after-fatal-meal/news-story/35d5993ee226817c4bf8138e72997a5c