Shocking Twist: Fatal mushroom lunch cook was an 'experienced forager'
- Replies 8
This month, we've sadly heard of an unfathomable tragedy that has befallen a family in Leongatha, Victoria.
Four family members fell ill after sharing a beef wellington lunch prepared by their 48-year-old relative, Erin Patterson. The officials confirmed the meal to be laced with deathcap mushrooms, known to be one of the most poisonous in the world.
Tragically, three of those members–Don and Gail Patterson, and Heather Wilkinson–have since passed away.
The investigation is still ongoing, but Detective Dean Thomas from Victoria Police revealed that Erin was a ‘person of interest’. Recently, a piece of unexpected information about Erin has come to light.
According to a family friend, Erin, who regularly picked wild mushrooms in Victoria's Gippsland region with her former in-laws, was 'very good at foraging' and identifying different mushroom varieties.
'The Patterson family–including Erin and her estranged husband Simon–would pick mushrooms each year when they were in season...It's very common for people to go mushroom picking around that area.'
Adding to the case's complexity, Erin told detectives that she ate the meal as well and was hospitalised and transferred to Melbourne via ambulance.
It's claimed that her two children, who weren't home at the time of the fatal meal, ate the leftovers the following night without the mushrooms.
Erin wrote a statement to the police explaining that the mushrooms were a mixture of button mushrooms from a supermarket and dried mushrooms she purchased months ago from an unknown Asian grocery store.
In the same statement, she has also admitted to initially lying to police about a vegetable dehydrator that was found in a bin. Erin allegedly got rid of the dehydrator days after the fateful lunch, thinking she would be accused of poisoning her relatives and then lose custody of her children.
According to the family friend, however, Erin, ex-husband Simon, and the Wilkinson family were all used to foraging fungi.
A local man who runs many of the foraging courses around the area said there is a risk of picking the wrong species and reminded everyone there are ‘general rules’ to identifying toxic mushrooms.
'Death caps mainly grow under oaks, which are usually in parks. They [mushrooms that grow under oak trees] aren’t all bad, but they are easy to mistake on the untrained eye,’ the forager said.
We join the rest of Australia in sending our deepest condolences to those impacted by this tragedy.
Four family members fell ill after sharing a beef wellington lunch prepared by their 48-year-old relative, Erin Patterson. The officials confirmed the meal to be laced with deathcap mushrooms, known to be one of the most poisonous in the world.
Tragically, three of those members–Don and Gail Patterson, and Heather Wilkinson–have since passed away.
The investigation is still ongoing, but Detective Dean Thomas from Victoria Police revealed that Erin was a ‘person of interest’. Recently, a piece of unexpected information about Erin has come to light.
According to a family friend, Erin, who regularly picked wild mushrooms in Victoria's Gippsland region with her former in-laws, was 'very good at foraging' and identifying different mushroom varieties.
Officials have confirmed that the lunch was laced with deathcap mushrooms, also known as Amanita phalloides. Credit: Australian National Herbarium
'The Patterson family–including Erin and her estranged husband Simon–would pick mushrooms each year when they were in season...It's very common for people to go mushroom picking around that area.'
Adding to the case's complexity, Erin told detectives that she ate the meal as well and was hospitalised and transferred to Melbourne via ambulance.
It's claimed that her two children, who weren't home at the time of the fatal meal, ate the leftovers the following night without the mushrooms.
Erin wrote a statement to the police explaining that the mushrooms were a mixture of button mushrooms from a supermarket and dried mushrooms she purchased months ago from an unknown Asian grocery store.
In the same statement, she has also admitted to initially lying to police about a vegetable dehydrator that was found in a bin. Erin allegedly got rid of the dehydrator days after the fateful lunch, thinking she would be accused of poisoning her relatives and then lose custody of her children.
According to the family friend, however, Erin, ex-husband Simon, and the Wilkinson family were all used to foraging fungi.
A local man who runs many of the foraging courses around the area said there is a risk of picking the wrong species and reminded everyone there are ‘general rules’ to identifying toxic mushrooms.
'Death caps mainly grow under oaks, which are usually in parks. They [mushrooms that grow under oak trees] aren’t all bad, but they are easy to mistake on the untrained eye,’ the forager said.
We join the rest of Australia in sending our deepest condolences to those impacted by this tragedy.
.png){kind=icon}
