Three dead after eating deadly mushrooms at family lunch

An intimate family lunch, in a quiet Australian town, is at the centre of a murder investigation. This as everyone enjoyed the mushrooms on the menu – everyone except the hosts.

Three people are now dead, and one is in critical conditions from suspected mushroom poisoning, Australian police said on Monday.

Earlier in the month, the Victoria Police Homicide Squad said that four people were hospitalised after eating a meal at a private home on July 29. All four victims have symptoms consistent with death cap mushroom poisoning, police said.

The 48-year-old woman who cooked the lunch says she has no idea what happened. The strange case has left the tight-knit community reeling.

why is all the news something from #MidsomerMurders this week
— wOaH nELLy (@knittedknobs) August 8, 2023

Murder she cooked.

Erin Patterson (48) cooked the meal for her former parents-in-law and her mother-in-law’s sister and husband, according to Victoria Police.

After a few days, Gail Patterson (70), her husband Don (70) and her sister Heather Wilkinson (66) died. Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson (68) is still in a critical condition in hospital. Ian is a Baptist pastor in the community.

Erin, the woman who cooked the meal, separated from her husband, but kept a reportedly amicable relationship. Her children were also home during the lunch, but did not eat the same meal, police said.

Erin was released without charges, pending further investigations. Some items have been removed from her home and gone for testing, Victoria police said.

How the police responded…

During a police press conference on Monday, Detective Inspector Dean Thomas, head of the Victoria Police Homicide Squad assured the public that the children were not sickened. He said that police believe they were served a different meal, than the elderly couples.

Thomas says the children were temporarily removed from the home as a “precaution.

Speaking to reporters outside her home in the town of Leongatha, Erin Patterson said she was devastated by the deaths. She says that she “didn’t do anything” and the victims were some of the “best people” she had ever met.

She failed to respond to questions regarding the source of the mushrooms or what dishes she served to the victims.

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Death cap mushrooms…

Death cap mushrooms (amanita phalloides) are extremely poisonous to animals and humans. Consuming just one of these mushrooms can reportedly kill an adult. Symptoms include violent stomach pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Thomas says that testing and toxicology reports will take some time before confirming the source of the symptoms and cause of death.