A Victorian woman who cooked the meal that resulted in the suspected mushroom poisoning death of three people has tearfully broken her silence.
Video / News.com.au
The woman at the centre of a suspected fatal mushroom poisoning that killed three people and left another in hospital has revealed more details about the day of the fatal meal, including that she gave leftovers to the police for testing.
On the night of July 29, Gail and Don Patterson, as well as Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian, joined Erin Patterson, 48, at her home in the Victorian town of Leongatha, southeast of Melbourne.
Gail, 70, Don, 70, and Heather, 66, later died in a Melbourne hospital.
Now more details of the fatal day have come to light, including a lie Patterson told police.
Her written statement, first reported by the ABC, was provided to Victoria police on Friday and in it she said she wants to “clear up the record” after the deaths of three people.
Media reported that police investigating the deaths had seized a food dehydrator at a local rubbish tip, which was reportedly dumped around the time the illnesses and deaths came to light.
However, Patterson admitted she lied to police by originally claiming she had dumped it “a long time ago”, the ABC reports.
A source close to the family has claimed Erin Patterson tried to poison her ex-husband Simon Patterson in 2022. Simon revealed he was in a coma after a mystery stomach illness.
She now claims she was at the hospital with her children “discussing the food hydrator” when her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, asked: “Is that what you used to poison them?”
Erin Patterson said she had panicked and dumped the dehydrator, worried she might lose custody of her children.
In a statement to police, she also claims she spent time in hospital after eating the deadly meal. She also claimed her children were not at the lunch, and were instead at the movies.
She then went on to claim they ate leftovers the next day. She also claimed she and her children don’t like mushrooms so they scraped them out.
She also detailed how she served the meal and allowed the guests to choose their own plates. She then took the last plate and ate a serving of the beef Wellington.
Heather Wilkinson and pastor Ian Wilkinson became ill after their lunch.
It had not been previously reported that she was also hospitalised after the lunch with bad stomach pains and diarrhoea, and was put on a saline drip and given a “liver protective drug”.
She said she was transported by ambulance from the Leongatha Hospital to the Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne on July 31.
In a sworn written statement to police she said it was a mistake in the first instance to refuse comment to investigators. According to the Age, this was the advice given to her by a lawyer who no longer represents her.
“I am now wanting to clear up the record because I have become extremely stressed and overwhelmed by the deaths of my loved ones,” she wrote.
Don and Gail Patterson, Erin's former parents-in-law, died after a suspected mushroom poisoning.
Patterson continued to deny any wrongdoing in the police statement and still has no idea how the beef Wellington killed her guests.
“I now very much regret not answering some [police] questions following this advice given the nightmare that this process has become.”
According to Patterson, the media’s coverage was wrong and biased, and as a result, she was inadvertently but purposely painted as the perpetrator rather than the innocent party.
“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 judgment.”
She said the fungi used in the dish were a mixture of button mushrooms bought at a supermarket chain and dried ones from an Asian grocery store in Melbourne months prior.
“I am now devastated to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to the illness suffered by my loved ones. I really want to repeat that I had absolutely no reason to hurt these people whom I loved,” she said in her new statement.
The victims’ families told the South Gippsland Sentinel Timesthe group was described as “pillars of faith” in the community.
“Their love, steadfast faith, and selfless service have left an indelible mark on our families, the Korumburra Baptist Church, the local community, and indeed, people around the globe.”
Additionally, it was earlier revealed that Simon Patterson, the son of Gail and Don and the estranged husband of Erin, had his own close call with death in the past because of major gastrointestinal issues that landed him in intensive care for three weeks.
“Some of you will know that I’ve had some serious medical problems since late May. I collapsed at home, then was in an induced coma for 16 days through which I had three emergency operations mainly on my small intestine, plus an additional planned operation,” he said in a social media in June last year.
“My family were asked to come and say goodbye to me twice, as I was not expected to live. I was in intensive care for 21 days, after which I was in the general ward for a week, and now I’m at a rehab place since last Saturday.
“I’m pleased to say all the medical work has seemed to have fixed the serious gut problems I had, and I’ve been feeling great for many days.”
