Could Erin Patterson from a sleepy suburb in Australia REALLY have poisoned four of her relatives by feeding them toxic Death Cap mushrooms in a beef wellington?
Two hours by car south of Melbourne, Australia, lies the sleepy town of Leongatha. With fewer than 6,000 residents, it’s a world away from its bustling metropolitan neighbour.
In fact, Leongatha’s principal claim to fame is its annual daffodil festival, running since 1957 and, according to the local horticultural society, ‘renowned as a family and community event full of entertainment and fun’.
But this week, the world’s Press descended on Leongatha for reasons other than floral displays.
International news crews have rubbed shoulders with local reporters in a media scrum typically reserved for film premieres and general elections. But rather than Cannes or Canberra, the eyes of the world are fixed on an isolated property nestled in a woodland copse in the town.
When the Mail visited this week, an eerie quiet had descended across this remote farming community, in the heart of Gippsland, Victoria. For it is has been rocked by a mystery that even Agatha Christie would be proud of.
Erin Patterson, 48, (pictured) allegedly poisoned four of her relatives by serving them death cap mushrooms during a family lunch
Three people have now died, with another man in a critical condition, after allegedly consuming lethal death cap mushrooms during a family lunch hosted by 48-year-old Erin Patterson.
The question Victoria Police’s Homicide Squad are now desperately trying to answer is not ‘whodunnit’ but rather: did Patterson accidentally kill three people she knows and loves, or is she a heartless murderess who exploited the fatal properties of local fungi to bump off her enemies?
To answer that question, we must outline the extraordinary sequence of events that have shaken this community, and the chilling facts which — like mycelia, the ‘roots’ of a fungus — have crept into the nightmares of its inhabitants.
Ms Patterson lives with her two children in an imposing two-storey home finished with smart white slates and adjoined to a large garage. According to a friend, she inherited money from her parents, who died in 2019, and invested in a number of local properties — all purchased without a mortgage.
Although separated from her former husband, Simon, the two maintain a relationship for the sake of their children, who have not been named. At first, therefore, there seemed to be nothing unusual in Ms Patterson inviting Simon’s parents, Gail and Don Patterson, both 70, over for a convivial Saturday lunch with their grandchildren.
Thus, on July 29, Gail and Don drove round to Patterson’s home to see their two grandchildren and enjoy a hearty beef wellington — garnished with mushrooms. They were joined by Gail’s sister and her husband, Heather and Ian Wilkinson, 66 and 68 respectively.
Although separated from her former husband, Simon Patterson (pictured), the two maintain a relationship for the sake of their children
It appeared to be a social Saturday like any other, and after lunch the four elderly guests headed home. But what they couldn’t have known is that lethal toxins from what is thought to have been the death cap mushroom — Amanita phalloides — were already coursing through their veins, targeting their liver and kidneys.
Later that evening, all four guests began to complain of stomach cramps and nausea. Overnight, their conditions deteriorated and they were admitted to hospitals in Leongatha and nearby Korumburra, where Ian Wilkinson was a respected and much-loved Baptist pastor.
Doctors initially believed the patients were suffering from gastroenteritis, or possibly a nasty bout of food poisoning. But as the weekend drew to a close, it became clear that the situation was far more serious. The four were transferred to the much larger Austin Hospital in the north-east of Melbourne. And yet, as they grew weaker by the hour, hostess Patterson and her two children remained fit and healthy.
READ MORE: Mushroom poisoning deaths: Erin Patterson is spotted in Melbourne as her ex-husband raises fresh questions over his mystery illness
We know the children were served a completely different meal, but why Erin Patterson herself didn’t eat the beef remains a mystery.
On August 4, Gail and her sister Heather died in hospital. The following day, one week after the ill-fated lunch party and despite the efforts of some of Victoria’s most experienced doctors, Don Patterson also died.
The only surviving guest, Ian Wilkinson, remains in a critical condition, fighting for his life. Even if he does survive, doctors say that he will require an urgent kidney transplant.
As the story of the family tragedy spread around the world, journalists and film crews descended on Erin Patterson’s home.
But they weren’t alone. Over that first weekend of August, Victoria Police executed a search warrant on the property and seized a number of items. Why, asked locals, were police so quick to call foul play?
On Sunday, August 6, as police completed their search, the journalists outside the house heard a loud wailing sound. A local dingo caught in a trap — or the desperate howl of a woman in distress?
Shortly afterwards, leading Senior Constable Kendra Jackson, of Victoria Police’s Homicide Squad, released a statement confirming the three deaths and announcing that a 48-year-old woman had been interviewed by police. Erin Patterson was now the only suspect in a possible murder inquiry.
This was confirmed by Detective Inspector Dean Thomas, though he stressed that the investigation remained at an early stage, and it is yet to be determined whether the deaths are indeed suspicious.
The fatal lunch was attended by Patterson’s mother-in-law Gail’s sister and her husband, Heather and Ian Wilkinson, 66 and 68 respectively (pictured). Heather died and Ian is fighting for his life
By now, Patterson was not only facing a police investigation into her lunch party, but also the whirlwind of gossip and hearsay that was sweeping the small town.
Local people soon began to draw their own conclusions about her alleged guilt or innocence.
A prominent local businesswoman — who has been keeping a file of press cuttings from day one — told the Mail this week she speculated that there was ‘something wrong’ almost as soon as news of the deaths broke.
‘How is it that she invites them in for lunch, they all fall sick but there’s nothing wrong with her? She didn’t eat the mushrooms — and why on earth would that be? Did she just stand around while her guests got on with eating?’
READ MORE: Mushroom poisoning death: Ex-husband pulled out of Victoria death cap lunch ‘at the last minute’ – after just recovering from mystery illness
As the news continued to make headlines around the world, Patterson decided it was time to break her silence.
On Monday, August 7, nine days after the lunch, she faced the media for the first time. It was clear from the large bags under her eyes and puffy red cheeks that events had taken their toll on her.
Dressed in a baggy grey jumper and barely able to meet the eyes of the reporters around her, Patterson, portly and middle-aged, protested her innocence.
‘My mum passed away four years ago and Gail had never been anything but good and kind to me,’ she said. ‘Ian and Heather were some of the best people I’d ever met. They never did anything wrong to me.’
She went on to describe Gail as ‘like the mum I didn’t have’.
‘My own children have lost their grandmother,’ she added.
And then, through tears, she concluded: ‘I didn’t do anything, I loved them.’
Despite the heartfelt denial, Patterson refused to address where the mushrooms came from, who had picked them or even precisely what meal she had prepared for her guests.
(It would be days before a source close to the family revealed the fateful dish was indeed beef wellington.)
Nor did Patterson reveal why she and her children had not eaten the same meal as their guests.
And yet, even as she spoke, behind her lay a possible clue as to where the mushrooms had come from — for a cluster of bright orange fungi could be seen at the foot of a tree a short distance away. Was a murder weapon hiding in plain sight?
Patterson’s father-in-law Don Patterson (pictured) tragically died in the ordeal
Sure enough, the very day after Patterson made her public statement, police announced forensic testing was under way to look for traces of death cap mushroom on a food dehydrator recovered at a rubbish tip.
At the same time, a Facebook post from Erin’s former husband, Simon Patterson, resurfaced in which he revealed that a mystery illness had put him in intensive care for 21 days after he collapsed at his home in May last year while suffering from an undiagnosed stomach illness.
‘I had three emergency operations, mainly on my small intestine, plus an additional planned operation,’ he wrote.
‘My family were asked to come and say goodbye to me twice, as I was not expected to live.’
The couple are believed to have separated soon afterwards. Several friends told Daily Mail Australia that he had not at the time suspected the mystery illness to be linked to foul play.
The Mail is not suggesting that Erin tried to poison Simon, only that the recent deaths have made him question whether his illness last year may also have been due to inadvertently ingesting toxic mushrooms, which are known to grow in Leongatha.
Police are now expected to demand a copy of his medical records.
The Facebook post would be only the start of Simon’s involvement. For on Wednesday, August 9, it emerged that the lunch party 11 days earlier may have had a highly distinctive purpose.
Patterson’s mother-in-law Gail Patterson (pictured) also died after falling ill after the lunch
Daily Mail Australia reported that the lunch had been a desperate bid by Erin Patterson to reconcile with her ex-husband, Simon. She was hoping to win over her in-laws, while the Wilkinsons were there as mediators.
A source close to Simon Patterson told the Mail: ‘She [Ms Patterson] wanted to get back with Simon and the family didn’t want Simon to get back with her. This wasn’t just a lunch, it was an intervention with the pastor, Ian Wilkinson, as mediator. That’s why this lunch happened.’
Last night, this extraordinary story showed no sign of slowing down. Patterson has since lashed out at the reporters camped outside her property, accusing them of making her a prisoner in her own home.
‘I’ve got tons of friends who want to help [me] but I’ve told them to stay away while all the vultures are here because they don’t want to be in the papers either,’ she said.
‘So I can’t get help from my friends who all want to come and help me but they’ll all be subjected to the c**p so do I have to move out of my own home?’
Events tooks a still more surreal turn on Thursday at 10am when Patterson was seen carrying a large suitcase out of the house, telling reporters she was off to meet her lawyers in Melbourne.
Farcically, however, her lawyers were at that moment also waiting outside her home trying to contact her because her electronic devices had been confiscated by police.
Lethal toxins from what is thought to have been the death cap mushroom targeted the liver and kidneys
While the drama looks set to continue, there is one further detail the local population has picked up on that has fuelled speculation. When pressed by police on where the mushrooms had come from, Patterson allegedly claimed she had bought them locally. But as far as anyone can tell, nobody else who has purchased mushrooms locally has succumbed to a dodgy batch.
In the small towns that ring Leongatha, folk remain incredulous as they ask how a close-knit family group could sit down for lunch only for three members to end up dying in agony of suspected mushroom poisoning. Was Erin Patterson really capable of a triple murder which may yet claim a further life?
‘There are a lot of things we don’t know about this business,’ said a tradesman outside Leongatha’s courthouse. ‘We all know it’s pointing to the woman, but that could be a false trail.’
Despite the claims against her, the words of Erin Patterson, spoken outside her home last Monday, continue to echo through the streets of the town: ‘I loved them and I’m devastated they’re gone.’
Local mayor Nathan Hersey has spoken of the ‘shock, disbelief and grief’ running through the community. He added that ‘there’s risk involved’ when it comes to foragaing for mushrooms in Leongatha. ‘A lot of people would know what they’re looking for.’
Leongatha is looking for answers now. After all, next month’s annual daffodil festival is just around the corner.
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