Save articles for later
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.
For police, the release of Reverend Ian Wilkinson – one of only two survivors of the fatal Leongatha mushroom lunch – from hospital on the weekend is a breakthrough, but not the breakthrough.
In an induced coma for weeks, the trusted and respected member of his local community in regional south-east Victoria, Wilkinson would have woken to the news that his wife, Heather, and in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, had died following a lunch at a private house in Leongatha.
Poisoning victims Heather and Ian Wilkinson and the house where Erin Patterson, who prepared the deadly lunch, lives.Credit: Marta Pascual Juanola; Supplied
The only other survivor of the July 29 lunch, Erin Patterson – ex-wife of the Patterson’s son, Simon – has been described as a suspect by homicide investigators.
Patterson initially exercised her right to refuse to answer questions. Much later, her lawyer prepared a statement for police that – much to the frustration of investigators – was shared with the media.
She has always maintained she is innocent of any crime.
Since the first week or so, and facing international interest, detectives have deep-dived and are not resurfacing to provide updates. And why should they? They are in this for the long haul.
The good news is that detailed forensic tests have come back and confirmed the cause of the three deaths is indeed mushroom poisoning. The bad news is that how the mushrooms ended up on the lunch table remains a matter of conjecture.
If this case is the equivalent of the road from Melbourne to Sydney, we would be at Fawkner right now.
Not that this matters to some in the court of public opinion who have already concluded, despite the lack of evidence and the early stage of the investigation, that Patterson is a triple-murderer. But as we will see, the court of public opinion is often wrong.
Homicide detectives have to follow the evidence until they are left with one conclusion that excludes all other scenarios.
Poisoning victims Don and Gail Patterson (top) and Heather and Ian Wilkinson (bottom) attended the lunch in Leongatha.
If it points to one person, then the brief of evidence is sent to the Office of Public Prosecutions to see if charges should be laid, or to the coroner, to hold an inquest to establish the most likely chain of events.
It is not good enough just to establish what happened to the standard of beyond reasonable doubt, but to exclude all other possible options to the same standard.
‘The case can only get stronger’
What we do know about the lunch is that Patterson served beef Wellington to her guests, which she says contained fresh mushrooms from a supermarket, as well as dehydrated ones from an unnamed Mount Waverley Asian grocer.
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.
Patterson told police that after the poisoning, and fearing she would be wrongly blamed, she dumped her food dehydrator at the local tip. Yet, she says, she fed her children leftovers the following day and kept the last piece in the fridge.
Amateur sleuths have concluded it must be the offending dish, but that is yet (at least publicly) to have been established.
Which is why Reverend Wilkinson’s recollections will be vital for police. They will ask many questions, which will include:
- Did other guests bring a plate? Did any include mushrooms? Was there an entree or nibbles? Was there more than one beef Wellington? Was there a sauce?
- Did any of the lunch guests have a history of foraging for wild mushrooms?
- What was the purpose of the lunch? Was it a regular event? Were Erin and Simon’s two children present? If so, what did they eat? Was their future discussed over the meal?
- Did he discuss with his ex-wife the likely cause of the poisoning before they collapsed in hospital?
For police, time is on their side. In homicide, they have a saying: “The case can only get stronger.” They will check Patterson’s internet search history and her reading and television habits; they will talk to her friends and family. They will also examine the hospitalisation of her ex-husband, who posted on Facebook saying he nearly died from an unexplained gastrointestinal complaint 14 months before the fatal mushroom lunch.
Detectives will also check dozens of Mount Waverley Asian grocers and then track back to the wholesalers who supply dehydrated mushrooms.
While this case has created blanket media coverage and international interest for the people in the Leongatha district, the four victims were respected and loved.
One resident told us: “You will not meet better people. Intelligent, humorous, generous and have integrity in spades. Heather, Gail’s sister, was a remarkable person, as is Ian, her husband. You could search forever in South Gippsland to look for an enemy for them, but you would not find one.”
Back to the court of public opinion, which has made jumping to conclusions an Olympic event.
When brothers Tyler and Chase Robinson were found dead in their rented Mooroopna family home on May 30, 2010, many were quick to blame their mother, Vanessa.
Those accusers skulked back into the shadows when it was found the boys, aged six and eight, died from carbon monoxide poisoning from a faulty gas heater. The brilliant and brave Vanessa, backed by her ex-husband Scott, have fronted a campaign to urge residents to regularly have their heaters checked for leaks.
And of course, there is the case of Lindy Chamberlain, who for years was wrongly blamed for the death of her baby, Azaria, who had been taken by a dingo in 1980. She was convicted in 1982, pardoned in 1987 and awarded $1.3 million in compensation in 1992.
That is why homicide squad detectives diving into the mushroom case are in no hurry to surface. Those looking for quick answers shouldn’t hold their breath.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Most Viewed in National
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article
