Victorian woman at centre of suspected mushroom poisoning says she also went to hospital after eating meal
The woman at the centre of a suspected mushroom poisoning in Victoria has given police her account of the lunch, saying she also went to hospital after eating the meal and that she had bought the fungi from two stores.
Erin Patterson’s written statement, first reported by the ABC, was provided to Victoria police on Friday and in it she says she wants to “clear up the record” after the deaths of three people.
Patterson, 45, prepared the meal at her home in the rural town of Leongatha on 29 July for her former parentsin-law Don and Gail Patterson, Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson.
The Pattersons, both 70, have since died, as has Heather Wilkinson, 66. Ian Wilkinson, a 68-year-old Baptist church pastor, remains in a critical condition in hospital.
Police said their symptoms were consistent with having eaten death cap mushrooms.
In her statement Patterson said the mushrooms were a mix of button mushrooms bought from a supermarket chain and dried mushrooms bought from an Asian grocery store in Melbourne months earlier, the ABC reports.
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She said she was also hospitalised after eating the meal and that her children had gone to the movies and were not at the lunch, contrary to previous reports.
“I am now wanting to clear up the record because I have become extremely stressed and overwhelmed by the deaths of my loved ones,” Patterson said, according to the ABC.
“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.
“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.”
Patterson confirmed the meal in question was a beef wellington pie. The dish was served for herself and her four guests, she said.
She said she served the meal and allowed the guests to choose their own plates, after which she took the last plate and ate a serve.
Patterson said her children had attended the movies prior to the lunch and were not in attendance, the ABC reports. She said the children ate the leftovers the following night but because they didn’t like mushrooms she had scraped them off the meal.
She said she also went to hospital after the lunch with stomach pains and diarrhoea, and was transported by ambulance from the Leongatha hospital to the Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne.
After the onset of symptoms, Patterson said she was contacted by the Department of Health and gave what was left of the lunch to hospital toxicologists for examination. She said she told investigators where she bought the mushrooms, but she was unable to identify the specific shop in Melbourne.
Patterson also addressed media reports that police investigating the deaths had seized a food dehydrator at a local tip. In the statement she admitted she had lied to investigators when she told them she had dumped it at the tip “a long time ago”, the ABC reports.
She said 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?” Patterson said she had panicked and dumped the dehydrator at the tip, worried she might lose custody of her children.
She said Simon Patterson, her exhusband, had intended to join the lunch but told her “prior to the day” that he wouldn’t attend.
“I had been close with Simon’s parents for a long period of time,” she said.
“Our relationship was affected to some degree by seeing them less after my marriage breakdown with Simon, however I have never felt differently towards his parents.
“I had a deep love and respect for Simon’s parents and had encouraged my children to spend time with their grandparents as I believed they were exceptional role models.”
Patterson said she had been advised to give a “no comment” interview to police after the lunch, which she now regretted.
“I now very much regret not answering some questions following this advice, given the nightmare that this process has become,” she said, adding she found the police interview “terrifying and anxiety-provoking”.
A spokesperson for Victoria police said there was no further update in the case as a result of the statement. The investigation into the deaths remains under way.