Leongatha mushroom poisoning: Daughter-in-law under siege over poisonous dish refuses to say what she cooked as she flees home with suitcases
- Four people poisoned at a family lunch in Leongatha
- Three have since died while the fourth is critical
- Daughter-in-law of one couple is person of interest
The woman who hosted a poisonous lunch where four people fell ill – three of whom have since died – has fled her home after refusing to reveal what she served in their final fatal meal.
Erin Patterson, 48, invited her former in-laws, Gail and Don Patterson, along with Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, and her husband Ian over for lunch at her Leongatha home, in Victoria’s Gippsland region, on July 29.
She served them a dish which included poisonous mushrooms and the Pattersons and Ms Wilkinson died days later. Mr Wilkinson is fighting for life in hospital. Erin was apparently unharmed by the food, if she ate any at all.
On Tuesday, Ms Patterson returned to her property where she was confronted by a media contingent keen for answers.
Erin Patterson arrived home to a waiting media pack on Tuesday
Erin Patterson refused to answer questions about what she had cooked her guests
The property where the deadly lunch occurred at Leongatha, in Victoria’s Gippsland region
But the stay-at-home mum provided few, telling reporters to get off her property.
‘What happened is devastating and I’m grieving too and you guys don’t have any respect for that,’ she said.
Ms Patterson was forced to navigate around a media scrum to enter her front door.
‘Can I just get to my door, stop standing in front of me,’ she said.
Ms Patterson refused to answer what dish she served her tragic guests, who are believed to have ingested poisonous mushrooms.
A black dog rushed out of Ms Patterson’s home as she opened the front door, infuriating her further.
‘You don’t have any permission to be on my private property or harass me,’ she said.
‘This kind of behaviour will send someone right off a bridge.’
Asked ‘How she was going’ by a reporter, Ms Patterson stated the obvious.
‘I’m going ***house. Thanks for asking. You guys aren’t helping,’ she responded.
Reporters were forced to jump Ms Patterson’s fence to leave the property after becoming stuck behind her large automated security gate.
Moments later, Ms Patterson was seen loading a suitcase into the boot of her red MG and leaving.
Erin Patterson hauls a suitcase into her red MG before driving off
She drove off after being asked questions by reporters outside the home
All four guests fell ill after eating the meal served by Ms Patterson and went to hospital the next day.
The Pattersons, both 70, and Ms Wilkinson, 66, have since died, while Mr Wilkinson, 68, is fighting for life in hospital.
Ms Patterson had been identified as a person of interest in the investigation. Seven News reported that she was heard ‘wailing’ after police visited the property last night.
She has denied any wrongdoing and no charges are expected to be laid at this stage of the investigation.
High profile criminal lawyer George Balot, of Balot Reilly Criminal Lawyers, told Daily Mail Australia a host or a cook owed her guest ‘or victim’ a duty of care to ensure the food served did not cause serious injury or death.
‘The prosecution need to establish that she breached that duty by serving up deadly poisonous mushrooms by being criminally negligent,’ he said.
‘A court would need to determine whether her act of serving her dish fell so far short of the standard of care a reasonable person would have exercised, and involved such a high risk of death or really serious injury, that it deserves criminal punishment.’
Mr Balot said the prosecution would need to establish that the breach of that duty caused the victim’s death.
‘Finally, that the act which breaches that duty of care was committed consciously, voluntarily and deliberately,’ he said.
‘If it was a mere tragic accident where she thought that the mushrooms were edible mushrooms without malice or criminal negligence, she is unlikely to be charged.’
Mr Balot said the prosecution did not need to establish that Ms Patterson intended to cause death or really serious injury or that she realised that her conduct was negligent.
‘The test is objective and it is what would a reasonable person in her situation would have known and done. For this element to be met, a jury would have to be satisfied that the reasonable person in her situation would have realised that her conduct created a high risk of death or really serious injury,’ he said.
‘It is axiomatic that even the most careful person can occasionally have moments of inattention, or make minor mistakes. While minor breaches of the expected standard of care are insufficient to found criminal charges, they can form the foundation of civil liability for damages for death and or pain and suffering.’
‘In the absence of further evidence disclosed by investigating police, this matter could be safely defended were she charged.’
Real estate photos show mushrooms growing at the base of a tree at Ms Patterson’s Leongatha property
Daily Mail Australia understands that Ms Patterson’s estranged husband, Simon, is living at a different address.
Police said the former couple’s relationship was ‘amicable’ before his parents death.
Homicide detectives searched the property on Saturday as part of their investigation, seizing a number of items, including a dehydrator believed to have been used to prepare the mushrooms.
Four police officers were seen returning to Ms Patterson’s home on Sunday night to question her.
The 48-year-old could be heard wailing loudly inside the house before the police left, according to 7News.
After being questioned, Ms Patterson was released pending further inquiries.
The following day, Victoria Police Detective Inspector for the Homicide Squad, Dean Thomas, confirmed Ms Patterson was being treated as a person of interest.
‘She hasn’t presented with any symptoms but we have to keep an open mind in relation to this, that it could be very innocent but again we just don’t know at this point,’ he said.
Mr Thomas said while the homicide squad was investigating the trio’s deaths, it did not mean they were being treated as suspicious at this stage – only ‘unexplained’.
Gail and Don Patterson died after eating the mushrooms. It’s understood that Erin was previously married to their son, Simon
Ian Wilkinson and Heather Wilkinson (both pictured) became severely ill after they ate wild mushrooms. Mrs Wilkinson died on Friday while her husband remains in a critical condition in hospital
Flowers have been left at the gate of the property as the community comes to terms with the tragedy
Speaking to reporters outside her home on Monday, an emotional Ms Patterson said she was devastated by what had happened and denied any wrongdoing.
‘I didn’t do anything,’ she said, wiping away tears.
‘I loved them and I’m devastated that they’re gone.’
Ms Patterson said all four guests were wonderful people and had always treated her with kindness.
‘Gail was like the mum I didn’t have because my mum passed away four years ago and Gail had never been anything but good and kind to me,’ she continued.
‘Ian and Heather were some of the best people I’d ever met. They never did anything wrong to me.’
Detectives believe death cap mushrooms are the variety responsible for the poisonings and are investigating how they came to be in the meal.
Ms Patterson’s two children were also present at the lunch but Mr Thomas said they ate different meals to the adults and did not experience any illness.
When the others fell sick, Ms Patterson and the children went to hospital as a precaution. The kids have since been removed from their mother’s care while the investigation is underway.
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