https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/crime/erin-patterson-family-friend-says-deadly-...Erin Patterson:
Family friend says deadly mushroom cook was experienced forager of wild fungi
August 16, 2023 10:30AM
The deadly mushroom cook behind the poisonous lunch that killed three of her relatives was an experienced fungi forager, a friend of the family says.
The friend said Erin Patterson was “very good at foraging” and knew how to identify the wild mushroom varieties near her home in Leongatha in Victoria’s Gippsland region.
“The Patterson family (including Erin and ex-husband Simon) would pick mushrooms each year when they were in season,” the friend told the Daily Mail.
“It’s very common for people to go mushroom picking around that area.”
It comes as Ms Patterson has hit back at being unfairly “painted as an evil witch”.
“I lost my parents-in-law, my children lost their grandparents,’’ she told The Australian on Wednesday.
“And I’ve been painted as an evil witch. And the media is making it impossible for me to live in this town. I can’t have friends over.
“The media is at the house where my children are at. The media are at my sister’s house so I can’t go there. This is unfair.’’
Ms Patterson, 48, invited her form er in-laws Gail and Don Patterson, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian to her home for lunch on July 29.
After eating the beef Wellington cooked and served by Ms Paterson, the guests became violently ill.
Gail and Don, both 70, and Heather, 66, later died. Ian is in hospital fighting for his life.
Erin’s ex-husband Simon Patterson was also supposed to be at the meal but pulled out.
Police suspect that the lunch contained highly toxic death cap mushrooms.
In a written statement to police, Ms Patterson said she bought the mushrooms she used in the dish at two separate stores — button mushrooms from a supermarket and dried mushrooms from an Asian grocery shop in Melbourne
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