Leongatha mushroom poisoning: ex-husband Simon Patterson backed out of deadly luncheon ‘at the last minute’ – having just recovered from a mysterious illness
The ex-husband of a woman who hosted a poisonous luncheon that sickened four people — three of whom have since died — was invited to the deadly luncheon.
Sources have told Daily Mail Australia that Erin Patterson, 48, has invited her estranged ex-husband Simon Patterson to their former family home for lunch with his parents. Gail and Don Patterson and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, and her husband Ian on Saturday, July 29.
“Simon was supposed to go to lunch but couldn’t come at the last minute,” a friend of Simon told the Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday.
Mr. Patterson had barely recovered from months of rehabilitation from a mysterious stomach illness that left him fighting for his life in the hospital.
Simon Patterson would join his parents for the lunch that cost them their lives
Gail and Don Patterson died after eating the mushrooms. It is clear that Erin was previously married to their son, Simon
The above family tree shows the connections between the Pattersons and Wilkinsons embroiled in the unusual Leongatha poisoning drama
Police are continuing to investigate Ms Patterson after Simon’s parents and Ms Wilkinson died on July 29 from eating the deadly luncheon at her home in Leongatha, Victoria’s Gippsland region.
Mr. Wilkinson continues to cling to hospital life.
Simon’s friend claimed that Mrs. Patterson was keen to keep the family home, where she had lived with the couple’s children since they separated.
A neighbor of Gail and Don Patterson told Daily Mail Australia that Simon had been living with his parents after splitting up with his wife, but had moved out late last year.
“Sunday morning we saw the ambulance pull into their driveway and we didn’t know what was going on,” he said.
“They had been very mobile people. They were always busy with their own lawns. They were quite active. Don went for a walk every morning.’
The neighbour, who declined to be named, described his neighbors as nice people, who probably kept in touch with their son’s ex-wife even after the couple’s divorce.
“He was a pretty good kind of person who wouldn’t hold that grudge. I don’t know why they were there, but probably to see their grandchildren,’ he said.
News of the tragic deaths was the talk of the small rural community, with allegations that Simon may have suffered a serious stomach injury.
Simon Patterson lived with his parents while recovering from a serious stomach problem
Erin Patterson came home Tuesday with a waiting media package
Erin Patterson refused to answer questions about what she cooked for her guests
It was revealed on Tuesday that Simon has been in intensive care for 21 days after collapsing at his home in May 2022.
“I collapsed at home and was then in an induced coma for 16 days, undergoing three emergency surgeries, mainly on my small intestine, plus an additional scheduled surgery,” he wrote.
“My family has been asked twice to say goodbye to me because I was not expected to live.
“I spent 21 days in intensive care, then a week in the general ward, and now in a rehab center.”
Simon went further, writing that the treatment “appeared to have cleared up the serious intestinal problems.”
“I have a large scar on my abdomen that is slow to heal, and I have ICU-acquired weakness, a common condition of people who are in intensive care for long periods of time,” he said.
“I can walk on my own and perform all normal daily activities, but my left shoulder in particular is very weak.”
The neighbor from The Patterson tod Daily Mail Australia Simon lived with his parents while he recovered from that illness.
“After his illness, there may have been a divorce,” he said. “We don’t know why they broke up. They were a very private family.’
Gail and Don Patterson’s house remained empty on Wednesday
The property where the deadly luncheon took place in Leongatha, in Victoria’s Gippsland region
Erin Patterson hauls a suitcase in her red MG before driving off
On Tuesday, Mrs. Patterson fled her home after refusing to reveal what she served at her victims’ last fatal meal.
She has denied any wrongdoing and no charges are expected at this stage of the investigation.
Daily Mail Australia does not suggest that Ms Patterson was responsible for Simon’s illness or the three deaths.
She had returned home on Wednesday but remained locked behind the safety of a large electric fence.
Homicide detectives searched the property on Saturday as part of their investigation and seized a number of items, including a food dehydrator believed to have been used to prepare the mushrooms.
A police source close to the investigation told The Age on Tuesday that police were conducting forensic tests on the dehydrator – which was found at a nearby tip.
Mrs. Patterson was apparently unharmed by the food, if at all.
On Tuesday, Ms. Patterson faced a media contingent eager for answers.
But the stay-at-home mom provided little and told reporters to get off her property.
“What happened is devastating and I am also grieving and you have no respect for that,” she said.
Ms. Patterson was forced to navigate a media scrum to enter her front door.
“Can I just go to my door, stop standing in front of me,” she said.
She drove off after being questioned by reporters outside her home
Ian Wilkinson and Heather Wilkinson (both pictured) became seriously ill after eating wild mushrooms. Ms Wilkinson died on Friday while her husband is in critical condition in hospital
Ms. Patterson refused to answer what dish she served her tragic guests, who are believed to have ingested poisonous mushrooms.
A black dog ran out of Mrs. Patterson’s house when she opened the front door, enraging her even more.
“You don’t have permission to enter my private property or harass me,” she said.
“This kind of behavior sends someone straight off the bridge.”
When asked “How was she” by a reporter, Ms. Patterson said the obvious.
‘I’m going home. Thanks for asking. You’re not helping,’ she replied.
Reporters were forced to jump Ms. Patterson’s fence to exit the premises after becoming trapped behind her large automated security gate.
Moments later, Mrs. Patterson was seen loading a suitcase into the trunk of her red MG and leaving.