Chef of deadly mushroom lunch Erin Patterson breaks silence after disturbing find: ‘I’ve been painted as an evil witch’
The chef at the deadly mushroom luncheon has dismissed claims that she is an “wicked witch” after a photo emerged of “disturbing” scribbles on her dining room wall.
Erin Patterson, 48, hosted the now-infamous luncheon at her Leongatha home, in Victoria’s southeastern Gippsland region, on July 29 that left three of her in-laws dead from suspected mushroom poisoning, while a fourth man remains in a coma.
Daily Mail Australia does not suggest Ms Patterson is responsible for the poisonings.
Now the mother-of-two has broken cover to lament her portrayal in the media and protest her innocence.
“I lost my in-laws, my kids lost their grandparents,” she said The Australian.
“And I’ve been portrayed as a wicked witch. And the media makes it impossible for me to live in this city.
Erin Patterson (pictured) has broken her cover to complain about her alleged role as a ‘wicked witch’
The above family tree shows the connections between the Pattersons and Wilkinsons embroiled in the unusual Leongatha poisoning drama
‘I can’t have friends over. The media is at the house where my children are. The media is at my sister’s house, so I can’t go there. This is unfair.’
Her comments come after a trader revealed he had taken a photo of a so-called ‘death wall’ in the home Ms Patterson shared with her now-estranged husband, Simon.
The tradie, who asked to remain anonymous, said he was paid to remove disturbing graffiti from the interior wall at the house in Korumburra, 15 km from Leongatha, which the couple eventually sold for $545,000 after they split.
It is believed that they had previously lived there with their two children.
The images, seen by Daily Mail Australia, include images of headstones and bizarre scribbles with themes of death and destruction drawn in black and red ink – the latter symbolizing blood.
“It was disturbing. We called it the death wall,” the tradie said.
“They were made by their (the Pattersons’) daughter. It’s quite unsettling for Mom to let the kids draw on their dining room wall.”
The poster-sized drawings feature two tombstones with daggers and decapitated heads, along with scribbles and dark quotes, including the words, “You are dead by the sword.”
Another has the date “August 1, 2021” with the words “you will die within a year” below it.
One of the tombstones appears to say “Grandma RIP,” while the third reads “ME RIP.”
Another person who saw the footage described them as “satanic.”
Ms Patterson, a stay-at-home mom who has previously worked editing a Korumburra newsletter, says she bought the supposedly toxic mold from a supermarket and an Asian grocery store, and was herself hospitalized after eating lunch.
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
Gail and Don Patterson died after eating the mushrooms
But Daily Mail Australia revealed earlier on Wednesday that she was an experienced mushroom collector known to pick wild mushrooms in Victoria’s Gippsland region, a source close to the family said.
A friend of the Patterson family said Erin was “very good at foraging” and identifying different kinds of mushrooms.
“The Patterson family (including Erin and Simon) picked mushrooms every year when they were in season,” the friend said.
“It’s very common for people to pick mushrooms in that area.”
Mrs. Patterson intended to use the meal as a reconciliation with her estranged husband Simon, but he backed out at the last minute.
Simon’s parents Gail and Don Patterson died after eating the meal – a beef wellington – while his aunt Heather also died.
Simon Patterson was supposed to join his parents for the lunch that cost them their lives, but backed out at the last minute
Heather’s husband, 68-year-old pastor Ian Wilkinson, is in a coma at Austin Hospital in Melbourne.
A source close to the police investigation into the deaths told the Herald Sun that one of the three people who died had a final talk with a paramedic.
That paramedic felt it necessary to pass on what had been said to the police, the source claims.
It is not yet known what the lunch guest said to the paramedics.
Ms Patterson, a stay-at-home mom who has previously worked editing a Korumburra newsletter, says she bought the supposedly toxic mold from a supermarket and an Asian grocery store, and was herself hospitalized after eating lunch.
Her children did not attend lunch and went to the movies instead. They ate leftovers the next day, but the mushrooms were scraped off because they don’t like it.
Ms Patterson told police she also became unwell after eating the meal, and that while she was in hospital her ex-husband Simon accused her of poisoning his parents.
She said she was “talking about the food hydrator” she used to prepare the meal when her ex-husband asked, “Is that what you used to poison them?”
In a panic, Erin has admitted that she then dumped the dehydrator at a nearby landfill.
The dehydrator was found by police, and a source close to the investigation said that Age Police conducted forensic tests on the dehydrator – which was found at a nearby tip.
In a written statement sent to Victoria Police on Friday – and obtained by the ABC – Ms Patterson expressed her pain that people are “judgmental so quickly”.
“I now want to clear the record as I have become extremely stressed and overwhelmed by the deaths of my loved ones,” Ms Patterson said.
“I hope this statement can help in some way. I believe that if people understood the background better, they wouldn’t be so quick to judge.
“I am devastated now to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to the illness of my loved ones. I really want to reiterate that I had absolutely no reason to hurt these people I loved.”
She had previously given an interview without comment to police at the start of their investigation, blaming the police for her decision as it was a “terrifying and terrifying” experience.