Mushroom deaths: why families of the three lunch guests who died during the Leongatha lunch have been forced to postpone their funerals
The families of three people who died after eating a lunch of poisonous mushrooms have been forced to await further police inquiries before burying their loved ones.
Erin Patterson, 48, cooked a beef wellington at her home in Leongatha, Victoria’s Gippsland region, on July 29, containing death cap mushrooms.
Her former in-laws Gail and Don Patterson, Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson were all at the lunch.
Gail, 70, Don, 70, and Heather, 66, have all since died, while Ian, 70, has been in a serious condition since the meal.
Heather and Ian Wilkinson (above) attended Erin Patterson’s fatal beef wellington luncheon on July 29 – Heather died of mushroom poisoning with Ian still in critical condition
Don and Gail Patterson (above) died after eating lunch at their former daughter-in-law Erin Patterson’s home
But now it has been found that he is improving more slowly and may no longer need a liver transplant, the paper said Announce sun.
His memory would be key to the police investigation, which Victoria Police previously said will be long and complex.
It is unclear how long the grieving relatives of the three dead luncheon guests will have to wait for further police inquiries into their deaths.
“The deaths are still being treated as unexplained,” a police spokesman said.
Investigators have also said that Erin remains a person of interest.
She has denied any wrongdoing and Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting she is in any way responsible for the fatal poisonings.
There is also no suggestion that detectives suspect she is responsible, only that she is a person of interest.
Erin’s ex-husband Simon Patterson was initially invited to lunch, but backed out at the last minute.
Erin Patterson, 48, had cooked a beef wellington for lunch at her home in Leongatha, Victoria’s Gippsland region, on July 29 that reportedly contained death cap mushrooms
The Korumburra community gathered Saturday at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church for a vigil
The family tree above shows the connections between the Pattersons and Wilkinsons who were embroiled in the unusual Leongatha poisoning drama
In a police statement from Erin she claims to have bought the mushrooms used in the beef wellington from a supermarket and asian grocer in Melbourne but couldn’t remember the name.
She previously told The Australian that she felt she had been portrayed as an “wicked witch.”
‘I can’t have friends over. The media is present in the house where my children are. The media is at my sister’s house, so I can’t go there. This is unfair,” she said.
It comes as the Korumburra community gathered Saturday at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church for a vigil.
Parishioner Ken Loughnan said the church wanted to provide a place for people to “come together” after a difficult three weeks for the city.
“When a tragedy happens in a small community, it hurts a lot, and that has been the case in Korumburra,” he said.
“We hope that the grief of the community can fade over time.”