Mushroom lunch Erin Patterson arrest: Five key pieces of evidence cops are looking at

The investigation into the mushroom poisoning deaths that have haunted Victoria’s Gippsland region for months saw a major development on Thursday when Erin Patterson was arrested.

Patterson, 49, cooked a beef Wellington pie, believed to be laced with death cap mushrooms, for a family lunch at her home in Leongatha, in the state’s southeast, on July 29. She has not been charged with any crime.

Three of her four guests – her former parents-in-law Gail and Don Patterson, both 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66 – later died after being admitted to hospital with serious symptoms, which were initially mistaken as gastrointestinal complaints.

Heather’s husband Ian, 68, spent weeks in hospital fighting for his life before miraculously pulling through after a liver transplant.

Patterson has previously denied any wrongdoing and said she could not explain why the group became ill after eating the dish.

But more than two months later, the baffling case took a major twist on Thursday when detectives took her in for questioning and raided her home at the same time.

As her police interrogation continues, Ny Breaking Australia looks at the leads police have investigated during the months-long investigation.

1. The mushrooms

In the days after the four guests fell ill, medical teams at Melbourne hospitals (where they were later transferred) began to suspect they had ingested death cap mushrooms as their livers rapidly deteriorated.

Forensic tests confirmed in late September that the three deaths were indeed the result of mushroom poisoning.

Due to the highly regulated nature of the mushroom industry, experts say it is extremely unlikely that toxic fungi will end up on supermarket shelves.

That is why the police announced early in the investigation that they considered the case suspicious.

Ny Breaking Australia does not suggest Erin was responsible for any of the poisonings or deaths.

2. The food dehydrator

Death cap mushrooms, found under oak trees, grow wild around the Gippsland region of Victoria during warm, wet weather.

Autumn provides ideal flowering conditions for mushroom growth and state health officials usually warn Victorians in April to be wary of consuming wild mushrooms.

Because the deadly luncheon was held in winter, death’s cap mushrooms were no longer in season.

On August 4, the same day Gail and Heather died in hospital, police seized a food dehydrator – used to dry vegetables for cooking at a later date – at the local landfill.

The cooking device was sent away for forensic testing early in the investigation to determine whether it contained traces of death cap mushrooms, but police have not yet publicly released the results.

In a statement later given to police, Erin admitted she dumped the food dehydrator at the tip ‘in a panic’ after her ex-husband Simon Patterson accused her of poisoning his parents.

She added that she initially lied to police when she told officers she dumped the device “a long time ago.”

3. Erin’s statement

In the hours after Don died on August 5, detectives searched Erin’s home and took her in for questioning.

She gave an interview without comment and was released later that evening.

However, nine days later she submitted a detailed statement to investigators about the lunch, saying she regretted not speaking to investigators earlier at the behest of her lawyers.

In the statement, Erin claimed she used a combination of mushrooms in the dish, some of which were purchased from a local supermarket, while the others were sourced from an Asian grocer in Melbourne’s Mount Waverley.

However, Asian grocers in that area have rejected her claims and no health warnings or product recalls have ever been issued in connection with the deadly lunch.

While initial police reports indicated that her two children were present at the luncheon but ate a separate meal, Erin said the children actually left the house to go to the movies.

However, she said the children later ate the meal as leftovers, but the mushrooms were scraped off because they didn’t like them.

Although police initially said Erin did not become ill after lunch, she revealed in her statement that she was also hospitalized with stomach pain and given a “liver drug.”

The statement contradicted initial police reports, and while it may be inadmissible in legal proceedings because it was never signed, the information provided by Erin will be taken up by detectives investigating the case.

4. The mysterious illness

As news of the deadly lunch broke, it was revealed that Erin’s ex-husband Simon had suffered from a mystery illness last year.

He almost died and spent more than two weeks in an induced coma.

Whether the illness is linked to the lunchtime incident will be part of detectives’ investigation.

Ny Breaking Australia is also not suggesting that police suspect Erin was in any way culpable or responsible for Simon’s illness, only that the incident will form part of the investigation.

5. The only survivor

Ian Wilkinson, a local Baptist pastor in Korumburra, was released from hospital on September 22 after spending almost two months in hospital fighting for his life.

As the only surviving lunch guest, his testimony will be crucial for investigators to piece together what happened that day at Erin Patterson’s home in Leongatha.

The arrest

Homicide detectives in Victoria announced on Thursday that a woman had been arrested in connection with their investigation into the deaths of three people following an incident in Leongatha earlier this year.

“A search warrant has been executed at the Gibson Street address, with the assistance of the AFP (Australian Federal Police) technological sniffer dogs,” police said.

“The woman is now being questioned by police and the investigation is ongoing.”