Mushroom poisoning in Leongatha, Victoria: The eerie detail on cook Erin Patterson’s hands

EXCLUSIVE

A strange detail on mushroom chef Erin Patterson’s hands, which no one had seen before, now shows two injuries on the middle finger of her right hand.

Two healing cuts are visible on the 48-year-old’s hand in separate interviews filmed in the driveway of her home on Monday, August 7, nine days after she hosted the fatal beef Wellington luncheon at Leongatha’s home, in Victoria’s South Gippsland.

In the two separate interviews — dressed in a dark red hoodie and chino pants, then a gray sweater and cream pants — Ms. Patterson waves her hands as she wipes away tears.

She also holds her hands to her face as she explains to reporters that she is devastated by the death of her husband’s relatives, protesting, “I didn’t do anything.”

“I loved them and I’m devastated they’re gone,” Mrs. Patterson said through tears, shielding her face with her right hand, where the cuts and abrasions are clearly visible.

The more serious looking injury is under the knuckle of her right middle finger.

The second injury is around the nail bed area of ​​the same finger.

The media camped on Ms. Patterson’s doorstep for several days after her ex-husband Simon’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, as well as Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, died of suspected Death Cap mushroom poisoning.

Erin Patterson with an injured right hand (top, left and right) in the driveway of her home in Leongatha, nine days after serving the fatal Wellington beef lunch

During the interviews, Erin appears to be right-handed, holding her keys and taking off her glasses with the same hand.

She is therefore more likely to injure her left hand while cooking or serving meat that has been cut with a knife in her right hand.

Beef Wellington is made with a high quality cut of meat, often eye fillet, coated with chopped knots and wild mushrooms.

Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting that Ms Patterson was responsible for the death of her former in-laws, or for the poisoning of her husband’s uncle, Rev Ian Wilkinson, who remains in hospital after his liver collapses and may need a transplant.

Ms Patterson initially gave ‘no comment’ to police, but then issued a statement that was not a formal police interview, mentioning a food hydrator she had used to prepare the Beef Wellington.

Close-up of Erin Patterson’s hands showing what appears to be a cut or abrasion on the middle finger below the knuckle and an associated injury near the nail bed of the same finger

Erin Paterson’s right hand appears to have two injuries, the more serious looking one being under the knuckle of her right middle finger. The second injury is around the nail bed of the same finger

Police have found a vegetable dryer at the Koonwarra Transfer Station, a local dump 12 minutes’ drive south of Erin Patterson’s home

In the statement, Ms Patterson said she dumped the dehydrator at a local landfill in the days after her lunch guests fell ill because she panicked.

After the deaths of three of her luncheon guests, Victoria Police recovered a food hydrator among dumped items and rubble at Koonwarra transfer station, a local dump 12 minutes’ drive south of Erin Patterson’s home.

Ms Patterson, mother of two high school children with Simon Patterson, said her experience with the police was “terrifying and terrifying”.

On the same day the cuts on her hand became visible, Victoria police described her as a “suspect,” but investigators say they are open to investigating the deaths.

Lunch guests Don and Gail Patterson (left), both aged 70, died within a day of each other and Heather Patterson (left of right) also died, leaving Pastor Ian Patterson (right) the only survivor after the beef Wellington lunch at Erin’s Patterson’s Leongatha house

The location of the Beef Wellington Lunch, Erin Patterson’s home in Leongatha, Victoria’s South Gippsland region

It’s been over two weeks since Detective Dean Thomas said Erin Patterson remained a suspect in the investigation because she served the meal, but added that it “could be very innocent… we just don’t know.”

Police have not made any major statements since then, and Erin Patterson has remained out of the picture.

Earlier this week, the family of Don and Gail Patterson held a private funeral for the couple, who were buried together in an unmarked grave at Korumburra General Cemetery.

Ian Wilkinson, 68, is still critical but in a stable condition at Austin Hospital in Melbourne’s northeast.