Three key questions surround magic mushroom poisoning at Soul Barn health retreat in Clunes, Victoria – as criminologist drops major bombshell

A prominent criminologist has said there are three main lines of inquiry open to police after a woman died of suspected mushroom poisoning during a health retreat.

Rachael Dixon, 53, visited the Soul Barn Creative Wellbeing Center in Clunes, near Ballarat, Victoria, on Saturday evening and became violently ill after allegedly grinding mushrooms and consuming them in a drink.

Criminologist

Professor Mallett said there are only three options police will look at.

“Was this a terrible accident – ​​such a setback – was this a case of suicide, or was it something else, something more deliberate,” she said.

There is no evidence that the poisoning was intentional.

Professor Mallett made the surprising revelation that the chance of getting sick from magic mushrooms is very low and that other poisonous mushrooms may have been mixed into the concoction.

‘I think we can rule out suicide early on in that piece, but the police will obviously see that as a possibility. It has to be done,” she said.

The academic added: ‘We’re really looking at misadventure or intent… the police are investigating them both until they have evidence to put them on one of those paths.’

Sunrise’s Matt “Shirvo” Shirvington pointed that out Magic mushrooms are illegal to use in Australia and asked where responsibility could lie in a situation like this.

“That really depends on who may have been looking for those mushrooms,” Prof Mallett said.

‘They’ll probably be growing at this time of year. It’s autumn.

“So it really depends on who picked them and who knew what was in those drinks.

“The police will really have to unravel all that before they can look at the blame.”

The professor was also asked about comparisons to the Erin Patterson case, in which a woman was charged with three murders and five attempted murders.

These charges stemmed from an incident in which she allegedly poisoned a meal containing mushrooms at a home in the same region of Victoria where the case involving Ms Dixon took place.

Prof Mallett said ‘some of the (same) toxicologists’ may be involved in the latest case.

‘They need to know exactly what was in that tea that allegedly contained magic mushrooms. There may be other poisonous mushrooms in there,” she said.

‘The chance of someone becoming very ill or dying from mushrooms is very small, but they can be confused with other poisonous mushrooms.

‘So they will have to determine exactly which mushrooms were in that drink.

She said people who pick their own mushrooms should be careful about which ones they pick at this time of year.

While Ms Dixon died, two others were also rushed to hospital after allegedly consuming a drink containing ‘picked’ ingredients during the ‘alternative health retreat’.

The two other people were released from the hospital on Tuesday.

Police are expected to investigate whether the drink contained ‘magic’ mushrooms, which contain the hallucinogenic chemical psilocybin.

Mrs Dixon’s son Matthew paid tribute to his mother on social media on Sunday, writing: ‘To the most loving, most caring person I’ve ever known, I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve ever done for me and all the support You gave me’.

“Words can’t describe how much I will miss you, I wish I could give you one last hug.”

Detectives from the Moorabool Crime Investigation Unit are investigating Ms Dixon’s death and will interview people who were at the retreat at the time.

There is no evidence that the poisoning was intentional.

Soul Barn’s Facebook page describes the center as an ‘Alternative and Holistic Health Service’ and was used to kick off the skincare event.

“(The specialist) interweaves age-old skin care rituals and combines them with modern techniques to create nourishing yet active facial treatments,” it was advertised.

‘Using infused herbal oils sourced from local farms and wild-grown plants, plus handcrafted skin care from around the world, specially chosen for its potency and purity… This is a facial treatment like no other, one you’ll never forget !’

A message on Sunday expressed the company’s ‘deepest condolences’ while stating that a ‘sound healing’ session that day would be canceled and those who had booked would be refunded.