The mushroom poisoning in Vic.... I am gripped

[Dustyblue]

This has been all over the news. I live one town over from Leongatha and believe me, it's the talk of the towns.

We have loads of mushrooms around our place but wouldn't dream of eating them. About 90% of foraged mushrooms in Australia are poisonous.

Then again, you do get groups of people who think they know what they're doing, and perhaps they do.

Meanwhile this is suss-as.

Three people died from suspected mushroom poisoning after sharing a meal. Here's what we know - ABC News

Maybe read this. They specify that is Simon making the claim:
The ex-husband of a woman who served a lunch that proved fatal to three people has claimed she tried to poison him

I’m not at all “well-loved and thought of locally” and I doubt people would be speaking to the media to say how lovely I was if I was in this sort of situation. I dare say some people think I’m a bit odd (am a foreigner where I live). But I would never dream of harming anyone.

I’m not at all “well-loved and thought of locally” and I doubt people would be speaking to the media to say how lovely I was if I was in this sort of situation. I dare say some people think I’m a bit odd (am a foreigner where I live). But I would never dream of harming anyone.*

I'm not saying this means she is guilty but there is no one defending her. She might just be seen as a bit of a loner, bit kooky or crazy or downright mean and difficult.

But no one is giving the suspect a positive character reference - or even a neutral comment like 'I can't believe she would do such a thing deliberately' - and it's a small town so everyone must know her and have an opinion of her. She must know the school mums, the neighbours, people running the local businesses, possibly people from church.

Unless the media are not reporting what is being said to them by the community to encourage speculation. That's why I would love to get a local's view.

UK reports saying the lunch was part of a 'church intervention' around she and her husband getting back together.

She apparently wanted to reconcile while he didn't.

Imagine you were the subject of an "intervention" by your parents, aunt, uncle and ex wife during a planned "reconciliation lunch". No wonder the ex ran a mile from that kind of controlling behaviour. One of the injured party was a pastor, so there's the religious/be kind/guilt trip vibe in the mix too.

All very odd indeed.

I wonder what led police to the tip and the dehydrator?

I would guess by either following her or (more likely these days) tracing her movements via mobile phone towers.

Sorry about this blatant placemarking. I saw this story first on this thread and have been watching with interest from the UK.

I don’t get the whole why would she do this, she’d know she’d get caught. Seldom is anyone who plans to be a mass murderer thinking sensibly. If they were they’d not be caught and the prime suspect not immediately known. Which is the majority of cases. The police has the prime suspect immediately in their sights or it’s obvious.

Interesting that she needed bowel surgery, isn't that what the ex husband had?

In that article it says

Simon suspected he had been poisoned by Erin," a source close to the family told the Herald Sun.

So quite clearly, despite the goady wording, he didn't say it

More speculation

Agree but, if she wanted the reconciliation, why would she poison the very people trying to orchestrate it?

It would make more sense if it had been the other way round - the husband trying to use these third parties to pressurise her to reconcile, and her resisting.

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Perhaps she had no intention of reconciling, but this was the only way to get them all together. IF she is guilty, then the "why" of that is a key factor I think.

She does not come across well at all. But if she did it, how on earth did she think no-one would guess?

She had an emergency liver transplant, multiple organ failure, and follow up surgery on her bowel.

I do remember reading that he had bowel surgery but I don’t recall any mention of his liver or multiple organ failure. They both nearly died.

I think death cap mushrooms do significantly damage the liver. And from what I read, eating only one mushroom can kill an adult.

Guessing and suspecting is one thing but proving beyond doubt in court is another.

If she has deliberately done it she may realise people will suspect it wasn't an accident and will always doubt her. But if she is thick skinned she might not care. As long as there isn't enough proof she did it deliberately and she doesn't get jailed then she has got what her warped mind wanted whether that's the in-laws gone, the husband grieving forever etc

"Sources close to the family" is journalistic code for "the family". Ask any journalist.

The toxicology reports may take weeks before they can confirm it was definitely death cap mushroom poisoning. The local forensics lab may not have the required 'reference standards' to confirm because mushroom poisoning is very rare.

How does 'the family' = Simon?

It should not take all that long for the person of interest's DNA to be found or not found on the dehydrator, or for the CCTV of vehicles going in and out of the tip to be gone through. I expect it is easier and quicker to find traces of death cap mushroom in the dehydrator than to confirm toxicology from the poisoned people. So I think, even though they will be also waiting on full toxicology reports, they will have a fair idea of where the physical evidence is leading sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile, that poor fellow is waiting on a liver transplant.

No article has said the family was trying to orchestrate it. All that was said was they were mediating and staging an intervention. That’s very very different, they could have been trying to get her to accept it’s over. To proceed with the divorce, to leave him be.

That is more likely as it’s his family. They would take his side, and she wanted them to fuck off with that and stay out of it. So decided to do them in.

If she didn’t want it to be over, then it’s possible her behaviour was aimed at stopping him moving on and trying to get him back. Hence why the family intervening.

I certainly wouldn’t assume that as they were mediating and staging an intervention, that it was on her side. She owned the house the op said and wanted to stay in it, a divorce would possibly put paid to that if he was owed half and forced her to sell, hence wanting him back. Or dead.

I'm engrossed!

The reconciliation reason was probably just a façade, if she wanted them there to be poisoned. Also as PP said, there's no reason or rhyme in the unstable mind of someone who has the urges to kill (I am not saying she did btw).

This reminds me of the Katherine Knight case in Australia- but she cooked her husband into the meal and planned to feed the kids with it!!! 😱

Perhaps she had the dried mushrooms from either previously poisoning her husband or thought she might have cause to use them in future - then when her husband cancelled on the meal, she was angry and used it on the other guests