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Original poster

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

989 replies

Dustyblue · 09/08/2023 04:58

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

Three dead and another fighting for life: What we know so far about suspected mushroom poisonings in Victoria

Police continue to investigate three suspected mushroom poisoning deaths after a family lunch last month in Leongatha in Victoria's east. Detectives have not laid any charges, but say the woman who served the meal remains a suspect. Here's what we know...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-09/poisonous-mushroom-deaths-victoria-leongatha-explainer/102703430

OP posts:
Thread gallery
42
LAHallucinations · 10/08/2023 15:27

And he is a massive twat for making things worse for their kids. Of course, he is right to help the police as much as he can, but he doesn't have to be in the media, making accusations about the mother of his kids that are just going to pile on the misery for them.

His parents have just died a horrific death, which he believes was inflicted deliberately by his ex-wife, and you're calling him 'a massive twat' and a bad father for pointing the finger at her in a few newspaper quotes? Yet you've posted numerous times on this thread that we shouldn't judge the demeanour of the ex-wife, as she is quite possibly traumatised, grief stricken and under enormous stress? I imagine he's pretty traumatised, grief stricken and stressed too, so perhaps you should extend the same kindness to him.

Anotherchristianmama · 10/08/2023 15:27

SM4713 · 10/08/2023 14:41

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!!! 😱

Wow, thats greek myth level of WTF.

Choux · 10/08/2023 15:30

Maybe she tried to kill the husband last year as revenge for leaving her but failed.

This year she got confused about which pot of dried mushrooms was death cap and poisoned her in-laws by accident. Then thought 'oh shot I am about to be uncovered for trying to kill DH AND killing my in-laws' so panicked and got rid of the dehydrator.

HaveYouHeardOfARoadAtlas · 10/08/2023 15:42

I do think sometimes the simplest answer may be the most likely. That she’s just a bit shit at mushroom identification and is in shock/generally a little odd and doesn’t come across well (why should she).

nobody hounded Nicholas Evans family after their mass mushroom poisoning dinner saying someone must have done it on purpose.

though I admit it’s odd that she was unaffected but there may be an explanation for this that we just don’t know yet.

SiouxsieSiouxStiletto · 10/08/2023 15:53

though I admit it’s odd that she was unaffected but there may be an explanation for this that we just don’t know yet

One report I read said it was in the gravy and she doesn't like gravy. That wouldn't explain why her DC were unaffected though.

I do agree that the shock and trauma will have affected how she appears on the press interview.

The interview was outside her home too so she won't have had the opportunity to prepare and comped herself.

HaveYouHeardOfARoadAtlas · 10/08/2023 15:56

It’s not unusual with small kids for the adults to eat one meal and the dc another. I’m also a gravy hater so I could buy that.

velvetandsatin · 10/08/2023 15:57

That wouldn't explain why her DC were unaffected though.

It's been stated in the press that the children ate a different meal.

nobody hounded Nicholas Evans family after their mass mushroom poisoning dinner saying someone must have done it on purpose.

However, she has told the police that she bought the mushrooms in a local shop.

SiouxsieSiouxStiletto · 10/08/2023 15:58

HaveYouHeardOfARoadAtlas · 10/08/2023 15:56

It’s not unusual with small kids for the adults to eat one meal and the dc another. I’m also a gravy hater so I could buy that.

Ah I think that it was mentioned that the DC had a different meal. Like you say, that's perfectly normal. My DD has ARFID so very often eats something different.

TerrorAustralis · 10/08/2023 16:03

nobody hounded Nicholas Evans family after their mass mushroom poisoning dinner saying someone must have done it on purpose.

No, because 1) he poisoned himself too and 2) he immediately said he had done it by accident.

alwaysonadiet1 · 10/08/2023 16:46

Do we know how old the children are?

SiouxsieSiouxStiletto · 10/08/2023 16:47

alwaysonadiet1 · 10/08/2023 16:46

Do we know how old the children are?

I've not seen it mentioned.

FallingStar21 · 10/08/2023 16:50

Choux · 10/08/2023 15:30

Maybe she tried to kill the husband last year as revenge for leaving her but failed.

This year she got confused about which pot of dried mushrooms was death cap and poisoned her in-laws by accident. Then thought 'oh shot I am about to be uncovered for trying to kill DH AND killing my in-laws' so panicked and got rid of the dehydrator.

@Choux great theory 😄 Wish it was a TV drama, not people's real lives (or deaths for that matter)

FallingStar21 · 10/08/2023 16:52

alwaysonadiet1 · 10/08/2023 16:46

Do we know how old the children are?

I posted a question earlier about why they were taken into care, rather than looked after by dad. Surely he'd want to be there for them?

Lunde · 10/08/2023 17:36

FallingStar21 · 10/08/2023 16:52

I posted a question earlier about why they were taken into care, rather than looked after by dad. Surely he'd want to be there for them?

Show quote history

I read in one of the articles that he had still not recovered from his mystery illness last year - had spent time at a rehabilitation unit and had been living with his parents. So it sounds like he may not be well enough to look after the kids

Janieforever · 10/08/2023 18:19

HaveYouHeardOfARoadAtlas · 10/08/2023 15:42

I do think sometimes the simplest answer may be the most likely. That she’s just a bit shit at mushroom identification and is in shock/generally a little odd and doesn’t come across well (why should she).

nobody hounded Nicholas Evans family after their mass mushroom poisoning dinner saying someone must have done it on purpose.

though I admit it’s odd that she was unaffected but there may be an explanation for this that we just don’t know yet.

I agree, the simplest solution is the most likely. However the simplest solution I suspect is she did this on purpose. It’s clearly not she’s shit at mushroom Id as she’s denied foraging. So that makes it a little more complex…no?

mangochops · 10/08/2023 18:28

TerrorAustralis · 10/08/2023 16:03

nobody hounded Nicholas Evans family after their mass mushroom poisoning dinner saying someone must have done it on purpose.

No, because 1) he poisoned himself too and 2) he immediately said he had done it by accident.

This lol. He poisoned himself too so hardly attempted murder

Indiagrace94 · 10/08/2023 18:30

Defo sus

Waitingroompurplecup · 10/08/2023 18:41

@FallingStar21 if the dad is having discussions with the police about how she previously tried to poison him, and the mother is a suspect in a new poisoning incident, and the children were present at the time of said poisoning, they are likely witnesses and risk their memory being influenced by their father. That could be a reason why they’re not together. The kids may or may not be witnesses to a crime.

HaveYouHeardOfARoadAtlas · 10/08/2023 18:42

Or possibly the dad could be a person of interest too?

MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 10/08/2023 18:47

Janieforever · 10/08/2023 18:19

I agree, the simplest solution is the most likely. However the simplest solution I suspect is she did this on purpose. It’s clearly not she’s shit at mushroom Id as she’s denied foraging. So that makes it a little more complex…no?

Show quote history

If the victims ingested the poisonous mushrooms at that meal (there have been suggestions that they had shared other meals in the preceding days), it seems incredibly unlikely that anyone else introduced the mushrooms into their food. So it will come down to whether this was deliberate or accidental - and whether the police can find evidence of intent.

There is no obvious logical motive for her to poison any of the victims deliberately so, if she did it, it is more likely that she is someone who enjoys poisoning than she did it for a specific reason, e.g. money.

FeigningConcern · 10/08/2023 18:59

echt · 09/08/2023 09:15

The thing about the interview outside the car that intrigued me was that Ms Patterson didn't mention her children, who have been taken out of her care by the police. Although thinking of her manner, we only have to consider how Lindy Chamberlain (Do Dingoes Eat Babies?) was pilloried for her unemotional demeanour.

Exactly. There is no rule book on how to react in this type of situation. Everyone reacts differently and history has shown multiple times that people are very poor judges of what they think is an appropriate response. You cannot judge this based on that interview. If she hasn’t done it, she’s just lost a ton of people close to her, been accused of murder, and had her children taken off her. Plus she’s probably been told be her lawyer and the police not to discuss certain things. No-one could say how they’d react or what they’d say in that situation.

RandomForest · 10/08/2023 19:09

Can't believe she was actually driving, I don't think I'd be able tootle arround when I'd been accused of killing 3 people and one in a critical condition, I honestly don't think I'd function enough to walk.

I also wonder if the husband has a girlfriend and one has to think about why the children have not gone to him.

Maybe they are both suspects, maybe they were in it together to harm the parents to inherit and make their divorce financially easier.

masterblaster · 10/08/2023 19:13

Dustyblue · 09/08/2023 09:01

Most people here know not to eat the mushrooms. It's not like in the UK, where you can actually forage for them and cook them (witness Antonio Carluccio foraging with Jamie Oliver for example). Antonio is pretty much a mycologist.

For the Victorians: I did a 1-day course in Daylesford with an actual mycologist (fungus expert) where we all foraged, had our fungus inspected, and he threw most of them out. The rest were cooked and we had them for lunch.

Lesson is Don't Eat Mushrooms in Australia :)

… and here in the U.K. we thought we had completed the list of “crazily deadly Australian things”. Now we have to add mushrooms.

FeigningConcern · 10/08/2023 19:17

FuppingEll · 09/08/2023 10:45

I really hate to see people trying to guess guilt from how someone behaves. I'm a fecking weirdo sometimes in times of stress, god knows what the baying mob would make of me if anything ever happened to someone close to me. People aren't robots, they don't always act predictably. I'm sure the truth will come out in time but until then I don't think everyone needs to pull apart the woman.

I know! I’d be totally fucked in this scenario. I am ND and I don’t respond “normally” at the best of times. I respond guiltily when accused, even when completely innocent. And I also laugh inappropriately on receiving bad news. I also get flustered easily and forget things/go blank especially when under pressure. If I feel like someone is expecting a certain response I then tend to behave very unnaturally as I overthink everything I am doing or saying. Rubbish in job interviews. In a police interview I’d be terrible!

When I looked at some of the criticisms of Lucy Letby not remembering things, remembering other things and not completing her notes consistently and keeping loads of random papers but shredding other papers, I’m like ummmm sounds very familiar! I do all of that! I’d be screwed if I was ever accused of murder!!

BreatheAndFocus · 10/08/2023 19:21

There are a number of possibilities if it was deliberate. Maybe she saw her ex’s parents as the people dissuading her ex from getting back with her and thought he’d change his mind if they were gone? Maybe he saw it as a way to implicate his ex-wife in poisoning, a good way to get custody of the children and her away from him, perhaps planning just to make them a little bit ill? That last suggestion can’t be ruled out and is probably the reason why the children aren’t with him.

Perhaps she only planned to poison him and then he pulled out of the meal while they were all sitting down to eat so she could hardly say “Don’t eat that - it’s poisoned”! hoping they’d just eat tiny amounts and be ok. Maybe she hid the no longer needed poisoned dish in the kitchen but they came in to help her and took it out onto the table? Again, she can hardly leap up and say it’s poisoned.

If it was an accident, I’d have expected her to be very keen to show that.