Page 4 | The mushroom poisoning in Vic.... I am gripped

Dustyblue · 2023-08-09T03:58:28+00:00

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. [[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-09/poisonous-mushroom-deaths-victoria-leongatha-explainer/102703430 Three people died from suspected mushroom poisoning after sharing a meal. Here's what we know - ABC News]]

mangochops · 09/08/2023 08:53

I think she's dodgy as hell. She picks mushrooms and serves them to only specific people, yet she and her kids strangely dont eat them and she disposed of the food equipment? I'm guessing guilty.

There was a case a few years ago of 4 people in Scotland who went for a walk, picked wild mushrooms and ate them (one of them was the author of the book the horse whisperer) and they all ended up needing kidney transplants. They all fell out after arguing about whose idea it was to eat them and whose fault it was. In the Scottish case it baffles me- why on earth take the chance?- you can buy mushrooms from most shops and they even said they didnt even taste nice anyway. I just dont understand why anyone would take such a stupid risk.

LynetteScavo · 09/08/2023 08:54

Well, I'd like to think that she's innocent, but everything seems to point to her being guilty.

Surely if it were accidental she'd be mortified that she'd accidentally done something awful. I'm not getting that vibe.

aeaeae · 09/08/2023 08:55

This is very suspicious. I was on the fence until I read about the ex being seriously ill last year! It’s strange how she didn’t get ill then, this time, or inbetween. If you hate mushrooms and don’t eat them yourself, and neither do your kids, then why would you make them for others?

RoseBucket · 09/08/2023 08:55

Dustyblue · 09/08/2023 08:48

@RoseBucket Hi, I've asked for your post to be deleted. The business you mention is legitimate and likely nothing to do with this. Thanks.

It’s clear the business refers to the woman’s in questions newspaper. But thank you random MN police officer.

realitytransurfing · 09/08/2023 08:55

The thing is, if you want to kill people, would you really choose to do it by inviting them round to a meal where they all eat something poisonous and you don't? Surely it's guaranteed to bring suspicion straight down on you

Many people who commit crimes are stupid- its not only evil geniuses who kill people. Look at shannon matthews mother

SpringIntoChaos · 09/08/2023 09:00

Xrays · 09/08/2023 08:11

I’ve been fascinated by this. I can’t understand why anyone would be so daft as to pick and eat wild mushrooms 😳 so dangerous!

I am not entirely sure it’s a sign of her guilt that she and the dc didn’t eat the same meal. My dh absolutely HATES mushrooms, literally cannot stand them, even if cooked a meal and then he or I picked them out he still wouldn’t eat the meal so I’d have to do something completely separate for him. I’ve actually met quite a lot of people that feel that way about mushrooms so I don’t think it’s that uncommon.

All very odd.

Yes...but if YOU were the host and cooking a meal for just 4 guests, you wouldn't cook a mushroom based meal would you, if you absolutely couldn't stand mushrooms?? There literally isn't any need to do so! You'd cook a hundred other meals, without mushrooms 🤷‍♀️

I can't abide sprouts...even the thought of a sprout on my plate makes me feel grim! I'd never, ever cook a sprout based meal...why would I? 🤷‍♀️ There's absolutely no need...unless there was a 'poisonous sprout variety' and I wished to 'off' some relatives, perhaps...😈

justasking111 · 09/08/2023 09:01

I can't decide if she accidentally picked the wrong mushrooms or is an amateur serial killer.

Original poster

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 :)

OP posts:

mangochops · 09/08/2023 09:02

SpringIntoChaos · 09/08/2023 09:00

Yes...but if YOU were the host and cooking a meal for just 4 guests, you wouldn't cook a mushroom based meal would you, if you absolutely couldn't stand mushrooms?? There literally isn't any need to do so! You'd cook a hundred other meals, without mushrooms 🤷‍♀️

I can't abide sprouts...even the thought of a sprout on my plate makes me feel grim! I'd never, ever cook a sprout based meal...why would I? 🤷‍♀️ There's absolutely no need...unless there was a 'poisonous sprout variety' and I wished to 'off' some relatives, perhaps...😈

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Exactly. Plus, you'd be making double work for yourself by having to then make two different meals. Far easier to make one thing that everyone eats.

Bruisername · 09/08/2023 09:04

In France you can take your mushroom haul to the pharmacy and they discard the bad ones.

agree it’s odd she didn’t eat them. If she did it on purpose though wouldn’t she be saying she had made an awful mistake rather than denying she cooked the mushrooms?

Emelene · 09/08/2023 09:04

The whole thing is bizarre! And I agree the interview is very strange.

Whinge · 09/08/2023 09:05

SpringIntoChaos · 09/08/2023 09:00

Yes...but if YOU were the host and cooking a meal for just 4 guests, you wouldn't cook a mushroom based meal would you, if you absolutely couldn't stand mushrooms?? There literally isn't any need to do so! You'd cook a hundred other meals, without mushrooms 🤷‍♀️

I can't abide sprouts...even the thought of a sprout on my plate makes me feel grim! I'd never, ever cook a sprout based meal...why would I? 🤷‍♀️ There's absolutely no need...unless there was a 'poisonous sprout variety' and I wished to 'off' some relatives, perhaps...😈

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Exactly. One of the perks of being the host is choosing something you want to eat. It's a very strange case and the interview is like something from a badly acted TV drama. I really don't think anyone would be surprised if she's found guilty.

MentholLoad · 09/08/2023 09:05

the 4 people that got sick may have eaten the mushrooms together before or after they went to hers for the meal couldn't they. I think that's entirely possible given that they are all related. they might have gone home together and had a snack together later on or something. or even something earlier in the day

LynetteScavo · 09/08/2023 09:07

I can understand how four people would eat one thing and three another- maybe she made a fancy pasta sauce for her guests, but a plain one for the children, which she also ate. An accident could easily happen. But she doesn't seem to be owning up to an accident.

My guess is she just wanted to make her guests ill, not kill them.

harriethoyle · 09/08/2023 09:08

EXACTLY @SpringIntoChaos ! I loathe mushrooms and so I never cook them. If DH wants them with a breakfast or on toast, he makes his own. But he rarely does because I loathe smell and taste. Makes no sense at all to make separate meals for a lunch party...

Agree with PP that this has real Midsommer Murders vibes.

BarryistheNewHarry · 09/08/2023 09:09

I just watched the video and it sounded so staged. As if it had been rehearsed. Definitely very very suspicious.

ChurlishGreen · 09/08/2023 09:09

Bruisername · 09/08/2023 09:04

In France you can take your mushroom haul to the pharmacy and they discard the bad ones.

agree it’s odd she didn’t eat them. If she did it on purpose though wouldn’t she be saying she had made an awful mistake rather than denying she cooked the mushrooms?

Yes, I have a retired French pharmacist friend whose business was near a large forest on the outskirts of Paris. She claims to have told everyone to discard what they brought to her, because she was afraid of the repercussions of making the wrong call.

I pick mushrooms a lot, but not in Australia, and only the commonest varieties I’m certain of.

Original poster

Dustyblue · 09/08/2023 09:10

RoseBucket · 09/08/2023 08:55

It’s clear the business refers to the woman’s in questions newspaper. But thank you random MN police officer.

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Fair enough, I guess it's all open questions at this point.

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DampSquid · 09/08/2023 09:11

People usually suggest that poison is a woman's method of murder. Her interview by the car seemed off to me.
Just awful for her children though

WatchOutMissMarpleIsAbout · 09/08/2023 09:11

My dad used to forage for mushrooms & would eat them. We never did too chicken!

TallulahBetty · 09/08/2023 09:15

Thank you for this - I'd not heard of it. Straight from Midsummer Murders.

Netflix will be circling.

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.

BalloonSlayer · 09/08/2023 09:16

There was a Ruth Rendell story where the mushrooms were only poisonous if you drank alcohol.

Dymaxion · 09/08/2023 09:17

Google suggests just half a cap is sufficent to kill someone, so if the mushrooms were dehydrated, it would be easy to give a lethal dose even if you meant only to make them ill ?

QueenOfWeeds · 09/08/2023 09:17

Bruisername · 09/08/2023 09:04

In France you can take your mushroom haul to the pharmacy and they discard the bad ones.

agree it’s odd she didn’t eat them. If she did it on purpose though wouldn’t she be saying she had made an awful mistake rather than denying she cooked the mushrooms?

This is so French. I love it.