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

I see what you're saying. I suppose it'll depend on the timings and whether any of the victims have traces of poisonous mushrooms in their own bins / kitchens as to whether this can be ruled out; and/or if any of them had time so say anything about what and where they'd eaten before they became too ill too talk.

From what I've read of them though, they seem too savvy to have picked and eaten wild mushrooms, given all the warnings floating about in Victoria.

Which would mean of course in turn that if they were served mushrooms for lunch and ate them, presumably they were reassured they were from the supermarket ...

Christ... after watching that video, if she's not guilty, I'll eat my hat foraged mushrooms.

You still need to be really careful here in the uk. I have a friend who ended up in ITU after he ate what he thought were edible mushrooms. The author Nicholas Evans and family were poisoned and needed dialysis after doing the same up in Scotland. I believe he went on to need a kidney transplant.

I’ve been fascinated by this story too since I read about it 24 hours ago. I’m a bit of a true crime addict though, so tend to gravitate to this sort of story😳 Do we know what the four of them were doing beforehand? Were they together somewhere else and might have been poisoned elsewhere? She’s really stupid if she did this and thought she would get away with it.

Someone I know who is local says her children have been removed from her, but I can't find any reference to this.

Personally I wouldn't dry UK foraged mushrooms for use at a later date...unless I had a cunning plan.

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

That's inkcaps, maybe some others too.

The Guardian article by Decca Aitkenhead about Nicholas Evans and the mushroom poisoning is just about my favourite long story article I have ever read. It just seems perfect to me (horrible subject matter but beautifully told). I encourage everyone to read it and compare it to what passes for journalism these days ☹.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/australian-mushroom-poisoning-case-ex-husbands-mystery-stomach-ailment/ZVIEV4ISRZEZRMIA7XIQYXR4GQ/

There's a reference to the children being removed in this article.

This is all utterly fascinating. Her interview is so shady - there is definitely something dodgy going on if you go by that.

The NZ Herald mentions her children being taken away ‘as a precaution’

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/australian-mushroom-poisoning-case-ex-husbands-mystery-stomach-ailment/ZVIEV4ISRZEZRMIA7XIQYXR4GQ/Australian mushroom poisoning case: Ex-husband’s mystery stomach ailment

Every autumn on our neighbourhood Whatsapp group, someone will write, "Just off mushrooming, anyone want some?" and invariably several people will reply, "Yes please, I'll take some, love field mushrooms". I would never, ever, take any, especially after the terrible mistake of Nicholas Evans (Horse Whisperer author), see post above. So easy to do, so deadly an outcome. But as for Erin Patterson, it doesn't seem to have been a mistake, does it?

If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck...

I would have thought she would eat some herself. Enough to make herself ill but no more.

The trouble with mushrooms is the difference between enough to make you ill and enough to kill you can be scarily small gap.

if she did do it I just don’t understand why she doesn’t just say it was an accident rather than denying giving them mushroom. Hopefully the survivor will make a good recovery and be able to shed light on it.

It’s very Shirley Jackson.

Heard this being discussed on radio 4 yesterday. From the video and other bits reported she did it. What a b*tch is all I can say. And stupid too to think she’d get away with it.

I hate to say it

But if it walks like a duck...

(See also: Britain's Wonkiest Pub)

There is a Kate Atkinson book where one of the characters kills her abusive husband by making mushroom soup with poisenous mushrooms.

She's a very good writer

@LindorDoubleChoc I had bloody forgotten about that! will reread!

“If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck...”

Hmmm. They said the same thing about Lindy Chamberlain and they were wrong. We have a bit of a history of getting it wrong in Australia when it comes to women. Most recently Kathleen Folbigg.

This story was on the BBC main page yesterday, honestly. I’m interested to see how it unfolds.

Catching up on the whole thread (only on page 1) and agree it sounds suspicious as hell.

There was a reasonably well known accidental mushroom poisoning case in the UK back in 2012 - Sorry - Daily Fail link - author of The Horse Whisperer accidentally poisoned his family and they all needed kidney transplants.

He did, however, also poison himself in the process.

And based on things like BMI, too. A bigger body may process the same ‘dose’ differently.

This thread is now reminding me of Donna Tart’s The Secret History where there is a plot to murder someone using poisoned mushrooms, though it’s never carried out. The characters are quibbling about concentrations of the toxin in individual mushrooms, whether a stone difference in weight between two people would mean the difference between being made very ill and dying from the same amount etc.

The intention was to make a mushroom dish for a collective dinner (so everyone would get a bit ill to allay suspicion) and to rely on the fact that the murder target was greedy and could be relied on to eat far more than anyone else. The man plotter also lays the groundwork by foraging for (safe) wild mushrooms beforehand, cooking them beautifully, and serving them to a beloved teacher.

It was just reported (here in Tassie) that she made a comment that she obtained the mushrooms from a local grocer and not her yard.

Yes, that's another very fishy story isn't it? And devestating.