The Australian Mushroom Poisonings ~ Is Like An Unfolding Agatha Christie Novel

It is still early in this unfolding mushroom saga, but nevertheless, the person who cooked it up does not have a very good explanation for preparing and serving such a deadly meal. She adamantly claims she meant no harm. 

Death cap mushrooms grow in the wild in many countries, to include Canada’s west coast, Europe, North Africa, Scandinavia, Ireland, Poland, Russia, and Australia. This type of mushroom is responsible for 90% of mushroom fatalities worldwide.

However, in spite of their widespread growth, and deadly toxins, it is not the least bit common for someone to cook them up and serve them to a group of people.

There are only about a hundred mushroom fatalities per year worldwide. In some cases, a small child has plucked one off the ground, and eaten it without the parent seeing, or catching it on time. In a handful of cases, death caps were misidentified. Apparently they have a resemblance to straw mushrooms, but straw mushrooms grow in Asia, not Australia.

Death cap mushrooms do grow in Australia, and are noted to grow in the area where this poisoning occurred. So it is possible she picked them herself, even though she claimed to have bought them.

Most people who go mushroom picking know how to identify what is safe, and avoid what is poison. Anyone who does go out picking mushrooms should be very cautious.

While living on Haida Gwaii, I will admit to having picked buckets full of chanterelle mushrooms. It was kind of cool, because you find a few, and like following bread crumbs through the forest, suddenly you come into a clearing loaded with chanterelles, glistening like harvest gold in the fall sun.

But chanterelle mushrooms have very distinctive colouring, and are easy to identify. I did see some strange looking mushrooms that actually looked sinister. I think it would be riskier to pick some of the different varieties, including psilocybin, because there is a whole field of knowledge to gain, before heading into those fields.

If a person did decide to intentionally poison someone, death cap mushrooms would do the deed, probably quicker than anti-freeze.

When I saw the initial video clip of Erin Patterson crying about the death of her in-laws due to a lunch she served, my first thought was, but why are you still alive? I mean she served the same lunch to a group of people, and they were fatally poisoned, with the exception of one, who is clinging to life and requiring a liver transplant. That was the fate of her guests. 

Yet somehow she, the one who prepared the meal, is unscathed except for an abundance of crocodile tears. To paraphrase a few things she said from the get go, it is interesting to note the first thing she did, was to contact a criminal lawyer. She then refused to answer basic questions from the police about where the poison mushrooms came from.

She eventually disclosed where she got them. She claimed she bought dried mushrooms from an Asian grocery store, and combined them with fresh mushrooms from a local supermarket. But for the life of her, she could not remember the name of the Asian grocery store.

If she was genuinely grief stricken over what happened to her in-laws, you would think her first concern would be to warn others about the potential for poisoning. You would think she would immediately cooperate with police, and give as many details as possible, including exactly where she got them.

But first it was “no comment” to the repeated questions, and then it was a vague reference to an Asian grocery store, but she could not remember where it was.

So right out of the gate, suspicions began to stir the rumour mills. Following the extensive crying without answering their questions, the media was determined to find out, so they hounded her relentlessly.

She had a bucket load of dry tears, and emotional drama, while clearly trying to avoid giving any details such as how it happened, where the mushrooms came from, and how she managed to come through it all without being poisoned too.

One thing I have noticed after watching a number of true crime shows, is how common it is for the person who has committed the crime to act overly emotional and dramatic. The case of Alex Murdaugh is an example of this. When he called 911, he put on an act to appear shocked and devastated, wailing over the phone, as though he had just discovered the bodies, and was completely overwhelmed. 

Although there is a wide range of responses to shocking crimes and death, it is not uncommon for people to put on an act, in an attempt to demonstrate strong emotions. However, if a person does put on an act in front of the media, it is even worse than if they cry and wail over the phone, because when in front of the camera, every single nuance, word, body language, and in particular, facial expression, can be dissected, studied, paused, and diagnosed like a frog in a laboratory. 

Everything from the eyebrows, the eyes, the mouth, the way the words are used, and the expression that goes with each word, is evaluated by countless experts. They do not miss anything. So anyone who stands in front of the media is wise to tell the truth, or else put a blanket over their head and hide. 

Police investigations do not get advanced based on emotions. All the crying in the world does not make a difference to them. They have seen it all, and will follow the evidence, not the tears. They are also intuitive, and likely to be on the cynical side. They may not have advanced degrees in every nuance of the body language and facial expression, but they do have the well honed gut feeling.  They may have to set it aside temporarily as they work things through, but they do not ignore it. The gut has already been proven to be part of the rapid communication between the instinct, and the brain. 

Probably some of them do have advanced degrees in assessing body language, but regardless, they can pick up on those subtleties like a bloodhound on a trail. They can also go over video footage and get expert consultation after the interview. Who can blame them for being cynical? They have a job that requires a certain level of skepticism, not gullibility, or they would never solve the crimes. 

The media, like the police, are prone to hunches and gut instinct as well, and will chase a story, herding up every word, like an industrious and energetic border collie. They will not let one utterance stray off, without pouncing, and nipping at the heels. The old adage “loose lips sink ships” does apply to unexplained deaths. 

Just based on what has been reported in the news, it seems incredible to me she would contact a lawyer, initially say “no comment”, and then give a publicized media interview, especially without anticipating the most likely, and pressing question of all would be, “what about the lunch you cooked?”

Instead she went on about how the dinner guests had never harmed her, and how devastated she was. Why would the issue of harm be brought up at all? The media was not asking her if she had a reason to harm them, or if they had ever harmed her. They were asking her specifically about the lunch, and where the mushrooms came from. 

She should have known she could not duck out of answering the most important question of all. Yet she waffled, deflected, and clearly did not want to talk about the lunch she had so meticulously prepared. She spent hours and hours cooking a special dish, yet she did not want to discuss it at all, not even to issue a carefully prepared statement about it to the media? Very strange. 

The fact she claimed to have been poisoned too, sounds completely bogus to me. She could have easily told hospital staff she had diarrhea and vomiting, or had abdominal pain. How could they prove otherwise?

She said they gave her IV fluids and liver medications, and sent her home. But even so – she was just fine hours and days later, when that is not what happens with death cap mushroom poisoning. What about the fact the poisoning attacks the liver and kidneys days later? What about the fact there is a period of improvement, followed by worsening of symptoms and organ failure? 

Does she really believe she would be out of danger by being given a liver protecting drug? If it was so simple, why didn’t the others get the liver protecting drug, and get sent home too?

Obviously if a liver protecting drug can be an antidote for the poison, the other guests who were so sick would have been given it as well, as soon as they were admitted. Why did it protect her and not them?

The mushroom experts, and doctors familiar with these poisonings, claim there is no antidote at all. It is not like snake venom, or other types of poisoning, that can be given an antidote and reversed. It is precisely what makes them so dangerous, and why the death is painful, irreversible, and horrific. It is also why victims of death cap poisoning need a liver transplant. 

In my opinion, this woman is not the sharpest tool in the shed. She makes claims that do not make sense, are easy to disprove, and make her look more guilty, not less. Did she really get a liver protective medication? I wonder what it was called, and how effective it is in cases of death cap mushroom poisoning? Only for her I guess. 

She also claimed her children were not home for the lunch. They went to the movies. You would kind of think they would be there too, in order to spend time with their grandparents. Maybe it was to be a meal meant for an adult conversation. She repeatedly said her children loved their grandparents. They may have gone to the movies, to allow for a private discussion, or perhaps to spare them some anticipated confrontations, or information their mother did not want them to hear. Who knows? At this point, there is a great deal of speculation. 

She then explained, the next day was when she scraped the mushrooms off the beef wellington, and fed the leftovers to her kids. Huh? How does it make sense, if the rest of the guests fell ill within a matter of hours?

She also said she herself got sick. Symptoms first occur within about eight to ten hours, depending on the amount consumed. It means those who ate the lunch would have been sick by 10 pm, assuming they ate lunch between noon and 2pm.

Why would anyone in their right mind feed the same meal to her children the following day? She claimed she was admitted to hospital, presumedly on the same night as the rest of the guests, and released in the morning. So she went home and promptly gave the kids the same meal? I really wonder if she was admitted to the hospital at all. Again, it is easy enough to prove or disprove. 

If she did give the kids the meal, even if she scraped the mushrooms off, they still would have been poisoned. Therefore, in addition to other lies she told, this too has to be a lie.

Although at this point, it is all speculation, we do know there were poisonings. The reason I think she is lying about giving the children the same meal the next day, is because it would have been toxic, and she would have known it definitively by then.

It sounds like she made this claim to explain why the children were not fed the same meal when she served it to their grandparents. She was trying to make a case for innocence, but kept making it worse. 

The key thing about dehydrated mushrooms, is they take on the moisture from whatever they are cooked in, and become rehydrated. The moisture from the fresh mushrooms, beef, and other ingredients, would have toxins from the death cap mushrooms leeching throughout the entire dish. That is precisely why people add savoury ingredients to a meal. They permeate and blend with the other ingredients.

Beef wellington is especially well known for the succulent and juicy meat used in the dish. The contamination with toxins, if they were actually used in the cooking, had to be spread throughout the entire dish.

The only other explanation might be that she surreptitiously added some dried death cap mushroom powder to certain plates, and did not cook the death caps into the beef wellington.

The possibility she crushed, powdered, and added them to tea crossed my mind as well. It might be less likely, but it is possible. Mushroom tea is not unheard of, and the taste could be disguised, if mixed with something else. In addition, the guests had the taste of mushrooms on their palette anyway, so may not have noticed the taste in tea.

It is not a theory I have heard anyone else make, but it did occur to me, because I have seen many dried mushroom powders in health food stores, so they do get dried, and ground for herbal teas. Surely they do not use death caps, but it is possible they too could be prepared in such a way. 

In my opinion, it is very doubtful she gave the mushroom dish to the children at all. I also do not believe she ate one bit of the toxic mix herself. Given her weak explanations, it is also hard to explain how she herself escaped being poisoned. Hopefully the remaining victim will survive, and be able to shed some light on what truly happened, in particular how she acted throughout the lunch. 

The next red flag is when she claimed she had thrown out a food dehydrator months prior to the poisonings. Yet while in the hospital after the poisonings, her ex husband accused her of poisoning them. She claimed to have panicked, and thrown out the food dehydrator after he made this accusation. She also admitted to having lied about it to police.

Whatever the truth is, they did find it, and they also have CTV footage of when she took it to the recycling plant. So regardless of what she says about the timing surrounding the disposal of it, they already have proof. Although I am not sure, I have also heard hints about proof surrounding her claims of being taken to hospital by ambulance herself. But once again, it is still inconclusive until all the pieces are put together to make the whole story. 

It is also interesting to note she did not take the food dehydrator to the recycling place nearest to her house, but chose one a bit further away. It could be she was driving past the further location for another reason. But still, it does seem she had issues with the food dehydrator, and getting rid of it was a big deal. 

The next question is, why would she have used a food dehydrator to dehydrate dried mushrooms? She had supposedly purchased them at an Asian grocery store, and kept in the cupboard for months? They were already dehydrated. For crying out loud – maybe it explains why she was crying out loud. 

Why would she have panicked about the food dehydrator in the first place? Why would she have thrown it out? It sounds like there is a good chance they will find residue from death cap mushrooms in the food dehydrator. If so, how is she going to explain that?

It has been divulged she is an expert mushroom forager, and knew what she was doing when it came to identifying mushrooms. Even so, she did not claim to have picked them herself. If she had claimed to pick them herself, her defence would not be as difficult. She could wail and claim she made a dreadful mistake. She didn’t have her glasses on, she was really tired, or whatever.

But now, she is committed to the Asian grocery store claim, as far as the source of the mushrooms is concerned. She also cannot explain why no one else in the community bought mushrooms from the same store, why there were no other poisonings, or recalls, etc. Whatever was being cooked up in her mind, she was not thinking it through. 

Also the chances of commercial growers and sellers being guilty of selling poisonous mushrooms, is almost nil. So she has locked herself into an unlikely source. No doubt it has caused a drop in mushroom sales. 

To add to the dishy roman-fleuve, her ex-husband suffered a severe bout of gastric illness and almost died a year or so prior to this episode. He was also invited to the lethal lunch, but backed out at the last minute.

Another thing to surface, was when a painter showed pictures of a kitchen wall at the former residence of this woman, showing all kinds of strange death related imagery, tombstones and words like “death by my sword”. Why would anyone have such macabre images and words on their kitchen wall? Like everything else about her, why would she be dumb enough to leave it there when she moved? Obviously the realtor, and others who see it are bound to be alarmed. 

The writing is on the wall. The assumption was the children did all the morbid doodling, but maybe she was the one who did it. It certainly did not look like the drawings children would make, however I don’t know how old they are. Also, whose handwriting was it? There were many words alongside the images.

Toxicology reports take many weeks, and it will take many more weeks, or months for the police to do an in-depth investigation. Of course she is innocent until proven guilty. Regardless of what anyone’s opinions are, many people are afraid to say what they think before the remaining details are known. However, there are many legitimate questions, whether she likes it or not.

So far, the one good thing to come of it, is her children are safe, as they have apparently been removed from her custody. At least they are protected from any potential harm, or strange concoctions. 

At this point, along with millions of others, people are praying for the one surviving victim. It has already been three weeks since his horrible ordeal began. Let’s hope he lives to tell his story, and is able to make a full recovery.

If it does turn out to be intentional, it certainly falls into the category of diabolical. Poisoning has to be one of the sneakiest, and cruelest forms of death. I think most people would rather be shot.

Preparing and serving food is supposed to be nurturing. It is traditionally one of the most positive shared experiences known to people from all cultures and walks of life. To betray the trust and good will involved in such a gathering, is beyond comprehension.

Usually if a person is poisoned intentionally, it is done to one individual. There have been cases where a murderer poisoned one individual, and then later used the same method on another.

Who knows what the outcome will be, but it does seem odd for all the people at a dinner or lunch party to be fatally poisoned, and only the one who prepared the meal survived unscathed. It sounds like she has a lot more explaining to do. Crocodile tears are not going to get her out of the jam she is in.

If she does manage to avoid being charged, how many people are going to eat anything she cooks ever again? Even her children would not be safe, because who knows what she might feed them?

Even if it was a mistake, obviously she is not cooking with a full deck. She thinks she is being unfairly portrayed by the media as an evil witch. If she is not an evil witch, there is still something seriously wrong with her thought processes, and her cooking abilities. 

If she does turn out to be guilty of intentional poisoning, it confirms the one thing I believe is the biggest mistake a murder victim ever makes. They are trusting, and do not consider the possibility the person they know, could be, or might be homicidal. It’s an understandable, and innocent, but often fatal mistake. They trusted. Trust should never have such consequences, especially in families, but sadly, it often does. 

It doesn’t sound like she is too fond of the media. They did not buy into her emotional drama, sans the full account of what actually happened. They have been hounding her like a pack of hungry dogs. But they better not take any scraps she throws their way!

Copyright Valerie J. Hayes and Quiet West (2023). Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author/owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Valerie J. Hayes and Quiet West with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.