A woman who cooked a beef wellington pie with deadly mushrooms in it, killing three people, has tearfully spoken out and maintained her innocence.
Heather Wilkinson, 66, along with couple Gail Patterson and Don Patterson, both 70, all died after the meal at a home in Leongatha, in Victoria’s eastern Gippsland region, Australia, on July 29.
The cook of the meal, 48-year-old Erin Patterson, denies all wrongdoing. All three of the deceased as well as a fourth man in hospital all showed symptoms consistent with eating a particular type of deadly mushroom – the death cap.
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The Daily Mail reported that the meet up was intended as a reconciliation lunch in a bid for Erin Patterson to mend ties with her estranged husband Simon, who pulled out at the last minute according to a friend.
Speaking to reporters outside her home on Monday (August 7), she again denied any wrongdoing and said 'she loved' her in-laws, Gail and Don, with Gail being like a mother to her.
Erin Patterson didn’t answer any questions on whether and what mushrooms were served at the meal and if she also consumed them, News.au reported.
Police found a food dehydrator at a local tip site, which is now being forensically analysed to see if it is related to the deaths.
Authorities aren't definitively sure on what mushrooms were used, but death caps are suspected.
Erin told police in Victoria that she bought the mushrooms in a local shop.
Police maintain it could be an "innocent" tragedy.
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Death caps are the world’s most deadly fungus and can even be found between August and November in broadleaved woods in the UK.
This nasty killer will cause your kidneys and liver to fail within a day of eating them and are also lethal to dogs.
Vomiting, diarrhoea and severe abdominal pain will precede jaundice, seizures, coma and then death.
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