A meal of suspected death cap mushrooms served at a family lunch in late July is at the center of a homicide investigation in Australia following the deaths of three guests less than a week later.
Erin Patterson served the meal to her former parents-in-law and her mother-in-law’s sister and husband, who were guests at her home in the town of Leongatha in southern Victoria, on July 29, according to Victoria Police.
Within days, Gail Patterson, 70, and her sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, died in hospital, followed by Gail’s 70-year-old husband, Don, a day later.
A fourth guest, Wilkinson’s husband, Ian, a 68-year-old reverend, remains critically ill in hospital.
Their deaths have shocked the small town and in recent days parishioners at the nearby Korumburra Baptist Church have gathered to pray for the recovery of their reverend, who reportedly needs a liver transplant.
Combined, the towns of Leongatha and Korumburra are home to just over 10,000 people, according to the latest census.
In a tearful exchange with local media outside her home on Monday, Erin Patterson denied any wrongdoing.
At a news briefing Monday, Detective Inspector Dean Thomas with the Victoria Police homicide squad, said Patterson is a suspect because she cooked the meal, and is the only adult at the lunch who didn’t fall ill.
He said Erin Patterson had separated from her husband, Simon, who lost both his parents, but described their relationship as “amicable.”
The former couple’s two children were also at the lunch, he added, but they ate a different meal and showed no sign of illness.
“We have to keep an open mind in relation to this. It could be very innocent,” Thomas said. “But again, we just don’t know at this point … four people turn up and three of them pass away, with another one critical, so we have to work through this.”
Patterson has not been charged in the deaths.
(CNN)