An Australian woman has given her version of events to police after three of her family members died following a meal she cooked for them.
Erin Patterson of Victoria, Australia, had invited her former in-laws Gail and Don Patterson, both 70 to her house for lunch on July 29 along with Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66 and her husband Ian, 68.
The meal Erin served was beef wellington with mushrooms. However, a day after the meal, all four guests were rushed to the hospital with "gastro-like symptoms".
Tragically, Gail, Don, and Heather all died later that night while Ian remains in hospital in critical condition awaiting a liver transplant.
After being interviewed by police, Erin was released without charge, however authorities have confirmed that she remains a suspect. The 48-year-old has since sent a statement to Victoria Police, giving her own detailed account of the events of July 29.
In the statement, Patterson explained that her children ate the leftovers of the meal the following night, however the mushrooms had been scraped off the meal as the children don't like them.
The mushrooms were, according to Patterson's statement, a combination of some button mushrooms bought from a supermarket and some dried mushrooms purchased from an Asian grocery three months prior to the meal.
Homicide police had initially said that Patterson's children had been present at the meal, although in her statement, the 48-year-old has revealed they were at the movies.
In the statement, Patteron said, via The Independent “I am now devastated to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to the illness suffered by my loved ones. I really want to repeat that I had absolutely no reason to hurt these people whom I loved.
“I am now wanting to clear up the record because I have become extremely stressed and overwhelmed by the deaths of my loved ones. I am hoping this statement might help in some way. I believe if people understood the background more, they would not be so quick to rush to judgment.”
The mushrooms bought from the Asian supermarket were rehydrated and mixed in with the supermarket bought button variety and cooked into the beef wellington, according to Patterson's statement. The Victoria native also told police that she went to hospital on July 31, two days after the meal, after also falling ill.
Visiting the local hospital in Leongatha, Patterson was then transferred by ambulance to Melbourne and received a "liver protective drug".
Patterson has said she preserved the remaining leftovers of the meal and handed them over to toxicologists for examination. She also told the toxicologists where she purchased the dried mushrooms from, with the Department of Health sending her photos of packets similar to those she described.
Part of Patterson's statement does admit that she lied to police about a food dehydrator. Initially Patterson had claimed she threw hers out "a long time ago" but has now revealed that she only got rid of it after she fell ill herself.
Victoria Police have so far offered no update on their investigation. In a statement they said, "Beyond that, we are not commenting on specific details of the case or what actions police will undertake as part of the investigation.
"If there are any updates we are able to release publicly, we will certainly let everyone know."
Commenting on the mysterious case last week, homicide squad detective inspector Dean Thomas said the deaths were “unexplained”.
