What we know about deadly mushroom lunch that killed three of Erin Patterson’s guests and may yet claim another life

Mystery surrounds the lunch that killed Erin Patterson’s ex in-laws and one of their family members but in a week of twists and turns, here’s what we do know and how events have unfolded.

There have been many twists and turns in the gripping and tragic tale of Leongatha’s deadly mushroom lunch, and much remains a mystery.

What we know is that Erin Patterson was the cook and host of the meal that killed her former parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson.

Heather’s husband, Ian, a Korumburra pastor, is still fighting for his life in Melbourne’s Austin hospital, where he is awaiting a liver transplant.

What we also know is that Erin Patterson did not become ill from the lunch on July 29, and neither did her two children, who were prepared separate meals.

We know that police have said Ms Patterson is a person of interest in relation to the deaths, and is being treated as a suspect, at least for now.

And the Herald Sun revealed earlier this week that Erin Patterson’s former husband, Simon, collapsed at his home and almost died in May last year from a mysterious stomach illness that saw him placed in an induced coma for 16 days.

Now we also know Ms Patterson originally told police she bought the mushrooms from a local shop, with reports that she made the claim in her first police interview.

And in the perhaps the biggest twist of all to date, Simon Patterson has alleged his ex wife Erin had tried to poison him in the past, possibly using a plant from the nightshade family.

A source close to the family told the Herald Sun on Wednesday, August 9: “Simon suspected he had been poisoned by Erin. There were times he had felt … a bit off and it often coincided (with) when he spent time with her.”

What we don’t know is whether a dehydrator found by police at a local tip – revealed in the Herald Sun earlier this week – and now being forensically tested, was in any way connected to the deaths, but police have reportedly returned to the tip to look for further clues.

We don’t know why Erin Patterson did not suffer the same symptoms as her lunch guests, who initially believed they had severe gastro.

We also don’t know if Ms Patterson foraged for wild mushrooms, or even put them in her guests’ meals.

And we don’t know what type of mushrooms were involved, and if they were the notorious death caps that have killed four people in Canberra in the last two decades, and seriously poisoned others in the same city.

Death cap mushrooms have killed multiple people in Canberra. Picture: Supplied

The toxin in death cap mushrooms is not destroyed by peeling, cooking or drying and symptoms of poisoning include vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach cramps, which usually appear 10 to 16 hours after eating, before possibly fatal liver and kidney failure.

The Herald Sun is not suggesting that Ms Patterson intentionally poisoned her guests, only that police are investigating the matter.

Korumburra pastor Ian Wilkinson and wife Heather Wilkinson. Picture: Supplied

Erin Patterson’s ex-husband, Simon Patterson. Picture: Facebook

Ms Patterson – who has staunchly maintained her innocence in relation to the poisonings – appeared confused and distressed in the days since her home was searched by police on Saturday August 5, and news broke of the deadly lunch she prepared.

On Tuesday of this week she mistook Don for Ian, claiming Don was still alive.

“I hope that every fibre of my being that Don pulls through,” she said of the man who had died days’ earlier.

Erin Patterson has seemed confused and distressed as she talked to the media. Picture: Brooke Grebert-Craig

Ms Patterson has also said she loved her mother-in-law. Picture: Brooke Grebert-Craig

Gail Patterson, 70, and Heather Wilkinson, 66, both died in hospital the day before the search on their lunch host’s home, while Don Patterson, 70, passed away on Saturday night.

It’s understood Erin Patterson had lived at the rural Leongatha property where she put on the lunch for about 12 months, and the split from her husband had appeared amicable

And she Erin has claimed she loved her mother-in-law and is devastated by her death.

“Gail was like the mum I didn’t have because my mum passed away four years ago; Gail had never been anything but good and kind to me,” Ms Patterson said.

“Ian and Heather were some of the best people I’d ever met. They never did anything wrong to me. I’m so devastated about what’s happened and the loss to the community and to the families and to my own children. They’ve lost their grandmother.”

But the relationship between Erin Patterson and her former in-laws is another thing we really don’t know.