Unanswered questions as investigation continues into mushroom deaths

Questions remain over the suspected mushroom deaths as a “death wall” was discovered in Erin Patterson’s former home.

An unsettling “death wall” found inside the former home of the woman who prepared the lunch that preceded three suspected mushroom poisoning deaths has raised a series of questions that remain unanswered.

A photo, obtained exclusively by news.com.au and revealed on Tuesday, shows a large section of a wall inside the Korumburra home previously owned by Erin Patterson covered in red, blue and black markings.

“You don’t long to live 1 hour exactly,” one section reads.

“Your dead from my sword,” another says.

Underneath two stick figures of a male and female are the words “I am dead” and “no I am really dead”, above what appear to be three tombstones.

A tradesperson who had seen the wall told news.com.au that he understood Ms Patterson’s explanation for the drawings at the time was that she had “gone out or something and the kids were there and had done that while they were out”.

‘We started calling it the death wall.’ Picture: Copyright/news.com.au

While not speaking directly about the drawings in Ms Patterson’s home, clinical psychotherapist and counsellor Julie Sweet told news.com.au that children’s drawings can “indicate a range of emotions they may be experiencing”.

“Their drawings may reveal their dreams, fears, hopes, dread, nightmares and joy,” she said.

Ms Sweet’s comments do not relate to the drawings found in the former Patterson family home and are only in reference to broader possible meanings behind themes commonly seen in children’s drawings and writings.

Ms Sweet, who is managing director of Seaway Counselling and Psychotherapy in Bondi Junction, Sydney, said children’s artwork is also age dependent and can say a great deal about their cognitive development.

In order to assess a child’s artwork, one needs to identify if these have an understanding of the symbols they are using and what they represent.

She said it wasn’t uncommon for themes like death to present themselves in children’s drawings.

“The concept of death can be hard to grasp for a young person, or taboo in western society so often it will present in children’s drawings,” Ms Sweet explained.

“A preoccupation of death in drawings can sometimes show a child in distress, one who’s experiencing trauma. It could also show a child is alone, or feels more comfortable expressing themselves through art than language.”

News.com.au is not suggesting there are specific meanings behind the graffiti found in the Korumburra home.

Tradie asked to paint over wall in mushroom chef’s home

The tradie who took the photo of the wall inside the former Patterson family home told news.com.au, “we started calling it the death wall’.

The man, who asked not to use his name, got a phone call from a real estate agent last year asking him to paint the wall so the property could be sold.

“I’ve looked at it and gone, holy sh*t, what the hell’s going on here?” he told news.com.au.

“I went, this is actually really scary for kids to do this inside the kitchen-dining room. I didn’t think it was right, it looked scary. It just didn’t look right to me as a parent.”

The 46-year-old said he was struck by the multiple references to death, and particularly the tombstones.

The scrawls contained multiple references to death. Picture: Copyright/news.com.au

The painter said it ‘just didn’t look right’. Picture: Copyright/news.com.au

“That sort of stood right out. It was eerie. I think I put four coats of primer undercoat and two coats of wall paint to cover all that texta.”

The tradie said he snapped the picture and apart from showing a few mates, didn’t think of it again until the fatal mushroom poisonings hit the headlines.

“Now of course this mushroom thing’s come out,” he said.

The tradie described the Pattersons as “sort of a quiet family”.

It’s understood Ms Patterson’s two children, who she shares with her estranged husband Simon, are in Year 7 and Year 5.

“They keep to themselves,” he said.

The tradie told news.com.au he was aware homicide detectives wanted to speak to him about the photo, the existence of which had been previously reported.

Another tradesperson who saw the wall said it was “just not something you would typically expect children of that age to be drawing on the wall”.

“You’d think they’d be drawing flowers and unicorns, not gravestones and death,” he said. “I was surprised, but at the time I didn’t think anything more of it. It’s a bit weird but I see weird sh*t every day.”

How doomed lunch unfolded

Mystery still surrounds much of the case as police continue to piece together exactly how a lunch led to the deaths of three people and left another fighting for his life.

This is what we know so far.

Ms Patterson invited her ex-husband Simon’s parents Gail and Don Patterson, his aunt Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian for lunch at her home on July 29.

Aside from the four lunch guests, the only other adult at the lunch was Ms Patterson.

It has been reported that Simon was also invited to the lunch but was unable to attend at the last minute.

During the course of the lunch, Ms Patterson served a meal, reported to be a beef wellington pie, that police believe may have contained death cap mushrooms.

Erin Patterson cooked a deadly mushroom lunch that left three of her relatives dead. Picture: Brooke Grebert-Craig

Simon Patterson is the ex-husband of Erin Patterson. Picture: Facebook

Homicide Squad Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said the group left the property after lunch and then that evening at about midnight “some of them started to fall ill” and were admitted to hospital.

Gail, Don and Heather all died and Ian remains in hospital and reportedly needs a liver transplant.

If consumed, death cap mushrooms attack the liver and can be fatal if treatment isn’t sought out quickly. However, the mushroom can cause extensive damage before the person has any symptoms.

Ms Patterson has been interviewed by police and her home has been searched.

No charges have been laid and the police investigation is continuing. Police have warned people not to speculate about the case, because it could turn out to be “very innocent”.

According to 7 News, the mum-of-two initially told police that she picked up the mushrooms from a local shop in the Leongatha area.

On Monday, she conceded she had lied to police initially in a new detailed statement about what happened before and after the suspected poisoning.

“I am now wanting to clear up the record because I have become extremely stressed and overwhelmed by the deaths of my loved ones,” Ms Patterson said in a written statement to police, obtained by the ABC.

“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.”

In the statement, Ms Patterson said she became ill after eating the beef wellington and she had given the leftover to police as evidence.

She said her children were not present at the lunch and they ate the leftovers the following night, though she “scraped” off the mushrooms as they do not like them.

She claimed the fungi used in the dish were a mixture of button mushrooms bought at a supermarket chain and dried ones from an Asian grocery store in Melbourne months prior.

In her statement, Ms Patterson said she dumped a food dehydrator at a local tip after the disastrous lunch following a conversation about the gadget with her children, where her ex-husband had asked, “Is that what you used to poison them?”

She said in the statement she then “panicked” over the thought that she could lose custody of her children, according to the ABC, and rid herself of the processor. She has consistently and strenuously denied any wrongdoing and maintains her innocence.

– with Frank Chung