Mushroom deaths suspect Erin Patterson says her ex accused her

Erin Patterson, who police say is a suspect in the deaths of three people, says her estranged husband accused her of poisoning his parents.

Erin Patterson is believed to have cooked a meal containing mushrooms that led to the deaths of three people.

The woman who cooked a mushroom meal that killed three people has told investigators her estranged husband directly accused her of poisoning his parents.

Erin Patterson, 48, reportedly made a witness statement to police claiming that her two children were absent from the lunch on July 29 that killed both of Simon Patterson’s parents and his aunt.

Ms Patterson admits in a witness statement lying to police about the use of a dehydrator, falsely claiming she had dumped it a long time ago before it surfaced soon after the deaths, the ABC said.

The report quotes Ms Patterson saying she also fell sick from the beef Wellington that was served at the lunch and, in her statement, she strenuously denied any wrongdoing.

Don and Gail Patterson passed away after ingesting poisonous mushrooms. Picture: supplied

She was taken to a Melbourne hospital for treatment, she claims.

She says she served the meal and allowed the victims to choose their plate before eating the meal.

Her children had eaten leftovers the following night but with the mushrooms removed because they didn’t like them. “I am now wanting to clear up the record because I have become extremely stressed and overwhelmed by the deaths of my loved ones,’’ the ABC reported.

“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 ABC report alleges that when she was at a hospital discussing the dehydrator, her former husband had asked: “Is that what you used to poison them?’’

Ms Patterson claims she dumped the dehydrator for fear of losing custody of her high school-aged children, and regretted giving police a no-comment interview soon after the deaths.

She said she served the meal and the three dead – Don Patterson, Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson – had chosen their own plates.

The mushrooms were button mushrooms bought from the supermarket and dried mushrooms from an unspecified Asian grocery in Melbourne. The ABC said she had told health officials where she had bought the mushrooms but was unable to name the specific Asian food store.

Heather and Ian Wilkinson. Picture: Supplied

“I had been close with Simon’s parents for a long period of time. Our relationship had continued in a fairly amicable way after I finished the relationship with their son,” the ABC reported her saying.

“Our relationship was affected to some degree by seeing them less after my marriage breakdown with Simon (but) I have never felt differently towards his parents.

“I had a deep love and respect for Simon’s parents and encouraged my children to spend time with their grandparents as I believed they were exceptional role models.”

The witness statement addresses several key questions and ­rumours to have emerged during the police investigation.

It has been widely speculated that Ms Patterson and her former husband had fallen out and that he had been severely ill last year.

There also was speculation that the meal involved was a beef Wellington dish, which included mushrooms inside a pastry.

Ms Patterson has claimed that her former husband had been invited to attend the meal but had told her that he would not be ­attending.

The police investigation is likely to take weeks to be conducted because of the slow nature of determining illnesses of this nature.

Police have stressed they have an open mind about how the three died and have said the deaths may have been accidental.