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Mushroom killer arrested

No charges laid, so no crime yet.
I am not a great chef either.
 
I'm not sure about how reliable the NZ Herald Sun is, but it reports that ex-husband Simon Patterson claims to be suspicious of having previously been poisoned by his ex-wife.

"According to a source close to the family, ex-husband Simon allegedly claimed Erin tried to poison him last year.
A source close to Simon told the Herald Sun that he claimed Erin had tried to poison him through an “ingested toxin”.
The Herald Sun reported that the family friend said Simon felt “a bit off” and that his illnesses “often coincided when he spent time with her”.
Simon has refused to speak about the fatal lunch served up by his ex-wife in July, but last year revealed on social media that he had nearly died from a mysterious gut illness that left him in a coma."
 
The police have thrown in three earlier attempted murder charges. I believed at the onset that the biggest problem the police would have is sifting through the massive evidence against Patterson.

This will be a slam dunk.
 
Why wasn't she sick

How will the defense explain how she did not ingest the poison herself?
 
Chris_Halkides said:
How will the defense explain how she did not ingest the poison herself?
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From the linked Sun report:
"Erin Patterson claims she also fell ill on July 31 after consuming leftovers. The Age reported she was admitted to the hospital in Leongatha before an ambulance transferred her to a hospital in Melbourne.
Neither of Erin’s children became ill after the lunch. It is not known if they ate any of the beef wellington pie served to guests."

Although I have read in a separate article that she claimed to have let her children eat some of the leftovers after having scraped out mushrooms which they didn't want to eat.
 
verifiably ill?

"In the same statement she claimed she bought the mushrooms used in the meal from two separate stores.

When news of the investigation emerged in early August, Detective Inspector Dean Thomas with the Victoria Police homicide squad said Patterson was a suspect because she cooked the meal, and was the only adult at the lunch who didn’t fall ill." CNN
I have also read a report in which she claimed to have diarrhea.
 
lionking said:
I doubt it. Her lies to the police were ridiculous. I’m prepared to put money on there being no evidence of purchasing the dried mushrooms (the accused excuse for the poisoning. I also doubt she will be convincing under questioning in court.

An earlier thread which has gone through some of the issues.

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=367603&highlight=Mushrooms
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Chris_Halkides said:
"In the same statement she claimed she bought the mushrooms used in the meal from two separate stores.

When news of the investigation emerged in early August, Detective Inspector Dean Thomas with the Victoria Police homicide squad said Patterson was a suspect because she cooked the meal, and was the only adult at the lunch who didn’t fall ill." CNN
I have also read a report in which she claimed to have diarrhea.
Click to expand...

Hmm.

Well I guess it is always going to look suspicious when the person who prepared the meal, does not actually eat the meal themselves, and everyone who does eat it gets ill and/or dies as a result.
 
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smartcooky said:
Hmm.

Well I guess it is always going to look suspicious when the person who prepared the meal, does not actually eat the meal themselves, and everyone who does eat it gets ill and/or dies as a result.
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I wonder if any inheritance plot was behind this. While she is separated from her husband she is caring for his children. With her parents-in-law and ex-husband out of the way, maybe she thought she could get a decent payday.

Yes, not rational, and not normal likely to happen in the mind of a reasonably intelligent person. But Patterson seems to be neither rational nor intelligent.
 
smartcooky said:
Hmm.

Well I guess it is always going to look suspicious when the person who prepared the meal, does not actually eat the meal themselves, and everyone who does eat it gets ill and/or dies as a result.
Click to expand...

Pretending to be sick, turning up to hospital, and then found to be perfectly well isn't going to play well for her regarding premeditation.
 
lionking said:
I wonder if any inheritance plot was behind this. While she is separated from her husband she is caring for his children. With her parents-in-law and ex-husband out of the way, maybe she thought she could get a decent payday.

Yes, not rational, and not normal likely to happen in the mind of a reasonably intelligent person. But Patterson seems to be neither rational nor intelligent.
Click to expand...

This was my first thought too.

She may be currently in the in-laws' will, but like many in situations like that, interested in 'crystalising the profit' by getting them out of the way.

Watched a nasty break up recently, and the ex wife said: "My only regret is not waiting for his parents to die, so that I could get that too."

This impressed on me that individuals can have pretty extreme levels of desire for other peoples' money.

Not to mention the recent South Australian case where the parents were killed with insulin to speed up the inheritance process.

Nasty stuff.
 
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