A TOXICOLOGIST has revealed that Erin Patterson’s mushroom victims suffered in agony as a cruel twist would have struck them moments before their deaths.
Erin’s former parents-in-law Don, 70, and Gail Patterson, 70, as well as Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, and her husband Ian all became ill following a deadly family lunch at her home in Leongatha, Australia, on July 29.
Don, Gail, and Heather have since died, while Ian remains in hospital fighting for his life.
The two couples had been invited to the lunch by Erin where cops believe they were fed a deadly beef wellington that may have contained death cap mushrooms.
Forensic toxicologist Dr Michael Robertson told Channel Nine’s Under Investigation that victims of death cap mushroom poisoning can suffer from an unbearable illness before cruelly starting to feel better just moments before their bodies begin to completely shut down.
Robertson said that victims will usually begin to feel unwell several hours after consuming the lethal mushrooms – with “violent” vomiting and diarrhoea generally the first signs.
However, in a cruel twist, the victim will actually soon begin to feel better and be led to believe that the worst is over.
But even though the toxins are leaving the body in this process, it continues to slowly shut down.
“It’s one of those toxins that gets into your system,” he said.
“It gets absorbed into the bloodstream, it then gets transported to the liver and absorbed. The body doesn’t break this toxin down.
“We’ve got to get rid of it usually in the urine but also in the bile, and the bile duct drops bile back into the intestines.
“It’s triggering basically the death of the liver cells,” he added.
The toxicologist warned that it would also have been possible for the victims of the alleged death cap mushroom poisoning to have fallen into comas following Erin’s lunch.
“It would’ve been horrible if they remained conscious,” he said.
“They may have gone into a coma, if they remained conscious certainly that first day would’ve been absolutely horrific.”
Robertson’s comments were backed up by Dr Heike Neumeister-Kemp, a fungus researcher.
The mycologist added that alongside the initial vomiting period, victims could also begin to hallucinate.
“Mushroom poisoning is so nasty because we don’t really have an anecdote,” she said.
“On a DNA level, you’re regurgitating the toxin but slowly and consistently your liver dissolves.”
Erin claimed the deadly beef wellington was made from a mixture of button mushrooms from a major supermarket chain, and dried mushrooms from an Asian grocery store in Melbourne months before.
She also said she served the meal and allowed the guests to choose their own plates – and she also ate a portion of the beef wellington herself.
In a written statement to investigators, and obtained by ABC earlier this month, she revealed she was also hospitalised after the lunch with bad stomach pains and diarrhoea, put on a saline drip, and given a “liver protective drug”.
And despite reports of her children being at the meal, Erin said the kids had gone to the movies before the lunch.
Her children ate the leftovers the following night – but the kids don’t like mushrooms so she scraped them off, she added.
But it was recently revealed that Erin claimed to be an “experienced forager who harvested wild fungi near her home”.
A family friend, who has not been identified, told Daily Mail Australia: “The Patterson family (including Erin and Simon) would pick mushrooms each year when they were in season.
“It’s very common for people to go mushroom picking around that area.”
The friend added: “The family would go foraging regularly and knew what to pick.”
Following the shocking incident, a tradesman came forward to reveal what he called a “death wall” inside Erin’s former home in Korumburra.
He said he was hired to paint the inside last year so it could be flogged.
The worker, who wished to remain anonymous, told news.com.au: “I’ve looked at it and gone, holy s***, what the hell’s going on here.”
Haunting images show red, blue, and black graffiti on the kitchen wall.
One chilling drawing shows two stick figures with the words “I am dead” and “no I am really dead”.
Beside them appear to be three tombstones with the words “grandma RIP”, “Hannah RIP” and “Me RIP” on them.
Other parts read “you don’t [have] long to live 1 hour exactly”, “your [sic] dead from my sword” and “get ready”.
The painter, 46, added: “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”.
He said that he believes Erin explained the markings happened when she had “gone out or something and the kids were there and had done that while they were out”.
Erin has since denied any wrongdoing and hit back at suspicions, claiming she is “being painted as an evil witch”.
She told the Herald Sun she had become a prisoner in her home – branding the coverage of the case “unfair”.
She has denied murdering her guests, saying she had “no reason” to hurt them.
Victoria Police now expect a lengthy investigation as they try and get to the bottom of just how this tragedy occurred.
