3 deaths, and a host of questions, after a family lunch in Australia
The three guests, and a fourth who fell ill, had symptoms consistent with mushroom poisoning, the police say. The woman who served the meal has been questioned by the police.
SYDNEY — In the quiet Australian town of Leongatha, a woman hosted her in-laws and another couple for lunch at her home, nestled amid the gum trees.
A day later, the four guests, all in their 60s or 70s, were in the hospital, with symptoms that police say were consistent with mushroom poisoning. Within a week, three would be dead, the fourth in critical condition.
Police in the state of Victoria have questioned Erin Patterson, 48, who hosted the July 29 gathering and prepared the meal, but have not charged her in the deaths, which have become national news in Australia. Patterson did not fall ill after the lunch, nor did her two children, who were also there.
“She hasn’t presented any symptoms, but we have to keep an open mind,” Detective Inspector Dean Thomas of the Victoria Police said at a news conference Monday. The events, he stressed, “could be very innocent,” but “we just don’t know at this point.”
He said authorities had removed Patterson’s children from her home as a “precaution.”
In video recorded by news outlets at Patterson’s home Saturday, she said through tears that she “didn’t do anything” and had loved both couples.
“They’re some of the best people I ever met; they never did anything wrong to me,” she said. She described her former mother-in-law, Gail Patterson, one of the guests who died, as “the mother I never had.” The police said Erin Patterson had separated from her husband but had maintained an amicable relationship with him.
“I can’t believe that this has happened, and I’m so sorry,” she said. She did not answer reporters’ questions about what had been served at the lunch or where the mushrooms, if any, had come from.
Thomas said that while the two couples’ symptoms were consistent with poisoning by “death cap” mushrooms, police had yet to confirm that that had caused the deaths, or that such mushrooms had been served at the lunch. He said they had not determined what Erin Patterson had eaten but believed that her children had not been served the same dish that the four guests were.
All four, who lived in a nearby town, Korumburra, fell ill hours after the meal. They went to local hospitals and were later transferred to one in Melbourne.
Gail Patterson died Friday, as did her sister Heather Wilkinson, one of the other guests. Don Patterson, Gail’s husband, died Saturday, and Wilkinson’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, was in critical condition awaiting a liver transplant, police said Monday.
The deaths shocked the small, tightknit community of Korumburra, where Ian Wilkinson served as a Baptist pastor and the three others were well known. In a statement to a local newspaper, the Wilkinson and Patterson families said that their relatives were “pillars of faith within our community.”
“Their love, steadfast faith, and selfless service have left an indelible mark on our families, the Korumburra Baptist Church, the local community, and indeed, people around the globe,” the statement read.
Death cap mushrooms (Amanita phalloides) are responsible for more than 90% of deaths in mushroom poisonings worldwide. They can be found in Victoria and other parts of Australia.
A few months ago, Victoria’s health department cautioned residents against foraging for wild mushrooms. Toxic mushrooms, including death caps, grow in the state during the March-to-June autumn period, the department warned, adding that there are no at-home tests that can distinguish between safe mushrooms and harmful ones.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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