Crucial detail in mushroom lunch poisoning mystery that may have been missed

29 August 2023 , 18:42

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A leading toxicologist believes forensic samples taken after three people died from mushroom poisoning may have been taken too late (Image: Nine)

A leading toxicologist has expressed his fears that the forensic samples from the deadly mushroom meal that left three people dead were done too late.

Gail and Don Patterson, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson all died last month after consuming a beef wellington lunch at the home of the Pattersons' former daughter-in-law, Erin Patterson, in Leongatha, Australia.

Ms Wilkinson's partner, Ian, meanwhile, remains critically ill in hospital after eating the same food. Dr Michael Robertson explained that the toxin found in death cap mushrooms are only detectable for around 48 hours after digestion. There are concerns growing that the samples were taken outside of that time period.

The lethal lunch was made by Erin Patterson - the former daughter-in-law of two of the deceased (10 News First)

Dr Robertson told the Herald Sun: "The laboratory knows what it is looking for, death cap mushrooms, but that's not something we see routinely in Australia and the method of analysis is far from routine. Those early samples are very important because they, particularly any urine samples, would help prove it was death cap mushrooms."

He added that detectives may have to rely on samples taken during the first two days in which the group were hospitalised, which would have been used to monitor liver and kidney function.

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Dr Robertson admitted, however, that there is a likelihood those samples would have been thrown away, as under normal practice, hospitals only hold them for a few days unless further testing is required or there is contact from police.

"Once they were transferred to Melbourne hospitals, have those samples been kept or thrown out?" he pondered. "They may well have been discarded because the seriousness was not realised by the hospital and they were no longer patients at that hospital."

It is understood detectives were only alerted to the matter several days after the meal - when two of the three deceased began to deteriorate.

Gail and Don Patterson both died after consuming the lunch (Nine)

It could now be weeks until detectives receive the final toxicology reports. In the meantime, two mushroom experts from Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens are believed to be helping to identify any fungi that may have been used in the killer lunch.

Dr Robertson believes the victims of the poisoning may have entered into comas. "It would've been horrible if they remained conscious," he explained. "They may have gone into a coma, if they remained conscious certainly that first day would've been absolutely horrific."

Erin Patterson, who prepared the lunch and avoided illness herself, claims the lethal recipe consisted of a mixture of supermarket-bought button mushrooms and dried mushrooms from a local Asian grocery store.

She has since handed over leftovers to hospital toxicologists for examination and has been declared a person of interest by cops investigating the deaths.

Alan Johnson