Three of four people who had lunch at a woman’s home in Australia last month died after eating mushrooms she served, law enforcement officials said.
According to Erin Patterson, she cooked a lunch using wild mushrooms in a beef Wellington pie for her in-laws, Gail and Don Patterson, and Gail’s sister and her husband, Heather and Ian Wilkinson, the Guardian reported.
The two couples were guests at her home in the town of Leongatha in southern Victoria, on July 29, according to Victoria Police.
The four went to the hospital a few hours after eating at Patterson’s, and two days later, Gail Patterson, 70, and Heather Wilkinson, 66, were dead. Gail’s 70-year-old husband, Don, died a day later.
Heather Wilkinson’s husband, Ian, 68, remains in critical condition.
Erin Patterson did not fall ill, police said. It is not clear if she ate any of the mushrooms. Patterson claims she did not know the mushrooms were poisonous.
“I’m devastated. I loved them. And I can’t believe that this has happened and I’m so sorry,” the 48-year-old told reporters.
Patterson’s children were also at the meal, but ate something different, police said. They did not become ill.
“We have to keep an open mind in relation to this. It could be very innocent,” Detective Inspector Dean Thomas with the Victoria Police homicide squad said. “But again, we just don’t know at this point … four people turn up and three of them pass away, with another one critical, so we have to work through this.”
Erin Patterson has not been arrested on any charges, according to local officials.
Police said they believe the four ate death cap mushrooms — which are highly lethal if ingested.
Symptoms suffered by Erin Patterson’s guests were consistent with poisoning by death cap mushrooms, Thomas said.
Police said they searched Patterson’s home on Saturday and seized a number of objects for forensic testing, CNN reported.
However, toxicology reports are not yet back.
Symptoms of death cap mushroom poisoning include violent stomach pains, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Death cap mushrooms are responsible for 90% of lethal mushroom poisoning globally, according to the BBC. It takes eating only a small amount — a piece the size of a coin — to kill an adult.
“Even if initial symptoms subside serious liver damage may have occurred that may result in death,” a warning from Victoria Health read.
