Mushroom cook Erin Patterson has been arrested after her meal killed three people
Published
| Last updated
The woman who cooked a meal that ended up killing three people has been arrested.
Officers from Victoria Police descended on Erin Patterson's home to take her into custody.
Patterson held a family lunch at her property earlier this year, where she had invited former in-laws Gail and Don Patterson as well as Erin's sister, Heather Wilkinson, and her husband Reverend Ian Wilkinson.
Tragedy struck when four guests all fell ill several days later.
She has been accused of serving up a beef wellington dish that contained deadly death cap mushrooms inside.
A statement from Victoria Police said: “Four people were taken to hospital on July 30 after they became ill following a meal at a private residence in Leongatha the previous day.
“Two Korumburra women, aged 66 and 70, passed away in hospital on August 4.
“A third person, a 70-year-old Korumburra man, passed away in hospital on August 5.
“A 69-year-old Korumburra man was released from hospital on 23 September.
Victoria Police were assisted by the Australian Federal Police's 'technology detector dogs', according to news.com.au.
They added in their statement: “The woman will now be interviewed by police and the investigation remains ongoing."
No charges have been laid at the moment.
She spoke out against allegations that she deliberately poisoned her guests with dangerous mushrooms.
In a letter to police, which was obtained by ABC, the mother-of-two said that she had nothing to do with it.
"I am now wanting to clear up the record because I have become extremely stressed and overwhelmed by the deaths of my loved ones," she wrote.
"I am hoping this statement might help in some way. I believe if people understood the background more, they would not be so quick to rush to judgement.
"I am now devastated to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to the illness suffered by my loved ones. I really want to repeat that I had absolutely no reason to hurt these people whom I loved."
In her note, Ms Patterson once again expressed her love for her in-laws and said she continued to have a good relationship with them.
She added: "I had a deep love and respect for Simon's parents and had encouraged my children to spend time with their grandparents as I believed they were exceptional role models."
In her statement, Mrs Patterson said that she also fell ill two days after the meal and had to be hospitalised and administered a 'liver protective drug'.
However, she said her two kids, who were not at the lunch, had eaten the leftover beef Wellington but that the mushrooms had been removed.
Featured Image Credit: 9News. WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Australia, Erin Patterson
