Police seek CCTV footage from tip as poisonous mushroom investigation rolls on
By Marta Pascual Juanola and Alex Crowe
Police have returned to a South Gippsland tip as part of an investigation into the deaths of three people who ate poisonous mushrooms during a family lunch in the town of Leongatha.
Staff at the Koonwarra Transfer Station confirmed that police officers went to the tip about noon on Wednesday to speak with one worker and to get CCTV footage that records the number plates of vehicles driving in and out of the site.
A homicide detective on Wednesday also talked to residents near the Leongatha home where the deadly meal took place, asking for their CCTV footage.
The inquiries come as police forensically test a food dehydrator that officers uncovered in a skip bin at the tip last Friday – the same day Korumburra locals Heather Wilkinson and Gail Patterson died in hospital of suspected mushroom poisoning.
Gail’s husband, Don Patterson, died in hospital the following day. Heather’s husband, Korumburra Baptist pastor Ian Wilkinson, is fighting for his life in the Austin Hospital in Melbourne as he awaits a liver transplant.
Grief-stricken neighbours and friends have placed bouquets of colourful flowers and handwritten notes on the front lawn outside the small hilltop weatherboard church that both couples attended.
“Our hearts are broken. We will always treasure you and keep you in our hearts and memories,” a handwritten note read. “We will miss you till our dying day.”
Both couples began developing gastro-like symptoms after attending a lunch prepared by Erin Patterson — Gail and Don’s former daughter-in-law — at her Leongatha home on July 29.
The four were taken to their local hospital for treatment, but they were later transported to the Austin, where doctors identified symptoms consistent with the ingestion of death cap mushrooms – a deadly toxic fungus commonly found near oak trees.
Police are waiting for the result of a toxicology report to confirm the cause of the poisoning.
Koonwarra Transfer Station on Wednesday and Simon Patterson (inset), the son of two of the people who died after eating poisonous mushrooms at a meal hosted by his estranged wife Erin Patterson.Credit: Marta Pascual Juanola; Nine News
Erin Patterson’s two young children were also at the gathering, but did not eat the food. She was interviewed by investigators earlier this week and released without charge.
The 48-year-old has denied any wrongdoing, and told media this week those who died were “some of the best people that I’ve ever met”.
“What happened is devastating, and I’m grieving too,” she said.
Gail and Don’s son, Simon Patterson, had his own brush with death last year after serious stomach problems left him in intensive care for three weeks.
In a Facebook post in June last year, the father of two thanked the members of the local basketball association for their support after they sent him a gift basket in hospital.
“Some of you will know that I’ve had some serious medical problems since late May. I collapsed at home, then was in an induced coma for 16 days through which I had three emergency operations,” Simon Patterson said in the post.
“My family were asked to come and say goodbye to me twice, as I was not expected to live. I was in intensive care for 21 days.
“I’m pleased to say all the medical work has seemed to have fixed the serious gut problems I had, and I’ve been feeling great.”
Left to right: Don Patterson, Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson all died after ingesting death cap mushrooms. Ian Wilkinson remains in a critical condition at a Melbourne hospital.
On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the family declined to comment about the Facebook post. Simon Patterson did not say what the cause of his illness was.
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correction
An earlier version of this article said the Koonwarra transfer station is in East Gippsland. It has been corrected to say the tip is in South Gippsland.