ON a quiet Saturday afternoon in Australia, Erin Patterson served up a lunch for her former in-laws.
But within days, the mum’s beef wellington became notorious around the world as three of her four guests died.
Doctors said their symptoms were consistent with poisoning by death cap mushrooms, which grow wild in the area.
It led to frenzied speculation that Erin purposely tried to kill them by cloaking the toxic fungi with delicious ingredients.
The mum-of-two, however, has always maintained her innocence as she and the police grapple with theories smothering the internet.
A series of twists and turns have gripped thousands of people globally as it remains unclear whether this was a case of calculated murder or an innocent error.
Erin, 48, is said to have held the deadly gathering on July 29 in a bid to try and win back her estranged ex-husband Simon Patterson.
She invited her former in-laws Gail and Don Patterson, plus Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian, to her home in Leongatha for a bite to eat.
Erin served up a beef wellington – but soon after her guests became violently ill.
Gail and Don, both 70, and Heather, 66, later died, while Ian was left fighting for his life.
Police launched an investigation into the mystery deaths and Erin instantly denied any wrongdoing.
But she admitted lying to the cops more than two weeks after the incident.
Cops immediately seized a food dehydrator from a tip, believed to have been used to prepare the mushrooms, after the trio died.
Erin told police she had dumped her food dehydrator at a local tip “a long time ago” – but later backtracked and told police it was hers.
The mum said she panicked and dumped the dehydrator.
Questions were also raised over why Erin didn’t get ill herself – despite claiming to have eaten the same food.
Homicide detectives made Erin a person of interest as she cooked the meal and did not have symptoms of poisoning.
But in a police statement a fortnight later, Erin claimed she became poorly and was taken to hospital.
Reports also conflicted over whether Erin’s children were at the lunch.
Initially, it was said her son and daughter were there – but she later claimed had gone to the cinema before the gathering started.
Their dad, Erin’s ex Simon, meanwhile was supposed to join his former spouse and his parents for lunch at their former family home.
But friends said the dad pulled out of the get-together at the last minute for unknown reasons.
SHROOM TWISTS
Even more bizarrely, Simon said he almost died from a mystery stomach illness last year.
A pal claimed he “suspected” Erin had tried to poison him through an “ingested toxin”.
The family friend told the Herald Sun: “Simon suspected he had been poisoned by Erin.
“There were times he had felt… a bit off and it often coincided when he spent time with her.”
Simon confirmed he fell ill in May 2022, and said he collapsed at home and was placed into an induced coma.
The mushrooms Erin used to prepare the dish also came under intense scrutiny.
She initially told cops that she picked up the mushrooms from a local shop in the Leongatha area.
But her neighbour insisted that locals didn’t forage for wild mushrooms because they “know the danger”.
Erin later claimed, however, that she got the mushrooms from two different stores.
She said she bought button mushrooms from a major supermarket chain near her home, and dried mushrooms from an Asian grocery store in Mount Waverley months before.
But despite her claims she bought the fungus from shops in the state, Victoria’s Health Department had no health alerts for any mushroom sales.
Asian shops and mushroom growers in the area also did not have any issues reported to them, and none of their mushroom products were recalled.
In a further twist, an ambulance worker alerted investigators after a final conversation with one of the victims.
They heard one of the guest’s dying words and felt the need to pass on what was said to police, according to an insider.
As amateur sleuths globally tried to unpick the mystery, Erin and her private life were put under the microscope.
A tradesman came forward to reveal he found what was described as a “death wall” in her former home.
Red and blue markers were used to scrawl eerie drawings and messages over the wall – with one chilling note reading: “You don’t [have] long to live”.
Former pals meanwhile claimed Erin was obsessed with true crime novels, and was “very smart”.
She also told online pals she “resented” her husband for being lazy with household work, reports Sky News Australia.
It is unclear who ended their relationship or why.
Friends said Erin organised the lunch in a bid to win her ex back.
But after the deadly lunch, Erin claimed it was her who gave him the boot.
She said: “I had been close with Simon’s parents for a long period of time. Our relationship had continued in a fairly amicable way after I finished the relationship with their son Simon.
“Our relationship was affected to some degree by seeing them less after my marriage breakdown with Simon however I have never felt differently towards his parents.”
No charges have been filed against Erin, but the investigation is ongoing.
