"I didn't do anything. I love them": Woman who cooked meal with deadly mushrooms speaks out
A Victorian woman who cooked the meal that resulted in the suspected mushroom poisoning, which left three elderly family members dead and one fighting for his life has tearfully broken her silence.
Erin Patterson, 48, served the lunch to four people at Leongatha on July 29, including her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, who after falling sick later that evening, passed away from symptoms consistent with death cap mushroom poisoning.
Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson also passed away, with Heather’s husband, Ian in a critical condition at Melbourne’s Austin Hospital after suffering from the suspected poisoning.
"I didn't do anything. I love them," Erin told A Current Affair.
A clearly distraught Erin confused Don for Ian, who is currently being treated for his symptoms.
"I'm devastated that they're gone and I hope with every fibre of my being that Don pulls through."
“I’m so devastated by what’s happened, by the loss of Don, Don is still in hospital, by the loss of Ian and Heather and Gail," she repeated.
“They were some of the best people I’ve ever met.
“Gail was like the mum I didn’t have because my mum passed away four years ago, Gail had never been anything but good and kind to me,” she added.
“Ian and Heather were some of the best people I’d ever met. They never did anything wrong to me.
“I’m so devastated about what’s happened and the loss to the community and to the families and to my own children. They've lost their grandmother," she said, and added that she felt "so sorry" that they lost their lives.
Erin was interviewed by police and later on released. Officials had also removed her two children from her care as a “precaution”.
Homicide Squad Detective Inspector Dean Thomas also added that police are still determining whether this was an accident or a crime.
“We’re working to determine what has gone on, to see if there is any nefarious activity that has occurred or if it was accidental.”
“We have to keep an open mind,” he said.
Police were also still unsure where the mushrooms were sourced from, and that it was a "complex case".
Image: A Current Affair