/ 08 August 2023

Police probe family luncheon deaths

Death cap mushroom
Image: Michel Langeveld via Wikimedia Commons

A lunch that has left 3 people dead in Victoria’s Gippsland region has investigators seeking answers. Sisters Heather Wilkinson (66yo) and Gail Patterson (70yo) died on Friday, and Don Patterson (70yo) died on Saturday while Wilkinson’s husband Ian (the local Baptist Church pastor) remains in hospital. All had eaten a meal that authorities believe included the highly-toxic death cap mushrooms, but that’s yet to be confirmed. Reports say the food was served to them by the daughter-in-law of one of the couples – and it’s unclear if she ate the same meal. Her name is Erin Patterson, and she appeared in a brief TV interview last night, saying she’s “devastated that they’re gone” but “didn’t do anything”. She was also interviewed by police on Saturday. Yesterday, Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said that although the homicide squad is investigating, it “doesn’t automatically mean that the deaths are suspicious”. “At this point in time, the deaths are unexplained,” he said.

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