Erin Patterson, the woman who cooked a lunch that ended in three deaths in Leongatha, Victoria, has been arrested.
Victoria Police released a statement announcing the 49-year-old’s arrest on Thursday morning. She is now in custody at Wonthaggi police station for questioning.
Authorities have executed a search warrant at Patterson’s home address on Gibson Street as part of the ongoing investigation. The search, assisted by the AFP’s technology detector dogs, is underway.
On July 30, four people were hospitalised following a private lunch at Patterson’s home in Leongatha the previous day. All four people were known to Patterson.
Gail and Don Patterson, her ex-husband’s parents, died as a result of the illness on August 4 and 5. Heather Wilkinson, Patterson’s sister, also died in hospital.
Wilkinson’s husband, Ian, was in a critical condition in hospital, but recovered.
The guests at the lunch fell ill from the death cap mushrooms included in the beef wellington pie, which Patterson cooked and served for her guests.
Throughout the investigation prior to her arrest, she has maintained her innocence, saying she did not intentionally use death cap mushrooms to poison her guests.
Erin Patterson arrested by Victorian police over suspected mushroom poisoning deaths https://t.co/TFdNf1UOcA
— Guardian Australia (@GuardianAus) November 1, 2023
“I am now devastated to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to the illness suffered by my loved ones,” she wrote in a statement in August this year.
“I really want to repeat that I had absolutely no reason to hurt these people whom I loved.”
Charges against Patterson are yet to be laid and more information is expected to come.