Woman arrested in Australia on suspicion of poisoning three people with death cap mushrooms

() – Australian police have arrested a woman who served a lunch in late July that led to the deaths of three people from suspected death by mushroom poisoning.

Victoria Police confirmed the arrest of a 49-year-old woman in connection with the case.

Local mediaincluding the regional affiliates and the ABC national networkidentified the woman as Erin Patterson, 49, who police had previously identified as the person who cooked and served the meal that resulted in the deaths of the three people. When asked to confirm the woman’s identity, Victoria Police declined to comment.

affiliate Nine News said Patterson was arrested at her home in the southern Victorian town of Leongatha.

Detective Inspector Dean Thomas described the arrest as the “next step” in a long-running investigation.

“I know people have a lot of questions in relation to this matter and I hope to be able to answer them today,” Nine News quoted him as saying. “However, it is not that simple.”

According to police, Patterson served a meat dish to his former in-laws and his mother-in-law’s sister and husband, who were guests at his home in Leongatha, in late July.

Just days after the meal, her former mother-in-law Gail Patterson, 70, her sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, and Gail’s husband Don, 70, died in hospital.

A fourth attendee, the Rev. Ian Wilkinson, 68, was left in a critical condition and reportedly needed a liver transplant, but recovered enough to leave Melbourne’s Austin Hospital in September.

Patterson, who has not been charged, denied any wrongdoing and told local media she had no idea the mushrooms she used in the recipe were dangerous.

“I am now devastated to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to the illness my loved ones suffered. I really want to reiterate that I had absolutely no reason to harm these people that I loved,” Patterson said. in the statement he gave to the policecited by the public channel ABC.

In the same statement, he said that he bought the mushrooms used in the food in two different stores.

When news of the investigation broke in early August, Inspector Dean Thomas of Victoria Police’s homicide squad said Patterson was a suspect because she had cooked the food and was the only adult who had not become ill.

The symptoms suffered by Patterson’s diners were consistent with Amanita phalloides mushroom poisoning, Thomas said in August, though toxicology reports showing exactly what they consumed have not yet been made public.

According to authorities, Patterson was estranged from her husband, Simon, whose parents died after the meal, but described their relationship as “friendly.”

“We have to keep an open mind regarding this. It could be innocent,” Thomas said at the time. “But again, we just don’t know at this point … four people show up and three of them pass away, with another critical, so we have to work through this.”

A search warrant has been executed at the Gibson Street address where the woman was arrested, which includes the use of Australian Federal Police technology sniffer dogs, According to Victoria Police in a statement.

Following her arrest, the woman will be questioned and the investigation is ongoing, police said.