Divorced Daughter-in-Law's Cooking Leads to In-Laws' Death... Australian Police Arrest on Murder Charges

Beef Wellington with Poisonous Mushrooms... Ex-Husband Skips Meal and Saves His Life

An incident occurred in Australia where food made with poisonous mushrooms was served to the family of an ex-husband, resulting in the deaths of three people.

According to CNN on the 2nd (local time), Australian police arrested Erin Patterson (49), who lives in Leongatha, Victoria, on charges of three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.

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According to the police, Patterson invited her ex-parents-in-law and the couple of her ex-mother-in-law’s younger sister to her home in Leongatha, Australia, for lunch at the end of July. Her ex-husband, Simon Patterson, was also scheduled to attend but did not show up due to sudden circumstances.

The meal was Beef Wellington, which mainly consists of minced beef and mushrooms. Patterson reportedly used poisonous mushrooms in the dish.

After returning home from the meal, all attendees experienced severe abdominal pain. Although they received treatment at the hospital, the ex-husband’s parents and aunt eventually died. Only the uncle-in-law fell into critical condition but barely survived. He was reported to have recovered enough to be discharged only in September.

The police confirmed that the food Patterson served contained poisonous mushrooms and arrested her on the grounds that she deliberately made food with poisonous mushrooms that caused deaths.

Patterson claimed, “I had no idea the mushrooms I used in my cooking were dangerous.” She said, “I bought mushrooms separately from a supermarket (large general store) and two Asian grocery stores, and I also ate the food and experienced abdominal pain.”

However, during the police investigation, additional criminal circumstances were discovered. It was confirmed that Simon Patterson, her ex-husband, had been hospitalized three times in 2021 and 2022 after eating food made by Patterson and suffering from abdominal pain.

The police believe Patterson also attempted to kill Simon and have applied a total of five counts of attempted murder to her, including this incident.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.