THE poisonous dish served by a mum at a family lunch that left three people dead was reportedly a beef wellington pie.
Erin Patterson, 48, invited Gail and Don Patterson, her former in-laws, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian to her home in Leongatha, Australia.
NineErin Patterson allegedly served the poisonous mushroom lunch to Simon’s family[/caption]
NineHeather Wilkinson (left) died after the lunch while her husband, Ian, is fighting for his life[/caption]
After eating the meal on July 29, the guests became violently ill and Gail and Don, both 70, and Heather, 66, later died.
Cops said their symptoms were consistent with having eaten death cap mushrooms.
Ian, a pastor, remains in hospital in a critical condition, awaiting a liver transplant.
Homicide detectives confirmed Erin is a suspect in the case as the mum-of-two cooked the meal at her home but did not get sick.
She has denied any wrongdoing and cops have cautioned that the incident could be “very innocent”.
It’s now emerged that the deadly lunch that was served included a beef wellington pie as its main course, Guardian Australia reports.
Recipes for beef wellington often include mushrooms.
And according to a pal, Erin held the fateful lunch in a bid to try and reconcile with her estranged ex-husband Simon Patterson.
A source close to Simon claimed Erin was desperate to get back with him – and suggested the lunch was an “intervention” from his family.
The friend said his family were concerned and described the get-together as a “mediation”.
Simon was supposed to join the lunch – but reportedly pulled out at the last minute.
The pal told Daily Mail Australia: “She wanted to get back with Simon and the family didn’t want Simon to get back with her.
“This wasn’t just a lunch, it was an intervention with the pastor as mediator. That’s why this lunch happened.
“Simon was supposed to go there for lunch but he pulled out in the last minute otherwise he would be in that death bed too.
“The people who died, Gail, Don and the Wilkinsons, were talking to them because they’re heavily ingrained with the church and they wanted to make sure she was right to resume a relationship with Simon.
“She was basically petitioning to get back with him and the family didn’t think that was a good move.”
It comes after Simon revealed he almost died from a mystery gut illness last year.
And he reportedly “suspected” Erin had tried to poison him through an “ingested toxin”.
A family friend told the Herald Sun: “Simon suspected he had been poisoned by Erin.
“There were times he had felt… a bit off and it often coincided when he spent time with her.”
Simon said he collapsed at home in May last year and was placed into an induced coma.
In a social media post, Simon wrote: “I collapsed at home, then was in an induced coma for 16 days through which I had three emergency operations mainly on my small intestine, plus an additional planned operation.
“My family were asked to come and say goodbye to me twice, as I was not expected to live.
“I was in intensive care for 21 days…”
Officers have seized a number of items as they probe how the guests fell sick – including a food dehydrator from a tip, believed to have been used to prepare the mushrooms.
Investigators are still unsure whether she also ate the meal – but cops confirmed a different lunch was served to her two children.
It’s understood cops are seeking to review CCTV footage from the tip where the food dehydrator was found to see which vehicles entered the site.
A police source told The Age that cops are conducting forensic tests on the dehydrator in the hope it could hold key clues to finding out what happened.
Erin wept outside her home on Monday as she spoke to reporters.
“I didn’t do anything,” she said. “I loved them and I’m devastated they are gone.
“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.
“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.”
Victoria Police Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said officers were “keeping an open mind” as they probe the bizarre case.
“We have to keep an open mind in relation to this, that it could be very innocent but again we just don’t know at this point,” he said.
“We will be working closely with medical experts, toxicologists… in the hope we can understand exactly what has gone on and provide some answers to the family,” Thomas added.
“We’re trying to understand who ate what at the lunch, whether that person that did not become ill did or did not eat the mushrooms…
“And of course, we’re trying to ascertain what it is that has actually caused the poisoning to the four people that attended.”
According to 7News, Erin initially told cops that she picked up the mushrooms from a local shop in the Leongatha area.
Erin’s neighbour told the Herald Sun that locals didn’t forage for wild mushrooms because they “know the danger”.
There have been previous claims the toxic fungus has been found in shops.
Woolworths was accused in 2014 of accidentally selling the food at a Canberra store after a woman fell ill.
She had to have a liver transplant and was in a coma for a week after eating the death caps.
Health officials cleared Woolworths after an investigation and said it was more likely the mushrooms had been picked from the ground.
FacebookErin’s estranged ex-husband Simon Patterson was supposed to go to the lunch – but pulled out at the last minute[/caption]
NineGail Patterson, Erin’s former mother-in-law, died after eating the meal at Erin’s home[/caption]
NineDon Patterson also died[/caption]
NineLethal death cap mushrooms grow wild in the lush forests around Leongatha[/caption]
NineErin’s home where the deadly lunch was served to her former family members[/caption]