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Inside the mushroom-lunch death mystery that’s gripping Australia

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The mushrooms were to die for.

An alleged poisoning is dominating Australian media, as authorities suspect Erin Patterson, 48, of Leongatha, intentionally laced a lunch for her former in-laws — killing three people and critically wounding a Baptist pastor.

The lethal serving of death cap mushrooms — a highly toxic fungus typically found near oak trees — occurred on July 29 at Erin’s home in Leongatha, where she prepped a meal that led to gastrointestinal problems for Gail and Don Patterson, the 70-year-old parents of her ex-husband.

Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66, and her husband, Ian Wilkinson, a 68-year-old pastor in nearby Korumburra, were also struck down.

The Pattersons and Heather later died at a hospital, while Wilkinson fights for his life at a Melbourne facility as he awaits a liver transplant.

Homicide detectives are now investigating after Erin, who remains a suspect, was released without being charged.

A fifth person who attended the lunch was also sickened, but discharged a short time later, according to the Times of London.

Erin prepared the deadly dish — beef Wellington with mushrooms — but served a different meal to herself and her two young children, who were also at the gathering, authorities said. She denied wrongdoing this week, telling reporters she cooked the meal for the “best people” in her life.

“I can’t believe that this happened, and I am sorry that they have lost their lives,” Erin said outside her home. “I didn’t do anything; I loved them. I just can’t fathom what happened.”

The ongoing criminal probe is rocking Leongatha and Korumburra, where detectives last responded to a homicide probe more than two decades ago, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

“This sort of thing doesn’t happen here,” one Leongatha resident told the newspaper Monday.

The ongoing criminal probe is rocking Leongatha and Korumburra, where detectives last responded to a homicide probe more than two decades ago, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

But this wasn’t the first time Erin’s cooking allegedly made someone sick.

Her ex-husband, Simon Patterson reportedly spending 16 days in an induced coma with a mysterious gut illness last year after eating food served by her.

“Simon suspected he had been poisoned by Erin,” a source told The Herald Sun. “There were times he had felt … a bit off and it coincided when he spent time with her.”

After recovering, Simon writing about his puzzling May 2022 ailment on Facebook.

“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,” he reportedly wrote. “My family were asked to come and say goodbye to me twice, as I was not expected to live.”

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