The woman who killed three relatives with the poisonous mushroom soup she cooked has now spoken out and maintained innocence.
48-year-old Erin Patterson from Victoria, Australia, cooked up a mushroom soup for her relatives including former mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Don Patterson, Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, and Heather’s husband Ian as she hosted a lunch.
According to the reports, all of the guests fell ill soon after eating the soup. Patterson and her children didn’t eat the dish and were not affected.
Since the shocking incident, three of the guests died from poisoning. Ian currently remains in critical condition in the hospital.
It was also revealed that the mushrooms Patterson picked were supposedly handpicked for the soup. It is not clear why Erin and her children didn’t try or eat the dish.
Now, Patterson has spoken out and maintained that she hadn’t done anything wrong and that she loved her in-laws.
“I didn’t do anything. I loved them and I’m devastated that they’re gone,” she said while bursting into tears.
“Gail was like the mum I didn’t have because my mum passed away four years ago and 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.”
The woman went on to say multiple times that she was “devastated” by the outcome and that she can’t believe what happened.
“I’m so devastated about what’s happened and the loss to the community and to the families and to my own children, they’ve lost their grandmother,” she added.
“I’m devastated, I loved them and I can’t believe this has happened and I’m so sorry that they have lost their lives.”
As of this writing, Paterson remains a person of interest and the police have already searched her home. It remains unclear how or when she foraged the poisonous mushrooms and why she hadn’t eaten the soup she cooked.
“She hasn’t presented with any symptoms but 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,” Victoria Police Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said.
He added: “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.
“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.”
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