Erin Patterson, the Australian woman accused of poisoning her in-laws with toxic mushrooms, has admitted lying to police.
The 48-year-old invited her former parents-in-law Gail and Don Patterson, along with Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian, for lunch on Saturday July 29.
Within days of the beef wellington meal at her home in Leongatha, Victoria, three of the four guests died.
It is feared they may have eaten death cap mushrooms, among the most poisonous in the world.
Mushrooms ‘poisoning’ in Australia latest news
Broadcaster ABC claims to have obtained a written statement from Ms Patterson to Victoria Police.
It reports she declined to comment while interviewed by police at the start of their investigations.
It has also been reported Ms Patterson became unwell herself after eating the meal. Additionally, while she was in hospital, it is said her ex-husband Simon Patterson accused her of poisoning his parents.
She reportedly said she was ‘discussing the food dehydrator’ she used to prepare to dry out mushrooms for the meal when he asked: “Is that what you used to poison them?”
However, it is suggested she dumped the dehydrator at a nearby tip in a panic.
‘I have become extremely stressed and overwhelmed by the deaths of my loved ones’
According to reports, Ms Patterson initially told police she disposed of the equipment a “long time ago”. However, it is now claimed she has revealed she did so after her guests became ill.
Police are examining CCTV from the landfill site to determine when the dehydrator was discarded.
Ms Patterson is reported to have said in the leaked statement: “I now very much regret not answering some questions […] given the nightmare that this process has become. I am now wanting to clear up the record because I have become extremely stressed and overwhelmed by the deaths of my loved ones.”
She is said to have continued: “I am hoping this statement might help in some way. I believe if people understood the background more, they would not be so quick to rush to judgement.”
I am now devastated to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to the illness suffered by my loved ones.
Furthermore, she is quoted as saying: “I am now devastated to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to the illness suffered by my loved ones. I really want to repeat that I had absolutely no reason to hurt these people whom I loved.”
‘I had a deep love and respect for Simon’s parents’
Ms Patterson told police that the mushrooms were a mixture of button mushrooms bought from a supermarket and dried mushrooms bought from an Asian supermarket in Melbourne months earlier.
Ms Patterson, who was hospitalised following bad stomach pains and diarrhoea following the lunch, has also paid tribute to her former in-laws.
She said: “I had been close with Simon’s parents for a long period of time. Our relationship had continued in a fairly amicable way after I finished the relationship with their son Simon.”
Ms Patterson added: “I had a deep love and respect for Simon’s parents and had encouraged my children to spend time with their grandparents as I believed they were exceptional role models.”
The surviving guest, Mr Wilkinson, remains in a critical but stable condition. He reportedly needs a liver transplant.
A representative for Simon Patterson declined to comment to Daily Mail Australia about Ms Patterson’s statement.
Read more: Death by toxic mushroom: Unpicking the baffling story of family who died from in-law’s meal
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