MANY people, locally and nationally, would have tuned into Channel 9’s episode of ‘Under Investigation’ on Wednesday night, titled ‘The Last Lunch’, an insensitive play on the biblical event ‘The Last Supper’.
It offered nothing new about the tragic events at Leongatha on Saturday, July 29, for those who’ve followed reporting of the incident, when five people sat down to a family meal, but ended up in hospital, allegedly poisoned by death cap mushrooms, after eating a dish of beef Wellington.
Dead as a result are Don and Gail Patterson of Korumburra, both aged 70, laid to rest at a private burial service earlier in the week, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, also of Korumburra.
Her husband Ian Wilkinson, aged 68, the pastor of the Korumburra Baptist Church, is in hospital in Melbourne, in an improving condition, according to an update provided by a spokesperson for the family on Wednesday, August 23.
The fifth person who sat down to the meal, Don and Gail Patterson’s estranged daughter-in-law, Erin Patterson, 48, the person who cooked the meal, also presented at hospital in Leongatha, complaining of bad stomach pains and diarrhoea, and was ultimately transferred to Monash Medical Centre.
Largely as a result of preparing those meals, Erin Patterson, has been described by police as the suspect in the case, although as Homicide Detective Inspector Dean Thomas stressed during a media interview on Monday, August 7, the serving of the allegedly poisonous food could have been purely innocent.
What the program did underscore however, is that there is intense interest in the mystery of the mushroom poisoning at Leongatha, both across Australia and internationally, likely to reach something of a crescendo on Thursday next week, August 31, when the family of Mr and Mrs Patterson hold a public memorial service at the Korumburra Recreation Centre at 2pm.
What was unusual about this particular Under Investigation episode is that it didn’t follow the pattern of other programs where cold cases, old murder mysteries and other historic events have been probed; including uncovering a compelling scenario that might explain the death of South Australian detective inspector Geoff ‘Whit’ Whitford, ‘The Cop Who Knew Too Much’, who died in suspicious circumstances in 1981.
They’ve also investigated the ‘High Country Murders’ of Russell Hill and Carol Clay, the murder spree involving a series of aged victims by Wayne Glover and even the historic murder of Phillip Island’s Beth Barnard back in 1996.
But this investigation was about a case so fresh that funerals and memorial services for the victims are yet to be held and where police are yet to complete their own investigations, much less lay charges.
Former Victoria Police Detective Damian Marrett highlighted two issues, however, that he said would be of particular interest to police, the fact that there were no reports of others becoming sick from eating packets of dried mushrooms, allegedly purchased from an Asian grocers in the Mount Waverley area, and why Ms Patterson lied about disposing of a food dehydrator.
“It wouldn’t have been the only packet on the shelf, others would have to become sick, you’d think,” he said.
“And I can’t get my head around the dumping of the dehydrator.”
He said CCTV surveillance equipment at the Koonwarra tip would likely shed light on when and by whom the dehydrator was left at the tip.
“Police attended the tip looking for microwave trays and other kitchen utensils,” he said, also claiming that it was likely, from his discussions with staff at the tip, that the food dehydrator was dumped on the Tuesday after the family lunch.
He also said the survivor (Ian Wilkinson) may be able to clarify a lot of things for police.
In a recent statement, provided to police, Ms Paterson has acknowledged that the meal she served had contributed to the illnesses of her guests, but she maintained she is innocent of any wrongdoing.
"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."