Toxicology results from three diners who died after ingesting poisonous mushrooms will prove key to resolving a police investigation as fears grow that samples were not taken within a crucial 48-hour period.
Gail and Don Patterson, along with Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, died after eating a Beef Wellington lunch in Leongatha, in the Gippsland region of Victoria, on July 29.
Ms Wilkinson’s husband Ian also ate the meal and continues to fight for his life in hospital.
The two couples had attended a luncheon at the home of Pattersons’ former daughter-in-law, Erin Patterson, who claims she also ate the meal but escaped serious illness.
Renowned toxicologist Dr Michael Robertson has revealed that the toxin found in death cap mushrooms is only detectable for around 48 hours after ingestion, with fears growing that samples were not taken at time.
“The lab knows what it’s looking for, death cap fungi, but it’s not something we see regularly in Australia and the method of analysis is far from routine,” said Dr Robertson. At Sun Herald THURSDAY.
“These early samples are very important because they, especially the urine samples, would help prove that these were death cap fungi.”
Gail and Don Patterson, along with Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, died after eating a Beef Wellington lunch in Leongatha, in the Gippsland region of Victoria, on July 29.
According to police, the death cap mushrooms were ingested by the luncheon guests and likely absorbed into their livers and then entered their bloodstream.
Renowned toxicologist Dr Michael Robertson (pictured) has revealed that the toxin found in death cap mushrooms is only detectable for around 48 hours after ingestion.
The toxicologist said detectives may have to rely on samples taken during the first two days that Ms Pattersons lunch guests were in hospital.
However, he added that it was likely doctors took blood samples from the lunch guests to monitor their kidney and liver function.
“But once transferred to hospitals in Melbourne, were these samples kept or discarded?” He continued.
“They may have been pushed aside because the hospital didn’t realize the seriousness of the situation and they were no longer patients of that hospital.”
Dr Robertson said hospitals only keep samples for a few days unless further testing is needed or they are contacted by police.
It would appear that detectives were not alerted until several days after lunch when the condition of Ms Patterson and Ms Wilkinson began to deteriorate in hospital.
The women died on August 4, while Don Patterson died the following day.
Dr Robertson said he was confident further samples would have been taken from Melbourne hospitals but would be “significantly” less useful to detectives.
It could take weeks for detectives to receive the results of toxicology reports.
Ian Wilkinson and Heather Wilkinson (both pictured) fell seriously ill after eating wild mushrooms. Ms Wilkinson died earlier this month as her husband remains in hospital
It comes as Dr Robertson reveals the excruciating symptoms of poisonous mushrooms – and how patients cruelly start to feel better before their bodies start to shut down completely.
He told Channel Nine’s Under Investigation that victims usually start feeling unwell several hours after ingesting deadly mushrooms.
“We have heard of violent vomiting and diarrhea and this first phase can be quite debilitating in itself,” he said.
He added that the victim then begins to feel better and may believe that the worst is over.
But even once the toxic material leaves the body, it continues to slowly die out.
“It’s one of those toxins that gets into your system,” he said.
“It is absorbed into the bloodstream and then transported to the liver and absorbed.” The body does not break down this toxin.
“We have to eliminate it generally in the urine, but also in the bile, and the bile ducts push the bile back into the intestines.”
“It basically triggers liver cell death.”
Dr Robertson said it was possible the lunch guests had gone into a coma.
“It would have been awful if they remained conscious,” he said.
“They might have gone into a coma, if they had remained conscious, that first day would certainly have been absolutely horrible.”
Gail and Don Patterson died after eating mushrooms
Ms Patterson claimed the killer lunch consisted of a mix of button mushrooms from a supermarket chain and dried mushrooms from an Asian grocery store in Melbourne.
She then divided the meal into plates and allowed her guests to choose their own.
Ms Patterson said she took the last remaining plate and ate a portion, then handed the remains over to hospital toxicologists for examination.
She said her children also ate beef Wellington the next day, but without the mushrooms. Simon, Mrs Patterson’s ex-husband, was also invited to lunch but pulled out at the last minute.
The Victoria Police Homicide Squad is investigating the deaths with Ms Patterson, a person interested in the investigation, as she prepared the fatal lunch.
Daily Mail Australia does not suggest that Erin Patterson is responsible for these deaths.
