CNN –
Australian police have filed murder charges against a woman who served a lunch earlier this year that led to the deaths of three people due to suspected death cap poisoning.
Victoria Police confirmed a 49-year-old woman has been charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder after she was arrested in connection with the case on Thursday morning.
Local media, including CNN regional stations and national broadcaster ABC, identified the woman as Erin Patterson, 49, whom police had previously identified as the person who cooked and served the food that led to the death. When asked to confirm the woman’s identity, Victoria Police declined to comment.
CNN affiliate Nine News said Patterson was arrested at her home in the southern Victoria town of Leongatha.
Detective Inspector Dean Thomas described the charges as the “next step” in a long investigation.
“Over the last three months, this investigation has been subject to an incredibly intense level of public scrutiny and curiosity. I cannot think of any other investigation that has attracted this level of media and public interest, not only here in Victoria but nationally and internationally,” he said in a Victoria Police statement on Thursday.
“I think it is particularly important that we remember that three people lost their lives. These are three people who by all accounts were beloved in their communities and will be greatly missed by their loved ones,” Thomas added.
According to police, in late July, Patterson served a beef Wellington meal to her former in-laws and her mother-in-law’s sister and husband, who were guests at her Leongatha home.
Just days after the meal, her former mother-in-law Gail Patterson, 70, Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, and Gail’s 70-year-old husband Don died in the hospital.
A fourth participant, 68-year-old Rev. Ian Wilkinson, was seriously ill and reportedly required a liver transplant, but recovered enough to leave Melbourne Hospital in Austin in September.
Patterson has previously denied any wrongdoing, telling local media she had no idea the mushrooms she used in the recipe were dangerous.
“Now I am devastated to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to my loved ones’ illness. I really want to reiterate that I had absolutely no reason to hurt these people I loved,” Patterson said in a statement to police, as quoted by public broadcaster ABC.
In the same statement, she claimed she purchased the mushrooms used in the meal from two different stores.
When news of the investigation broke in early August, Detective Inspector Dean Thomas of Victoria Police’s Homicide Squad said Patterson was a suspect because she cooked the meal and was the only adult at the lunch who did not become ill.
The symptoms experienced by Patterson’s guests were consistent with death cap (Amanita phalloides) poisoning, Thomas said in August, although no toxicology reports have yet been released to show exactly what they consumed.
He said Patterson had separated from her husband Simon, whose parents died after the meal. but described their relationship as “friendly”.
“We have to be open-minded about this. It could be very innocent,” Thomas said at the time. “But again, we just don’t know at this point … four people show up and three of them die, another one is critical, so we have to work through that.”
A search warrant was executed at the Gibson Street address where the woman was arrested, which included the use of Australian Federal Police sniffer dogs, Victoria Police said in a statement.
After the arrest, the investigation is still ongoing, the police said.
“I know people will undoubtedly have many unanswered questions about this matter, but I urge people to be particularly vigilant about unnecessary speculation and not to share misinformation,” Thomas said in the statement issued by Victoria Police on Thursday.