The Australian woman accused of serving her former in-laws lunch laced with killer mushrooms, fatally poisoning three, was arrested Thursday morning in connection to their deaths.
Erin Patterson, 49, was arrested at her home in Leongatha more than three months after her ex-husband’s family members were rushed to the hospital for a sickness they all developed after she had them over for lunch, according to Victoria police and reports.
Her former mother- and father-in-law Gail and Don Patterson, both 70, along with Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, all died in the hospital days after they ate the Beef Wellington pie she cooked them.
Wilkinson’s 69-year-old husband, Ian, was also rushed to the hospital in critical condition and remained hospitalized for months until he was released on Sept. 23.
Patterson’s ex-husband who was supposed to join his family for lunch but skipped it at the last minute accused her of poisoning his relatives.
Victoria police have not announced any charges against Patterson or specific allegations against her — only stating that she was arrested as part of the homicide investigation.
She is now being interviewed by police as investigators search her home along with technology detector dogs — which are trained to sniff out hard drives and other materials, cops said.
Authorities believe Patterson may have poisoned the meal with highly toxic death cap mushrooms, though she has denied any wrongdoing.
“I loved them and I’m devastated they are gone,” she told reporters in August of her former in-laws. “They were some of the best people I’ve ever met.”
Patterson was the only person who walked away from her lunch and didn’t get sick, along with her kids — who got a different meal.
Police were reportedly looking into whether a food dehydrator found in the trash was used to prepare the deadly meal and then discarded.