A beef wellington pie is reported to be the meal served during a fatal Victoria lunch party that killed three people and left one fighting for his life from suspected death cap mushroom poisoning.
According to The Guardian, a source "familiar with the situation" said Erin Patterson, 48, prepared the beef wellington at her home in rural Leongatha. She then served the meal to her former parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian.
Since the fatal lunch party, the 70-year-old Patterson's have died, alongside 66-year-old Heather. Ian, a 68-year-old Baptist church pastor, remains in a critical condition in hospital.
Victoria police said their symptoms were consistent with poisoning from death cap mushrooms.
Most recipes for the beef wellington dish found online contain mushrooms.
Erin, who did not get sick from the meal, remains a suspect in what has now become a homicide investigation. Police asked the locals and media "not to speculate" as the situation could be "very innocent". Her kids, who were also at the lunch party, didn't become sick.
7News Melbourne reported Erin told reporters she has gone to Melbourne for the day to speak to her lawyers, while police had no update.
Police are also investigating a food dehydrator found in a tip near the home.
A tearful Erin Patterson earlier this week told reporters "I didn't do anything. I loved them and I'm devastated they're gone."
It comes as her husband Simon Patterson, with whom she is separated, fell ill and was "not expected to live" following a mysterious gut illness last year.
"I collapsed at home, then was in an induced coma for 16 days through which I had 3 emergency operations mainly on my small intestine, plus an additional planned operation," he wrote on Facebook.
"My family were asked to come and say goodbye to me twice, as I was not expected to live. I was in intensive care for 21 days, after which I was in the general ward for a week, and now I'm at a rehab place since last Saturday.
"I'm pleased to say all the medical work has seemed to have fixed the serious gut problems I had, and I've been feeling great for many days."
Death cap mushrooms are highly toxic, with experts suggesting an amount the size of a coin is enough to be fatal.
Four people were taken to hospital a day after eating at a home in Leongatha, in Victoria's South Gippsland area - three of them died and the fourth is fighting for life. (Source: 1News)
It is the world's most toxic mushroom and is responsible for around 90% of mushroom-related deaths globally.
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