A forensic psychologist has compared the mushroom meal murder allegation saga currently gripping Australia and the world to Shakespeare's Macbeth, saying it was always going to captivate people.
Erin Patterson, 49, the woman at the centre of the investigation into the deaths of three people following a lunch in Victoria earlier this year, was yesterday charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.
Three people died after eating a meal made with mushrooms at her home in late July. A fourth person was left fighting for their life. He survived, but spent nearly two months in hospital.
Three of the attempted murder charges relate to three separate incidents where a 48-year-old Korumburra man allegedly became ill following meals between 2021 and 2022, police said. Patterson's estranged husband has previously described entering a coma and needing surgeries after a mysterious gut illness last year.
Forensic psychologist Tim Watson-Munro said the saga was "inevitably" going to grip people's imagination.
"It's an extraordinary story – and although it seems to have been travelling at a snail's pace, obviously the police have been doing a meticulous job in terms of analysing the forensic evidence and so on," he said.
"This is a story that has shades of Macbeth. We are trivialising it, but we have a situation [with] a loving family, two parties that are separated, my understanding is that they were meeting or she wanted to have a mediation with the family.
"Her estranged husband pulled out at the last minute. Probably the best decision he's made, he may have fallen ill as well."
Watson-Munro said the combination of these dynamics was captivating. He said police would be taking a "holistic" approach.
"I think the fact that one of these people survived – and contrary to expectations, I might add – he would be able to give a counterpoint to whatever narrative that Erin provided the police," he said. "That might drive a bus through what she said, it may not."
He said the discarded food dehydrator found in a tip near Patterson's home would be a "critical" piece of evidence.
"She stated ultimately that she had disposed of that bit of evidence," Watson-Munro added. "Who knows why she did that?
"I don't want to comment upon it.
"You would imagine however that, once that was located, it would've been extensively evaluated from a forensic perspective – and I think what happens in these cases, generally speaking, without specifically talking in her case, is that there's a confluence of evidence that then gives the police the confidence to charge an alleged person."
Patterson said the mushrooms were store-bought, not foraged. Police have said the symptoms were consistent with death caps.
Watson-Munro said he believed mushrooms weren't even in season at the time the meal was served.
"I think that's a critical piece of evidence that will be determined ultimately in the courts."
Asked about the historical incidents involving the 48-year-old man, Watson-Munro said: "If it is a coincidence, it's a huge coincidence."
'Incredibly intense levels of public scrutiny and curiosity'
It comes after Victoria police yesterday announced the charges again Patterson. She is due to appear in court today.
"Over the last three months, this investigation has been subjected to incredibly intense levels of public scrutiny and curiosity.
"I cannot think of another investigation that has generated this level of media and public interest, not only here in Victoria but also nationally and internationally," Homicide Squad detective inspector Dean Thomas said.
"I think it is particularly important that we keep in mind that at the heart of this, three people have lost their lives.
"I know that people will no doubt have many unanswered questions about this matter, however I urge people to be especially mindful of unnecessary speculation and not sharing misinformation."
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