Erin Patterson, the woman at the centre of an alleged deadly mushroom poisoning scandal that killed three people in eastern Victoria, has been arrested.
Victoria Police confirmed homicide squad detectives had arrested Ms Patterson shortly after 8am on Thursday morning.
“Four people were taken to hospital on July 30 after they became ill following a meal at a private residence in Leongatha the previous day,” they said in a statement.
“Two Korumburra women, aged 66 and 70, passed away in hospital on August 4.
“A third person, a 70-year-old Korumburra man, passed away in hospital on August 5.
“A 69-year-old Korumburra man was released from hospital on 23 September.
A Victoria Police spokesperson confirmed a search warrant had been executed at Ms Patterson’s Gibson St address, with assistance from the AFP’s technology detector dogs.
“The woman will now be interviewed by police and the investigation remains ongoing,”
No charges have been laid yet.
Ms Patterson is alleged to have cooked a beef wellington dish containing deadly death cap mushrooms on July 29, serving it to four people at a lunch at her home.
Her former parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson died from symptoms consistent with death cap mushroom poisoning after the lunch.
Ms Wilkinson’s husband, Ian, survived.
Ms Patterson has been questioned by police since the trio’s deaths.
She has denied any wrongdoing and has said she cannot explain the trio’s deaths.
Ms Patterson has previously said the mushrooms she used in the dish were a combination of button mushrooms bought at a supermarket chain and dried ones from an Asian grocery store in Melbourne months prior.
“I am now devastated to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to the illness suffered by my loved ones. I really want to repeat that I had absolutely no reason to hurt these people whom I loved,” she said in a statement issued in August.
The death cap mushroom is responsible for 90 per cent of all deaths related to mushroom consumption.
All parts of the fungus are poisonous and even eating a small amount can be fatal
More to come.