Woman suspected in deadly mushroom poisoning case speaks out

The components used to prepare the lunch that left three people dead in Australia due to a deadly mushroom poisoning were bought from two different stores, according to the woman suspected in the accident.

Erin Patterson, 48, gave a statement to the police saying she wants to “clear up the record” because she had become “extremely stressed and overwhelmed by the deaths” of her loved ones, she was quoted as saying in a statement to police cited by ABC on Monday.

On July 29, at her residence in the small town of Leongatha, Patterson presented a home-cooked lunch to her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, and Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson.

According to authorities, three of the four relatives who attended lunch with them passed away after exhibiting signs of "death cap" mushroom poisoning, while one patient still had a critical condition in the hospital.

Victoria Police's homicide squad is investigating the case involving "death cap" mushrooms and urged people to avoid them while trying to work out the details of the case.

However, Patterson, claims she bought dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer in Melbourne and button mushrooms from a supermarket chain. Both sets were used to prepare a family lunch of beef wellington, a baked dish, encasing a long tenderloin cut in pastry with a pâté or mushroom filling.

“I am hoping this statement might help in some way. I believe if people understood the background more, they would not be so quick to rush to judgment,” Patterson said.

“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.”

Furthermore, Patterson has not been arrested or charged over the deaths and denied any wrongdoing in a tearful exchange with local media outside her home.

Patterson’s full statement to Victoria Police has not been made public and declined to comment on the statement.

“There is no further update on the investigation, and we will not be commenting on specific parts of it at this stage,” police told CNN on Tuesday.

Police have reported that Patterson's two children were present at a late July family lunch but did not eat it. However, Patterson's statement contradicts this, stating that the children were away at the movies.

The following evening, she served leftovers but scraped the mushrooms off. Police searched Patterson's home and seized objects for forensic testing and an investigation that is ongoing. They are keeping an open mind about the incident.