An Australian couple who died after eating a mushroom beef Wellington cooked by their former daughter-in-law have been remembered in a memorial service attended by hundreds.
Don and Gail Patterson, along with Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, died after eating lunch at the home of Erin Patterson in Leongatha, Victoria on July 29.
Police believe the three of them had consumed lethal death cap mushrooms.
Mrs Patterson has maintained she is innocent and the use of the mushrooms in the meal was an accident.
Her four guests fell ill just hours after the lunch, Mrs Wilkinson’s husband Ian, the fourth guest, remains in hospital.
Police named Mrs Patterson as a suspect after she and her two children appeared unharmed after the lunch. She has not been arrested and does not currently face charges.
‘Mum and dad were very much a team working at life together’
The Pattersons’ son and Erin Patterson’s former partner Simon, opened up about his parents at a public memorial in Korumburra.
Mr Patterson did not mention his ex-wife in the address, but described his parents as devout Christians who “valued and actively learned through other people’s view of the world.”
“Mum and dad were very much a team working at life together,” an emotional Simon said at the Korumburra Recreation Centre.
“The fact they died on consecutive days is fitting in some ways, as it reflects their togetherness as a couple that they always worked so hard to grow.”
Mr Patterson revealed his father had a strong fitness level in his 70s that had allowed him to survive an emergency liver transplant after consuming the lunch.
“Although sadly the rest of his body was already too sick to go on past that point,” he said.
He also spoke about the last text that his mother had sent to their family group chat before she died in hospital.
“It was no fluke that mum’s final text message as she lay in Dandenong Hospital was: ‘Lots of love to you all’,” he said.
“As Mum and Dad lay in comas in the hospital in their final days and each day, (and) we were unsure if they would recover or not, it was comforting to know that when we said: ‘See you later,’ we knew it was true.
“The only thing we didn’t know was when. In the meantime, we’ll miss them.”
A private burial was held for the couple last week – something that Mrs Patterson also didn’t attend.
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