I’m an ex-detective – I know how cops are probing ‘deadly mushroom’ case…and the twist that could land a MURDER charge
A FORMER detective has revealed how cops will be investigating the poisonous mushroom lunch.
Three people were killed after they allegedly ate deadly fungi served by Erin Patterson at her home in Leongatha, Australia.
The mum, 48, invited Gail and Don Patterson, her former in-laws, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian to her house for dinner.
It's claimed she held the deadly gathering on July 29 in a bid to try and win back her estranged ex-husband Simon Patterson.
After eating the meal on July 29, the guests became violently ill and Gail and Don, both 70, and Heather, 66, later died.
Homicide detectives confirmed Erin is a suspect in the mystery case as the mum-of-two cooked the meal at her home - but did not get sick.
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Charlie Bezzina, who served in the Victorian Homicide Squad for 17 years, said cops will be sifting through Erin's history as they try to unravel the mystery.
He told : "It'll be a matter of history to see whether this person who prepared their meal has done it before and (are there) other people around her that will support her story in relation to how she did it, why she did it, has she done it in the past
"Did she collect the mushrooms? Were they collected by somebody else? Were they purchased from somewhere else?
"These are all the things you got to look at, as to how the whole incident occurred, because these are three unnatural deaths that shouldn't have happened."
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Mr Bezzina says if charges were to be laid, it would more likely be for manslaughter rather than for murder.
Erin has categorically denied any wrongdoing and wept outside her home on Monday as she spoke to reporters.
"I didn’t do anything," she said. "I loved them and I’m devastated they are gone.
"Gail was like the mum I didn’t have because my mum passed away four years ago, Gail had never been anything but good and kind to me.
"Ian and Heather were some of the best people I’d ever met. They never did anything wrong to me."
But Mr Bezzina said a twist could see a murder charge laid - if a confession is made.
He added: "(With) murder you've got to prove intent to kill, or cause grievous bodily harm or grievous bodily injury.
"Whereas manslaughter, you've got to prove either gross negligence or it was an unlawful and dangerous act.
"But I don't think it would stretch to murder unless they get a confession to say, 'yes, I intended to kill these people'."
Erin today broke cover as she was spotted withdrawing cash after reportedly going into hiding.
Confusion surrounded her whereabouts on Thursday after one of her lawyers was forced to camp outside her home to hand deliver legal instructions.
The man said it was the only way Erin could be reached after cops confiscated her phone and computer.
But she broke cover on Friday as she was pictured withdrawing cash from an ATM in Melbourne city centre - nearly 100 miles away from her home.
According to , she was spotted wearing the same red shirt and white pants she was pictured in on Tuesday.
Erin has denied any wrongdoing and cops have cautioned that the incident could be "very innocent".
But officers seized a number of items - including a food dehydrator from a tip, believed to have been used to prepare the mushrooms.
Investigators are still unsure whether she also ate the meal - but cops confirmed a different lunch was served to her two children.
It's understood cops are seeking to review CCTV footage from the tip where the food dehydrator was found to see which vehicles entered the site.
A police source told that cops are conducting forensic tests on the dehydrator in the hope it could hold key clues to finding out what happened.
According to a pal, Erin held the lunch in a bid to try and reconcile with her estranged ex-husband Simon Patterson.
A source close to Simon claimed Erin was desperate to get back with him - and suggested the lunch was an "intervention" from his family.
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The friend said his family were concerned and described the get-together as a "mediation".
Simon was supposed to join the lunch - but reportedly pulled out at the last minute.
