The ex-husband of an Australian woman who hosted a lunch that led to the deaths of three people has claimed she tried to poison him on a previous occasion.
Three people died of suspected “mushroom poisoning” and a fourth was left fighting for their life, after attending a lunch hosted by Erin Patterson, 48, on July 29.
It emerged on Wednesday the host had invited her estranged former partner Simon Patterson for the meal, along with his parents Gail and Tom Patterson, Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian.
Simon is understood to have pulled out of the lunch as he “couldn’t make it at the last minute.”
His parents Don and Gail, both 70, and his 66-year-old aunt Mrs Wilkinson became ill and later died after the lunch at his ex-wife’s home in Leongatha, a small rural town around 84 miles southeast of Melbourne.
All three reportedly died from symptoms consistent with death cap mushroom poisoning.
Mrs Wilkinson’s husband Ian, a pastor in a nearby town, remains in critical condition in hospital.
Erin Patterson and her two children, who were also at the meal, did not fall ill.
Her ex-husband Simon Patterson has now made sensational claims that Ms Patterson tried to poison him before they separated.
A source close to him reportedly told The Herald Sun: “Simon suspected he had been poisoned by Erin.
“There were times he had felt... a bit off and it coincided when he spent time with her.”
Mr Patterson reportedly recently recovered from a stomach illness that left him fighting for his life.
In a Facebook post penned last May, he wrote: “I collapsed at home, then was in an induced coma for 16 days through which I had three emergency operations mainly on my small intestine, plus an additional planned operation,” he wrote.
“My family were asked to come and say goodbye to me twice, as I was not expected to live.”
He was reportedly in intensive care for three weeks before he began to improve, and went on to make a full recovery.
Ms Patterson has denied any wrongdoing and no charges have been made.
She broke down in tears as she spoke outside her home on Monday, professing her innocence, saying: “I didn’t do anything; I loved them.
“What happened is devastating and I’m grieving too.”
She declined to answer questions about what meals were served to which guests or where the mushrooms had come from.
Mr and Mrs Patterson have separated, but their relationship has been described as “amicable”.
A neighbour of Gail and Tom described them as active and mobile before their sudden deaths.
They said Simon had been living with his parents while recovering from his stomach illness.
“After his illness, there might have been a separation,” the neighbour said. “We don’t know why they split up. They were a very private family.”
Police in Australia are investigating the mysterious deaths, which have gripped the country.
Interest only increased after police on Wednesday searched a local refuse centre for a dehydrator believed to have been used in the preparation of the lunch.
On Sunday, police said they had questioned a 48-year-old woman who served the lunch before releasing her without charge.
The investigation is likely to be lengthy due to the complexity of the case, detective Dean Thomas said on Monday.
“We presume at this stage it was mushrooms but it’s a complex investigation that I think will take some time,” he said.
The Patterson and Wilkinson families said in a statement in a local newspaper on Sunday they were grateful “to our wider communities for their outpouring of love, support, and prayers.”
“This support extends not only to those we have tragically lost but also to our family member who continues to bravely fight for his life in the hospital.”
Deaths from consuming mushrooms are relatively rare in Australia, which has several species including the “death cap” mushroom that are dangerous enough to poison and kill a human.
The deaths have led to warnings from health experts across the country not to forage for wild mushrooms and to buy from reputable sellers.
