In light of the enormous media attention surrounding the catastrophic mushroom poisonings that claimed the lives of three individuals in Victoria, a local mayor has requested seclusion.
Residents of Korumburra are requesting privacy, according to South Gippsland Mayor Nathan Hersey, after the case made international headlines.
Hersey remarked, “This is not Midsomer Murders.”
This is the Korumburra, this is the life of a person.
This week it was made public that Erin Patterson, 48, of nearby Leongatha, gave homicide investigators a letter in which she gave her account of what happened at the fatal lunch on July 29.
Patterson acknowledged lying to authorities and says that she wound up in the hospital after consuming the same beef Wellington that killed Heather Wilkinson and Don and Gail Patterson, her former in-laws.
Following the same lunch, a fourth individual, Reverend Ian Wilkinson, Wilkinson’s husband and a pastor at Korumburra Baptist Church, is in critical condition in the hospital.
Patterson vehemently denied any misconduct in the statement to the police.
Locals claim that although Korumburra, a village of fewer than 5000 residents, has a close-knit community, it has been marred by rumors and the public’s fascination with the mysterious deaths.
Local resident Rob Buchan claimed that locals are debating what is taking place.
“People are talking about it, as we always do about things that happen in our community,” Buchan said.
“We don’t know until we know,” the saying goes, “so you’ve got to be really careful about what you do and what you say.”
Don and Gail Patterson’s former daughter-in-law Erin Patterson is a victim of the Korumburra wild mushroom poisoning.
Police suspect that the lunch included hazardous death cap mushrooms.
In Melbourne, which is 90 minutes away, Patterson claims she purchased dried mushrooms from a supermarket and an Asian grocer before combining them with fresh mushrooms she bought nearby.
Other than an annual warning about the dangers of poisonous death caps and yellow-staining mushrooms, there have been no mushroom-related recalls or warnings issued in Victoria.
The Australian Mushroom Growers Association has warned consumers not to harvest or consume mushrooms growing in the wild and to always purchase mushrooms from a reputable shop.
