Mushrooms or murder? That’s the question that has set mycophile Reddit ablaze.


Erin Patterson’s family luncheon at her home in Southeast Australia ended in disaster last month after her former mother-in-law, father-in-law, and aunt-in-law all died after consuming wild mushrooms, her uncle-in-law remained in critical condition.



Neither Patterson nor her two children, who ate a separate meal from the adult diners, suffered any symptoms. It is unclear whether Patterson ate the same lunch as her guests.


Though the family’s symptoms mirror those of a death cap mushroom, deadly fungi which can cause nausea, vomiting, and intense stomach pain upon ingestion, experts still have yet to confirm the fungal culprit.



“I’m devastated. I loved them,” Patterson said of the ill-fated meal. “And I can’t believe that this has happened and I’m so sorry,”


But several Redditors on r/Mushroom aren’t buying her apology — or story, for that matter — convinced this string of deaths stemmed from a fungi-fueled murder plot.


“$10 says she poisoned them,” joked u/Hickawa.


“Seems pretty weird that she has no symptoms,” speculated u/Alternative_Chemist8. “Probably didn't even eat any…”


“Sounds like she murdered her ex-in-laws and another person and possibly soon to be a fourth,” wrote @hurtsdonut_, noting it was “pretty convenient” that neither Patterson or her kids fell ill.


But it wasn’t just Patterson’s potentially fungi-free plate that sparked questions within the mycophile community. Several were confused as to why she refused to elaborate what, exactly, she served her guests that fateful day.


“She refuses to talk about what the meal was or what they ate,” observed u/MrProps1, dubbing her silence a “bit suspicious.”



The u/Mushroom subreddit, however, isn’t alone in these questions.

Dean Thomas, a Detective Inspector with the Victoria Police homicide squad, later clarified that investigators are looking into whether foul play was involved in these deaths.


“We have to keep an open mind in relation to this. It could be very innocent,” he said per CNN, reiterating that while Patterson’s lack of symptoms remains suspicious,  investigators “just don’t know at this point.”


“Four people turn up and three of them pass away, with another one critical, so we have to work through this,” he continued.


But if these deaths were, in fact, murder, u/Writerlad was right in calling out Patterson’s “rookie” mistake: “If you're going to poison your family, you gotta at least take a bite so you can feign illness.”