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A woman in Australia who cooked a meal using mushrooms suspected of killing three people was arrested Thursday and charged with murder, authorities said.
Erin Patterson, 49, has maintained that the deaths after the beef Wellington lunch at her home in Leongatha, in the state of Victoria, were a tragic accident. Now police have charged her with three counts of murder and five of attempted murder—with some of the charges relating to earlier incidents.
Following the July 29 meal, four people became violently ill. Gail and Don Patterson, the parent’s of the accused’s ex-husband, both died in August while receiving treatment in hospital. Heather Wilkinson, Gail Patterson’s sister, also died, while Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson survived after becoming critically unwell.