Heather Wilkinson, her sister Gail Patterson, and Patterson’s husband Don Patterson died after eating toxic wild mushrooms during a lunch on July 29.
A fourth person, Reverend Ian Wilkinson, who is a pastor at Korumburra Baptist Church and is Heather Wilkinson’s husband, is fighting for life in hospital after also eating the mushrooms at the same meal.
He awaits a liver transplant.
It’s understood the two couples were dining at the home of Erin Patterson, the Pattersons’ daughter-in-law, when they were served the meal.
Homicide detectives are investigating the deaths but are yet to determine if the incident was suspicious.
Erin Patterson was questioned by police but has been released without charge.
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Now, police are testing a dehydrator found at a local tip to see whether it was used to prepare the meal.
Police have said the matter is “very complex” but the symptoms suffered by the victims match those caused by death cap mushrooms.
A local Anglican minister, Fran Grimes, who has worked closely with Ian Wilkinson, told Today the close-knit community was reeling.
“We haven’t had a lot of the questions here in the community about, you know, ‘how’ and ‘who’ and all those things,” she told Today.
“It’s just a terrible tragedy that is here, and I think there’s a lot of just wanting to love and care and support.”
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