Locals of a small country town at the centre of an alleged mushroom poisoning lunch that left three people dead have voiced their anger over a nasty rumour.
The 5,000 resident-strong town of Korumburra in South Gippsland, Victoria, was thrust into the spotlight after three people died from ingesting a beef wellington allegedly laced with death cap mushrooms in July, 2023.
Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, all died within days of eating the meal allegedly prepared by the Patterson’s former daughter-in-law, Erin Patterson, at her home in Leongatha.
Heather’s husband, Baptist church pastor Ian Wilkinson, 68, narrowly avoided the same fate while Patterson’s husband Simon pulled out of the lunch.
Patterson was charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder – four of which are from previous incidents with her husband – in November.
The case sparked a media frenzy, with many residents claiming the rumour mill went ‘into overdrive’ and portrayed them as ‘cult-like’ religious fanatics.
Residents of the small town at the centre of an alleged poisonous mushroom lunch, Korumburra (pictured), has hit out against harmful rumour mills surrounding the case
A number of Korumburra residents attended a private memorial for Don, Gail and Heather at the Baptist church, where Mr Wilkinson was a pastor, shortly after the deaths.
Both couples’ Catholic beliefs alongside images of residents mourning them were spread across the globe, sparking rumours the town was deeply religious.
Former South Gippsland Shire mayor, Nathan Hersey, said the narratives surrounding the town involved residents being an ‘overly religious, cult-like people’.
‘But it’s just a regular country town filled with great people in a very picturesque and beautiful place,’ Mr Hersey told The Mushroom Cook podcast.
The former mayor fielded an ‘onslaught’ of media requests posed to the council from Aussie and international news outlets, including The New York Times and BBC.
He said he was fronting the media as much as three times per day when the story was at its most read.
A local, who asked to remain anonymous, said the public was ‘quick to judge’ the town and its residents after the incident.
‘So many assumptions were made about us country folk soon after the deaths,’ he told the Herald Sun.
‘I think there were a perception that we picked our food from the ground and were really religious and that’s just not the case.’
The resident said the religious beliefs of some wasn’t a reflection on the broader community, adding that ‘we are just normal people with normal lives’.
Erin Patterson (pictured) has been charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder over the incident which sparked an international media circus
Residents said the investigation and media attention led to rumours that the town was full of ‘cult-like’ religious fanatics (pictured, police at the scene)
Patterson is currently awaiting trial for the alleged incident and has been remanded in Victoria’s Dame Phyllis Frost Centre – a maximum security jail that can hold 600 women.
Victoria Police spent 20 weeks preparing a brief of evidence against Patterson.
A large portion of the investigation was centred on Patterson’s home and utilised a specialist canine unit to sniff-out electronic devices.
The prosecution will rely on the photos and witnesses’ statements conducted by police as evidence for Patterson’s alleged crimes.
The accused mushroom chef is due to next appear in Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court via video-link for a committal hearing on May 3.
Pastor Ian Wilkinson was the only one to survive the lunch, which claimed the life of his wife Heather Wilkinson, 66. He spent almost two months in hospital (the pair are pictured together)
Gail Patterson and brother-in-law Don Patterson, both 70, perished following the lunch
