Mum killed in horror by 'mushroom poisoning' sent tragic final text, grieving son reveals

Gail Patterson died last month after eating a beef Wellington cooked by their former daughter-in-law. New details were revealed at a moving memorial service in Australia this week.

Gail and Don Patterson died after consuming beef Wellington, police say, which may have been poisoned (

Image: provided)

The son of two of the victims of Australia's 'Poisoned Beef Wellington' case has shared the last messages his mother sent him.

Gail and Don Patterson, along with Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, all died last month after consuming a beef Wellington lunch at the home of the Pattersons' former daughter-in-law, Erin Patterson, in Leongatha, in Australia. Meanwhile, Ms Wilkinson's partner Ian remains critically ill in hospital after eating in the same incident.

Australian police have launched a murder investigation into the deaths. Erin Patterson has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crime.

"It's no coincidence that mum's last text message during our family group chat while she was in Dandenong Hospital was: 'Much love to you all,'" said Simon Patterson, 49, told 350 mourners at a memorial event on Thursday, Australian media reports.He went on to describe his mother and father as "a real team".

He continued, “The fact that they died several days in a row reflects the unity they have always worked so hard to grow into. While mom and dad were in a coma in the hospital for their last days and every day...we didn't know if we were recovering or not, it was comforting to know that when we said, "To later”, we knew it was true.

"The only thing we didn't know was when. In the meantime, we will miss them. »

Erin Patterson was not present at the memorial service. She has always claimed that the Beef Wellington she served that day contained dehydrated mushrooms that she had purchased at least three months prior. However, she admits throwing a food dehydrator into a dumpster once police began investigating the deaths.

Earlier this week, the Mirror reported that a top toxicologist had expressed concerns that forensic samples from the deadly mushroom meal that claimed three lives were taken too late.

Dr Michael Robertson told the: "The lab knows what they're looking for, death cap fungi, but it's not something we see regularly in Australia and the method of analysis is far off. These early samples are very important as they, especially urine samples, would help prove that these were death cap fungi."