A special edition of Under Investigation with Liz Hayes will probe the case that has gripped the world: the mystery mushroom lunch that turned into a tragedy, Wednesday night at 8.40pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
In the small town of Leongatha in eastern Victoria, five people gather to enjoy Saturday lunch – a traditional Beef Wellington cooked by host Erin Patterson.
But within days, three of the guests are dead, another clings to life.
In a major television investigation, host Liz Hayes leads a team of criminal, psychological and forensic experts to examine this most baffling of cases.
If, as police suspect, the deaths are the result of the highly toxic Death Cap mushrooms, the question is how did they find their way into Erin Patterson’s Beef Wellington?
Hayes said: “This is a perplexing case that echoes the plot of a mystery novel, yet its real-life implications have thrust it into the international spotlight and onto our UI War Table.
“As the world collectively questions what transpired and holds its breath for the answers, UI has assembled some of the country’s most skilled experts to dissect the evidence from that fateful Saturday afternoon.”
Liz Hayes is joined at the War Table by distinguished experts: Dr Michael Robertson, a toxicologist who was pivotal in the infamous Baden-Clay murder case in Queensland; Alex Krystic, a former Victorian Major Crime Detective and seasoned bushman; Damian Marrett, a leading private investigator and former Victorian detective who travelled to Leongatha for UI; Tamara Cavenett, a clinical psychologist who brings her expertise to this family tragedy; and mushroom specialist Dr Heike Neumeister-Kemp, one of Australia’s preeminent mycologists.
What really happened in Leongatha?
