The community where Erin Patterson’s mushroom murders took place

Winter is famous in the Gibelsland area of ​​Victoria as cold. The frost is a frequent visitor overnight, and the days are often cloudy.

But in the small town of Corombura – part of Australia surrounded by low -circulating hills – it is not just a dark weather; Mood here is clearly defeated.

Corombura is the place where all the victims of Irene Patterson were made their home. Done and Jil Patterson lived, her son -in -law, since 1984. They have been raised their four children in the town of 5000. The sister of Heather Wilkenson’s generation lived near – her husband Ian the priest was in the local Baptist Church.

The four were invited to Irene’s house on July 29, 2023 for a family lunch left only Ian, after the liver transplant and weekly coma.

On Monday, the jury rejected Irene’s claim that it had accidentally served its guests, and found it guilty of three murder charges and one of the attempt to kill.

Her 10 -week trial caused a tremendous uproar in the world, but here in Coromoria they do not want to talk about. They just want to return to their lives after it was two difficult years.

“It is not easy to go through a sad process … and it is not especially easy when there was a lot of attention,” she said, “It is not easy to go through a sad process … It is not especially easy when there was a lot of attention,” Cafe and Consultant at Shir Nathan Hersy told the BBC.

“There is a chance now that many people can get some closing.”

Local population is very loyal – it’s one of the few people who want to explain the meaning of this ordeal for many in the region.

“It is the place you can accept very quickly and made you feel part of it,” he explains.

He helped those who died clearly building that environment.

To a large extent, every person from a specific generation in the city was taught by the former school teacher Don Patterson: “You will hear many people talk openly about Don, about the influence they had on.

“He was a great teacher and really attractive person too.”

Mr. Hersi says he has heard a lot, and many stories of Heather, Gil Karam and Landfir.

Installed on the Baptist Kormomburora notification plate is a short phrase praising the trio, who were “very special people who loved God and love to bless others.”

“We miss all of Heather, without a generation, whether we are friends for a short period or more than 20 years.”

Not only Korumburra that was changed due to the tragedy.

This part of the rural Victoria regions is widespread with small and homeless cities, which may initially look completely isolated.

The truth is that they are assembled together through close relationships – the links that rocked this issue.

In the nearby Outtrim, the residents of Nelson Street – the unusual Al -Hegi Road Host of a handful of homes – left the prosecution claiming that their gardens may have produced the murder.

It was one of the sites where the Cap Death mushroom was seen and published on Instaturalist, a science site for citizens. Referring to the cell phone tracking data, the prosecution claimed that Erine Patterson went to both the fodder for the deadly fungi.

“Everyone knows someone who is affected by this situation,” Ian Thomps told the BBC of his small farm on Nelson Street.

He shakes his list. His son is the police investigator. His wife works with the daughter of the only survivor Ian. His neighbor is a good friend with “Funky Tom”, the famous mushroom expert who called for the prosecution – who was also by chance the person who published the vision of fungi here.

On the road, there are another 15 minutes, as Irene Patterson’s house sits from other sprawling properties on an unpaved lane.

She bought a plot of land here with a generous inheritance from her mother and the girl’s girl assumed that she would live here forever.

He was sitting empty for approximately 18 months, a sign of the gate telling the infringement of the voltage. The sheep of the neighbor falls intermittently to the grass.

This week, the livestock disappeared, and the black waxed fabric was built around its garage and the entrance to its house.

There is a feeling of darker among some neighbors, but there is also a lot of fatigue. Every day there are Gawkes leading to the bottom of the corridor to see the place where the tragic meal occurred. One of the neighbors even believed that she saw a tourist bus revolving around the house.

“When you live in a local town, you know Asma – it was interesting to follow,” says Emma Buckland, who stops speaking to us on the main street.

“It is strange,” says her mother, Gabriel Stephanie. Nothing like that [ever] It happened that is difficult to believe. “

The conversation turns into mushroom feed.

“We grew up on the farm. Even in the front garden, there is always a fungus and you know which of them cannot eat,” says Ms. Backland. “This is something that has been known.”

The city that has felt the influence of the issue more in recent months is Morwell; The administrative capital of the city of LaRub, where the trial was heard.

Local journalist Liam Durkin, sitting on the wall in front of the LaTrop Valley court, says: “We have seen Morwell, who is usually a beautiful sleeping city, comes to life,” says local journalist Liam Durkin, sitting on the wall in front of the LaTrop Valley court.

It edits the weekly or weekly Latrobe Valley Express newspaper, whose offices are just around the corner.

“I did not think I would listen to fungi experts and the like for successive weeks, but we are here,” he says.

“I don’t think there was anything like that, and they may never be in Morwell again.”

Although it is not far from Australian standards, Morwell is still two hours drive from the country’s second largest city, Melbourne. It is a feeling far from the Victorian capital – often forget.

Just a few months before this fateful lunch served by Irene Patterson in July 2023, the Morwell Paper Factory – the last white paper factory in Australia and provided many local jobs. Before that, many people lost their jobs when a nearby power plant closed.

The elderly has fought here to find work; Others left to find more profitable options in states such as Queensland.

So the local residents say that heading in the spotlight is now a little strange.

At the Jay Des cafe, opposite the police station and the court, Laura Heller explains that it usually makes about 150 coffee per day. Almost recently doubled.

“There was a lot of mixed feelings about [the trial]She says.

She explained that this issue was a huge increase for many companies, but this issue also revived the long division in society when it comes to the police and justice systems.

“This city is very affected by the crime, but it is a completely different type of crime,” he says. It refers to drugs and youth in violation as examples.

“Half of society does not have a lot of belief in the power of the police and our judges.”

Returning to Corombura, what was shaken is their belief in humanity. It seems that many people all over the world have lost the fact that this generated crime of the main title has left three people.

“Life has changed in our local society forever,” says Mr. Hersi.

“But I would like to tell many people, it has become almost like a pop culture.”

Although the past two years have sometimes shown the worst in society, it also shed light on the best.

“We want to know as a society that was strong and support each other … instead of a known place for what we know now was the killing.”

Additional reports by Tiffany Turnboul