1. A Little Taste of Tonight’s Case Tonight’s story starts exactly where so many good things do: a quiet country town, a family lunch, and a plate of something fancy – beef Wellington. It ends with three people dead, one clinging to life, and an entire nation asking how a dish that sounds like it belongs on MasterChef ended up in the Supreme Court. This episode takes you into the Leongatha mushroom case – the so-called “death cap dinner” – told from my Tale Teller perch, with all the atmosphere, care, and candlelit narration you’ve come to expect… plus a healthy dollop of “what on earth, humans?” 2. What’s Actually in the Episode? A lunch that looked ordinary… and wasn’t We start at the table. No gore, no exploitation – just that quiet, uneasy sense that something is off. You’ll hear: How a country family lunch in Victoria became international news. Who sat at that table, how they were connected, and why this wasn’t strangers in a headline, but an entire web of family history colliding over one meal. I walk you through the day itself like you’re there in the corner of the room, watching the plates go down and not yet knowing what they carry. What a death cap actually does to you Then we get a little… biological. I take you inside the body and explain – in proper, story-ified fashion – what happens when you eat a death cap mushroom: The eerie, silent first hours, when your body acts like nothing’s wrong while amatoxins quietly slip into your bloodstream. The fake food-poisoning phase – all vomiting and diarrhoea and “oh that’s just a nasty bug” – while your liver is secretly being dismantled cell by cell. The false recovery, that cruel moment where the symptoms ease and you think you’re on the mend… just as your liver throws in its resignation letter. And finally, the crash: jaundice, confusion, liver failure, the scramble for transplants and ICU care. It’s dramatic, it’s descriptive, and it’s rooted in the real medical picture – because if we’re going to be horrified, we may as well be accurately horrified. Inside the relationships and the almost-motive We also pull back from the plate and talk about the human mess behind it all: The long, complicated relationship between Erin and her ex, The money tensions, the child support drama, the messages that went from “family” to “lost cause” in record time, And how the courts actually handled motive – or rather, how they never truly nailed one down. I keep it respectful: we’re not here to psychoanalyse a stranger’s soul from our couches. But we do explore the emotional landscape that sat behind that lunch, because that’s where the story really starts to ache. The sentence, the silence, and the questions We end in the courtroom: the verdicts, the life sentence, and the judge openly admitting that only she knows why. Then I leave you with the questions that linger: Is a murder with no clear motive creepier than one done for money? How much does “why” matter once “what” is already this bad? And who do we trust at our table, really? 3. Thank You, You EPIC, Wonderful Lovelies! I cannot overstate this: you are the reason I get to dig into stories like this properly – slowly, carefully, with time to research, script, narrate, and edit instead of belting them out between life admin and cold tea. Every time you support on Patreon, you’re not just “tipping the podcaster” – you’re literally funding: The hours it takes to turn a complex case into a coherent, respectful narrative. The hosting, tools, and tea and caffeine supply chain that keep SFGT alive. The space for me to ask, “How do I tell this without turning real pain into entertainment?” – and then actually follow through on that. So thank you: For trusting me with your ears. For backing this strange little corner of the audio world where horror and empathy share the same cup. For letting me sit by your side, late at night, and tell you stories that stay with you long after the episode ends. You are, quite genuinely, the legends who keep the lights on and the kettle boiling. Stay safe, stay curious, and maybe – just for me – don’t eat any mysterious mushrooms you find on a weekend wander, yeah? With all the tea and all the thanks, Your Tale Teller Research References and Bibliography: https://www.patreon.com/posts/145819571?pr=true