dehydrator

Lies to the police and health authorities about the source of the mushrooms and her decision to dispose of a food dehydrator were both because she was scared of being blamed for the guests' dire illnesses, she said.

"Instead you got up, you drove your children to school... and drove home. And then you got rid of the dehydrator."

Prosecutors repeatedly asked her, with different wording each time, whether she had knowingly used the same food dehydrator to prepare death cap mushrooms for the lunch.

Earlier, Ms Patterson's barrister asked her why she repeatedly lied to police about foraging mushrooms and having a food dehydrator.

The court also heard she had bought a food dehydrator in April 2023, in part because wild mushrooms had such a "small season" and she wanted to preserve them for later use.