A prominent criminologist has said there are three major lines of inquiry open to the police after a woman died from suspected mushroom poisoning at a health retreat.
Rachael Dixon, 53, attended the Soul Barn Creative Wellbeing Centre in Clunes, near Ballarat, Victoria, on Saturday night and became violently ill after she is believed to have crushed up mushrooms and consumed them in a drink.
University of Newcastle criminologist Xanthe Mallett spoke on Channel 7’s Sunrise on Wednesday morning about the key questions facing investigators, including that the mushrooms may be the type known as magic mushrooms.
Professor Mallett said there are only three options the police will look at.
‘Was this an awful accident – so misadventure – was this a case of suicide, or was it something else, something more intentful,’ she said.
There is no suggestion the poisoning was intentional.
Professor Mallett made the bombshell revelation that the chances of becoming ill from magic mushrooms are very low and that there could have been other toxic mushrooms mixed in the concoction.
Rachael Dixon (pictured) attended the Soul Barn Creative Wellbeing Centre in Clunes, near Ballarat, on Saturday night and became violently ill after she is believed to have crushed up mushrooms and consumed them in a drink
She was attending an event at Soul Barn, an alternative health centre in Clunes (pictured), which featured ‘wild foraged plants’
‘I think we can probably rule out suicide quite early on in that piece, but the police will obviously look at that as a potential. It has to be done,’ she said.
The academic added: ‘We’re really looking at misadventure or intent … the police looking both of those till they have evidence to take them down one of those paths.’
Sunrise’s Matt ‘Shirvo’ Shirvington pointed out that magic mushrooms are illegal to use in Australia and asked where the responsibility could lie in a situation like this.
‘That really depends on who possibly scavenged for those mushrooms,’ Prof Mallett said.
‘They will be probably growing at this time of year. It is autumn.
‘So it really depends on who picked them and who knew what was in those drinks.
‘The police are really going to have to unravel all that before they can look at culpability.’
The professor was also asked about comparisons to the Erin Patterson case, where a woman was charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.
These charges stemmed from an incident where she allegedly poisoned a meal with mushrooms at a home in the same region of Victoria where the case involving Ms Dixon happened.
Prof Mallett said that ‘some of the (same) toxicologists’ may be involved in the latest case.
‘They need to know exactly what was in that tea that allegedly contained magic mushrooms. It may be there are some other toxic mushrooms in there,’ she said.
‘The likelihood of someone becoming very ill or dying from magic mushrooms is very low, but they can be confused with other toxic mushrooms.
‘So they will need to determine exactly what mushrooms were allegedly in that drink.
Prof Mallett said that ‘some of the (same) toxicologists’ may be involved in the latest case
She said that people pick their own mushrooms should be careful about which ones they pick at this time of the year.
Along with Ms Dixon dying, two others were also rushed to hospital after allegedly consuming a drink with ‘foraged’ ingredients during the ‘alternative health’ retreat.
The two other people were released from hospital on Tuesday.
Police are expected to investigate if the drink contained ‘magic’ mushrooms, which contain the hallucinogenic chemical psilocybin.
Ms Dixon’s son, Matthew, paid tribute to his mother on social media on Sunday, writing: ‘To the most loving, most caring person I’ve ever known can’t thank you enough for everything you ever did for me and all the support you gave me’.
‘Words can’t begin to describe how much I will miss you, wish I could give you one last hug.’
Detectives with the Moorabool Crime Investigation Unit are investigating Ms Dixon’s death and are set to interview those at the retreat at the time.
There is no suggestion that the poisoning was intentional.
Ms Dixon’s son, Matthew, paid tribute to his mother on social media on Sunday
Soul Barn’s Facebook page describes the centre as an ‘Alternative & Holistic Health Service’ and was used to spruik the skincare event.
‘(The specialist) weaves ancient skincare rituals and combines them with modern techniques to create nurturing yet active facials,’ it was advertised.
‘Using infused herbal oils sourced from local farms & wild foraged plants, plus handcrafted skincare from around the world especially chosen for its potency and purity … This is a facial like non other, one you will never forget!’
A post on Sunday extended the business’ ‘deepest condolences’ while stating a ‘sound healing’ session that day would be cancelled and those who booked would be refunded.
Police are expected to investigate whether the drink contained ‘magic’ mushrooms, a hallucinogenic, but aren’t ruling out other toxic substances (pictured, Soul Barn)
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