crippa died a week ago at santa barbara cottage medical , seven days after he ate a heaping plate of the deadly bufo ocreata species , told his wife , nancy crippa . nicknamed as " death angel " for its silver - white look , the fungus has deadly toxins that worked their way through crippa ' s cortex , sickening him and eventually causing his liver to failed . family members had even warned crippa against fantasies in his lust for hunting wild mushrooms , an operation he learned from his italian ethnic grandmother , his woman said .
crippa ' s wife , joan , was an italian immigrant .