Death cap mushroom murderer Erin Patterson will die in prison after an appeal court found her offending so cold, calculated and shocking that she should never have the chance at parole.
asserted
she → die → parole
Court of Appeal justices Stephen McLeish, Leslie Taylor and Peter Kidd handed down their decision on Friday, throwing out Patterson’s appeal against her conviction and accepting an argument from prosecutors that her sentence had been manifestly inadequate.
Patterson, 51, has been serving life in prison with a non-parole period of 33 years, after being found guilty by a jury last year of the poisoning murders of her in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, and the attempted murder of Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson.
Sentencing Justice Christopher Beale, who has now retired, resisted calls at the time to jail Patterson for life with no prospect of parole, finding her case was so infamous she was likely to find custody more onerous than others.
However, the Court of Appeal found Patterson’s persistent murderous intent had protracted the suffering of her victims.
asserted
intent → hand → victims
They said Patterson had for nearly three weeks, coldly planned and executed the murders, including extending the invitation to lunch and hiding the truth for nearly a week as her victims lay dying.
asserted
victims → say → week
“This offending was extraordinarily cold and calculated, and stands to be denounced in the strongest terms,” McLeish said.
asserted
McLeish → offend → terms
“In all the circumstances, after anxious consideration, we have concluded that the case involved such shocking criminality that it is inappropriate to fix a non-parole period.”
asserted
it → conclude → period
Patterson was not in court to hear the judgment.
asserted
Patterson → hear → judgment
Patterson’s appeal barrister, Richard Edney, had argued there were a number of potential irregularities in his client’s case, including during the jury’s seven-day sequestration at a Gippsland hotel while they were deciding Patterson’s fate.
asserted
they → argue → fate
The court heard jurors stayed in the same Traralgon hotel as members of the prosecution and police involved in the case, which Edney claimed amounted to a catastrophic and fundamental failure to comply with the trial rules.
asserted
Edney → hear → rules
Edney said the “inexplicable failure” to separate the jury created a potential miscarriage of justice with the media seemingly knowing more about potential interactions between the jury and others at the Latrobe Valley hotel than the prosecution did.
asserted
prosecution → say → hotel
It followed an 11-week trial in Morwell, in Victoria’s east in mid-2025, which heard from more than 50 witnesses.
asserted
which → follow → witnesses
PATTERSON APPEAL ARGUMENTS
Patterson’s defence team submitted seven reasons the mushroom murderer’s convictions should be overturned:
- The jury was potentially contaminated by staying in the same hotel as prosecutors and police.
asserted
jury → submit → prosecutors
- Patterson was grilled unfairly by prosecutors during eight days in the witness box.
asserted
Patterson → grill → box
- The prosecution told the jury it did not have to prove a motive for the murders but then spent substantial time implying she was angry at the Patterson family over a child support dispute.
asserted
she → tell → dispute
- Large tranches of evidence were wrongly shown to the jury, including mobile phone tower links to two areas in rural Gippsland where deadly mushrooms grew.
asserted
mushrooms → show → Gippsland
- Photos and videos found on Patterson’s devices that could have backed her claims of being a mushroom forager were not shown to the jury.
uncertain
that → find → jury
- Evidence from Facebook “friends” was not relevant, or their probative value was outweighed by unfair prejudice.
asserted
value → outweigh → prejudice
- Prosecutors used family text messages to imply Patterson arranged the lethal lunch after fighting with the family when no motive was put forward as part of the case.
asserted
motive → use → case
Jury keepers reported no contact had occurred with anyone outside the jury pool, the court heard.
asserted
court → report → pool
This, McLeish said was “significant” because it stood in the face of an argument otherwise based on conjecture.
asserted
it → say → conjecture
Edney also argued that Patterson had been unfairly grilled by the prosecutor over eight days in the witness box, that 35 errors occurred in their closing address to the jury and that large amounts of evidence should not have been allowed into the trial.
asserted
amounts → argue → trial
Director of Public Prosecutions Brendan Kissane, KC, had dismissed the concerns as baseless and not warranting the granting of an appeal.
asserted
Kissane → dismiss → appeal
The trial was told Patterson fed her four guests beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms during lunch at the mother-of-two’s Leongatha home in July 2023.
asserted
Patterson → tell → July
Simon Patterson, the killer’s estranged husband, had also been invited to lunch but cancelled the evening before.
asserted
Patterson → estrange → lunch
Heather Wilkinson and Gail Patterson died on August 4, 2023, from multiple organ failure, with a diagnosis of amanita mushroom poisoning.
asserted
Wilkinson → die → poisoning
Don Patterson died the following night.
asserted
Patterson → die → ?
Local pastor Ian Wilkinson survived after spending several weeks in an induced coma.
asserted
Wilkinson → survive → coma
The Aporia
