Claims extracted
16
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
6%
1 of 16 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
69/100
BBC News's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
16
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
- Published
Australia's mushroom killer has failed to overturn her murder convictions on appeal, with the court also ruling that she never be released from prison.
asserted
she → publish → prison
Erin Patterson, 51, was found guilty of murdering three relatives and attempting to kill another when she served them a toxic mushroom-laced meal in 2023.
asserted
she → find → 2023
Her life sentence included a non-parole period of 33 years.
asserted
sentence → include → years
In Victoria's Court of Appeal on Friday, three judges threw out her appeal against her convictions and agreed with the prosecution that her sentence was inadequate, as it allowed for the possibility of freedom.
asserted
it → throw → freedom
Patterson's crimes were "extraordinarily cold and calculated" and had to be "denounced in the strongest terms," they said.
asserted
they → have → terms
"We have concluded that the case involved such shocking criminality that it is inappropriate to fix a non-parole period," Justice Peter Kidd told the court, on the panel's behalf.
asserted
Kidd → conclude → behalf
After a high-profile trial last year, a jury found Patterson guilty of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, by serving them individual portions of beef Wellington containing death cap mushrooms.
asserted
Patterson → find → mushrooms
Patterson was also found guilty of the attempted murder of Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson, a local pastor, who also ate the toxic lunch at Patterson's home in rural Victoria.
asserted
who → find → Victoria
He survived after spending weeks in hospital and has ongoing health issues due to the poisoning.
asserted
He → survive → poisoning
Simon Patterson, the host's estranged husband, was meant to attend the lunch but cancelled at the last minute, in part due to his belief that his wife had repeatedly tried to poison him over several years.
asserted
wife → estrange → years
Patterson was sentenced last September, with the trial judge allowing a non-parole period of 33 years due to the "harsh prison conditions" she would likely face.
asserted
she → sentence → conditions
She promptly launched an appeal against her convictions, with her legal team in August arguing seven grounds for her appeal.
asserted
team → launch → appeal
They claimed a hotel booking mishap - which saw the jury stay in the same place as the prosecution, a key police witness and the media - was "catastrophic" and undermined the integrity of her trial.
They also argued certain pieces of evidence shown to the jury were irrelevant and prejudicial - such as cell tower data suggesting Patterson visited areas where death cap mushrooms might be found and Facebook posts where she complained about her in-laws.
Meanwhile, the judge wrongly blocked other evidence that would have demonstrated the mother-of-two's long-time hobby of mushroom foraging, they said.
uncertain
they → claim → foraging
The defence team also asserted that the prosecution's five-day cross-examination of Patterson was "unfair and oppressive", and that the Crown was inconsistent in its arguments about a motive.
asserted
Crown → assert → motive
On Friday, the appeal judges dismissed all seven grounds.
asserted
judges → dismiss → grounds
Patterson has 28 days to decide if she will seek to convince the High Court of Australia to hear another appeal over the case.
asserted
she → have → case
The Aporia
