Erin Patterson, the Australian woman convicted of killing three relatives with a toxic mushroom meal, has formally appealed her life sentence, one of the longest ever given to a female offender in the country.
The 51-year-old lodged her appeal on Monday after Victoria’s Court of Appeal granted permission for her legal team to challenge the convictions. The court’s approval came weeks after prosecutors also sought to appeal her sentence, arguing it was “manifestly inadequate.”
Patterson was convicted in July 2024 of murdering her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66. She was also found guilty of attempting to murder Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, a local pastor who fell into a coma but survived.
The victims became fatally ill after eating a beef Wellington lunch served at Patterson’s home in Leongatha, Victoria, in July 2023. Prosecutors said the meal contained death cap mushrooms, one of the world’s deadliest fungi.
During her 11-week trial, Patterson maintained her innocence, telling the court the tragedy was “a terrible accident” and that she had no idea the mushrooms were poisonous.
After seven days of deliberation, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on all charges. Justice Christopher Beale sentenced her to life in prison, with a minimum of 33 years before parole eligibility.
The so-called “mushroom murder” case gripped Australia, drawing widespread media attention throughout the nine weeks of evidence. Prosecutors alleged that Patterson had intentionally foraged the deadly mushrooms and deceived her guests by claiming she was recovering from cancer.
Evidence presented in court suggested she later attempted to mislead police and destroy key evidence. Her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, who had been invited to the same lunch but did not attend, testified that he believed she had previously tried to poison him.
Simon told investigators he had fallen critically ill after several meals she had prepared in past years, at one point slipping into a coma and undergoing emergency bowel surgery.
Patterson is currently housed at Melbourne’s Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, a maximum-security prison for women. The court heard she spends up to 22 hours a day alone in her cell due to her “major offender status” and the risks posed by her notoriety.
If successful, Patterson’s appeal could lead to a retrial or modification of her sentence. The case will now proceed to preliminary hearings in the coming months, according to ABC News Australia.
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Africa Digital News, New YorkÂ
