Mushroom killer to spend minimum of 33 years in jail
Erin Patterson has been sentenced to life in prison but will have a chance for release after murdering three lunch guests with deadly mushrooms.
Source: Victorian Supreme Court
Mushroom murderer Erin Patterson has been given three life sentences before a packed public gallery in the Victorian Supreme Court.
Patterson reportedly sat unmoved in the dock on Monday as Justice Christopher Beale handed down life sentences for the murders of Gail and Don Patterson and Heather Wilkinson with a poison mushroom-laced lunch.
There was also a further sentence of 25 years for the attempted murder of Heather’s husband Ian at the same deadly lunch.
Beale imposed a non-parole period of 33 years, meaning the triple killer will not be released from jail until she is at least 83.
All sentences are to be served concurrently.
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“The prosecution submits, and your counsel concedes, that your offending falls into the worst category of offending for these offences and that you should receive the maximum penalties for your crimes,” Beale told Patterson on Monday.
There was silence in the courtroom as Beale handed down his sentence. Court reporters described Patterson as sitting either with her eyes closed or blinking rapidly, but otherwise appearing unfazed.
Her sole surviving victim, Ian Wilkinson, was seated just metres away with other family members. He had his arms crossed.
Patterson had earlier arrived at court in a prison van, as dozens of people lined up before the doors opened in hopes of getting a spot in the courtroom for one of the final chapters in a trial that garnered international attention.
Journalists, photographers and camera operators also lined the footpaths and a TV chopper hovered overhead as the van carrying Patterson arrived at court in central Melbourne.
The 50-year-old appeared in court wearing a paisley-patterned top and a tan-coloured jacket with her hair down.
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Patterson’s lawyers had earlier urged Beale to show her mercy and give her a chance to be released back into the community.
But the prosecution had sought a jail sentence of life without parole, arguing Patterson’s crime was so cruel and horrific it deserved the rare punishment.
A jury found Patterson deliberately served beef Wellingtons laced with death cap mushrooms to her four lunch guests in July 2023.
Her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, died after consuming the meal, while Heather’s husband Ian survived.
Patterson continues to claim it was all a terrible accident.
On July 7, after an exhaustive 10-week trial, a jury found her guilty of three counts of murder and one of attempted murder.
At a pre-sentencing hearing in August, Wilkinson offered his forgiveness to Patterson for trying to kill him but said he would seek justice for those who died.
Patterson has 28 days to file an appeal.
-with AAP
