Australian woman jailed for life over deadly mushroom lunch
The 50-year-old was convicted in July after an 11-week trial of murdering her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, along with Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, by serving them beef Wellington pastries laced with poisonous fungi in July 2023.
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An Australian woman, Erin Patterson, has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 33 years before parole for killing three relatives with toxic death cap mushrooms during a family lunch.
The 50-year-old was convicted in July after an 11-week trial of murdering her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, along with Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, by serving them beef Wellington pastries laced with poisonous fungi in July 2023. She was also found guilty of attempting to murder Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, who survived after weeks in hospital.
Justice Christopher Beale of the Victoria Supreme Court told Patterson that her victims were not only relatives by marriage but people who had shown kindness to her and her children. He added that evidence suggested she had also planned to kill her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, who declined to attend the gathering.
Prosecutors argued Patterson deserved no chance of parole, while her defence requested eligibility after 30 years. Beale settled on 33 years, noting her careful efforts to avoid eating the poisoned food herself. Patterson, who has maintained her innocence and claimed the tragedy was an accident, has 28 days to appeal.
The case, which drew international attention, was unprecedented in Victoria — with cameras allowed inside the courtroom to film the sentencing. Patterson has been in custody since November 2023, when she was first charged.
