Erin Patterson sentenced to 33 years in prison for poisoning relatives with death cap mushrooms
An Australian mother convicted of murdering the parents and aunt of her estranged husband by poisoning them with death cap mushrooms has been sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 33 years.
Erin Patterson, 50, was found guilty in July of murdering her parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, with a lunch of beef Wellington pastries laced with foraged death cap mushrooms.
She was also convicted of attempting to murder Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson, who spent weeks in a hospital.
Justice Christopher Beale told the court the Victoria state Supreme Court Patterson’s crimes involved an enormous betrayal of trust.
“Your victims were all your relatives by marriage. More than that, they had all been good to you and your children over many years, as you acknowledged in your testimony,” Justice Beale said.
She will serve life sentence concurrently with a 25-year sentence for the attempted murder of the sole survivor, pastor Ian Wilkinson, whose wife, Heather, was among the guests who died in the hospital.
Patterson was found guilty after an 11-week long trial for murder of the family of her estranged husband, Simon.
Patterson denied poisoning them deliberately and contended that she had no reason to murder her beloved, elderly in-laws. But the jury rejected her defence that the inclusion of toxic mushrooms in the meal was a terrible accident.
The hearing was broadcast live from Melbourne’s Supreme Court, reflecting intense public interest in the case that gripped Australia, spawning multiple podcasts and documentaries.
Sentencing Patterson, Justice Beale said her offences involved “substantial premeditation” and an “elaborate cover-up” after she realised her initial lies would not work.
“I am satisfied by July 16, 2023, when you unusually invited Simon, his parents, and aunt and uncle to a lunch without the children to discuss your non-existent medical issue, you did so with the intention of killing them all,” Justice Beale said.
“The devastating impact of your crimes is not limited to your direct victims. Your crimes have harmed a great many people,” he said at the sentencing hearing at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne.
“Not only did you cut short three lives and cause lasting damage to Ian Wilkinson’s health, thereby devastating the extended Patterson and Wilkinson families, you inflicted untold suffering on your own children, whom you robbed of their beloved grandparents.”
Both prosecution and defence lawyers had agreed that a life sentence was an appropriate punishment for the then-50-year-old on three counts of murder and one of attempted murder.
