Erin Patterson Began the Day with Hope. Now Australia’s Mushroom Murderer Knows She’s Likely to Die in Jail
Patterson Watched On, Clad in Prison-Issued Blue, as Victoria’s Highest Court Rejected Her Appeal Against Her Murder Convictions
TL;DR
- Erin Patterson's appeal against her murder convictions for poisoning three family members has been dismissed by Victoria's Court of Appeal.
- The court also agreed with the director of public prosecutions that Patterson should be resentenced, finding that fixing any non-parole period was inappropriate.
- Justice Stephen McLeish described the offending as "extraordinarily cold and calculated" and involving "an elaborate series of deceptions."
- Patterson was convicted of murdering her estranged husband's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt Heather Wilkinson, and attempted murder of Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, with death cap mushrooms.
- She maintains the beef wellington was accidentally poisoned and that her lies were due to panic.
- Patterson has 28 days to seek leave to appeal to the high court.