Mushroom killer to be jailed for life after losing appeal
What's the story
Erin Patterson, the Australian woman who killed three people with a meal of toxic mushrooms, has failed in her bid to overturn her conviction. The appeals court found that her original sentence was too lenient for her "cold and calculated" crimes. In July 2023, Patterson was convicted of murdering her estranged husband's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, using death cap mushrooms hidden in beef wellington at a family lunch.
Sentence details
Patterson's crimes 'cold and calculated': Judges
In September 2025, Patterson was sentenced to three life sentences for murder and an additional 25 years for attempted murder of a fourth guest, local pastor Ian Wilkinson.
She was sentenced to a non-parole period of 33 years, which means she would have been in her 80s when freed.
However, the appeals court judges found her crimes involved an "elaborate series of deceptions" that were so "extraordinarily cold and calculated" they warranted life imprisonment without parole.
Verdict details
Lawyers raised 7 grounds of appeal
Justice Stephen McLeish said the case involved such shocking criminality that it was inappropriate to fix a non-parole period.
Patterson's lawyers had raised seven grounds of appeal, including issues with jury sequestration during the trial.
They argued this was "catastrophic" to their case but judges found "there was no objective basis for a fair-minded person to reasonably apprehend that the jury might not have discharged its function of rendering a verdict according to law."
Evidence discussion
Court found cellphone evidence was admissible
The judges also rejected claims that some evidence shouldn't have been submitted, including cellphone data placing Patterson near where death cap mushrooms were posted.
The court found this evidence was admissible as part of the prosecution's "wider circumstantial case."
Patterson was not present in court for the ruling but appeared via video link from prison. She showed no emotion when the ruling was read out.