Australian court rejects Erin Patterson appeal and removes parole eligibility

Erin Patterson’s convictions for the deaths of three relatives have been upheld by Victoria’s Court of Appeal, which also increased her sentence to life imprisonment without parole. The decision means the 52-year-old is likely to remain in prison for the rest of her life. Patterson was convicted last year of murdering her former husband’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, after serving them a beef Wellington meal containing highly toxic death cap mushrooms.

She was also convicted of attempting to murder Heather Wilkinson’s husband, Ian, who became gravely ill but survived after spending weeks in hospital. The appeal court rejected Patterson’s arguments that her convictions were a miscarriage of justice. South China Morning Post reported that judges found the killings had been carefully planned and deliberate.

Judge Stephen McLeish described the conduct as “extraordinarily cold and calculated” and said it should be condemned in the strongest terms. ABC News Australia reported that Patterson had maintained her innocence and said she did not know the mushrooms were poisonous. Her lawyers challenged the convictions on several grounds, including what they described as oppressive cross-examination and unfair decisions about the admission of evidence.

The court nevertheless found no sufficient basis for quashing the convictions or ordering a retrial. The ruling also addressed the original sentence. Patterson had initially been eligible to apply for release after serving 33 years.

Prosecutors argued that this period was inadequate for the seriousness of the crimes, while disputing the original judge’s assessment that she might spend years in solitary confinement. The appeal court removed the possibility of parole altogether. Patterson watched the proceedings by video link from a maximum-security prison near Melbourne rather than appearing in person.

Her trial in the rural Victorian town of Morwell attracted extensive attention from podcasters, film crews and true-crime followers, while the motive for the killings remains unresolved in the supplied reports. The decision leaves Patterson with few legal options. Legal researcher Christopher Corns told ABC that a second appeal in Victoria could be possible only in rare circumstances involving fresh and compelling evidence capable of exonerating her, but said that route appeared unlikely.

A further application to the High Court of Australia remains possible, though barrister Nick Papas KC said such cases generally require a fundamental legal error rather than a simple disagreement with the appeal court’s decision.