Judge Christopher Beale set a non-parole period of 33 years
The Supreme Court of Victoria has sentenced Erin Patterson to life in prison over the murders of her in-laws via mushroom poisoning.
Patterson has received the maximum sentence for murder as well as an additional 25 years for attempted murder. Judge Christopher Beale also set a non-parole period of 33 years.
The sentencing was livestreamed earlier today September 8. According to Beale, he permitted media publicity due to “intense” public interest in the case.
“The broadcast will provide an opportunity to inform the public of the reasons for sentence promptly and completely”, he said in a statement.
On 7 July, a 12-person jury found Patterson guilty of murdering her parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson and her aunt-in-law Heather Wilkinson. The killings occurred on 29 July 2023, when Patterson invited her family members to a lunch where she served Beef Wellingtons that were found to have been laced with death cap mushrooms.
Wilkinson’s husband Ian attended the lunch as well, while Patterson’s estranged husband Simon was invited but opted not to go. On 30 July 2023, the Pattersons and the Wilkinsons were hospitalised over what was found to be death cap mushroom poisoning; by 4 August 2023, Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson were dead while Don Patterson died a day later.
The police arrested and charged Patterson with the murders on 2 November 2023. She was also charged with attempted murder on Ian Wilkinson, who survived but suffered damage to his kidneys, chronic respiratory issues, and low energy, per Beale’s sentencing remarks.
Patterson spent 22 months in jail prior to her sentencing, about 16 of which were spent at the Gordon Unit of the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre. She was not allowed to socialise with other inmates in the unit.
Patterson’s trial began in April this year and took place over 10 weeks, per The Australian. The jury of five women and seven men found Patterson to be guilty on all charges.
Beale noted in his remarks that Patterson’s murders of her in-laws “involved substantial premeditation” and that she “showed no pity for [her] victims”. He pointed out that her actions “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. 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”, the judge wrote in his remarks. “Your failure to exhibit any remorse pours salt into all the victims’ wounds”.
Beale indicated that he had “no hesitation in finding that your offending falls into the worst category for the offences of murder and attempted murder”.
“As the case law makes clear, the fact that it is possible to imagine even worse instances of such offences does not refute that categorization. The gravity of your offending warrants the imposition of the maximum penalties for your crimes”, he wrote.
According to The Australian, Patterson will have a window of 28 days within which to appeal the sentence. Any appeals made after 6 October would require an application for extension of time.
