Deadly Lunch: Woman Who Killed Three In-Laws with Food Gets Life Sentence
- An Australian woman has been sentenced to a minimum of 33 years in prison for the fatal poisoning of three relatives with a meal containing death cap mushrooms
- Erin Patterson was found guilty of murder and attempted murder in a case that gripped global attention and became known as the Leongatha mushroom murders
- The judge condemned her calculated actions and lack of remorse, citing the profound impact on both the victims’ families and her own children.
Erin Patterson, the Australian woman at the centre of the globally followed Leongatha mushroom murders, was sentenced on Monday to a minimum of 33 years in prison for the fatal poisoning of three elderly relatives and the attempted murder of a fourth.
The Supreme Court of Victoria heard that Patterson, 50, had served individual portions of beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms during a lunch at her home in Leongatha, a small town southeast of Melbourne, in 2023.
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The victims included her estranged husband’s parents, Gail and Donald Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson.
Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, survived the meal but suffered lasting health damage.
Judge condemns “devastating” impact of mushroom poisoning
Justice Christopher Beale, presiding over the sentencing hearing in Melbourne, described the crimes as “devastating” and said the impact extended far beyond the immediate victims.
He noted that Patterson’s actions had inflicted profound grief on the Patterson and Wilkinson families and caused emotional trauma to her own children.
“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,” Beale stated.
The judge cited Patterson’s substantial planning and lack of remorse as key factors in determining the length of her sentence.
He emphasised that the severity of the crimes warranted a significant custodial term.
Defence and prosecution clash over possibility of parole
During a pre-sentencing hearing last month, Patterson’s barrister, Colin Mandy, argued for a non-parole period, suggesting that her “notorious” reputation would make incarceration more difficult than for the average offender.
The prosecution, however, maintained that Patterson should never be released.
Patterson, who consistently claimed the poisonings were accidental and maintained her innocence throughout the trial, was found guilty in July.
She now has 28 days to appeal the sentence, though she has not yet indicated whether she intends to do so.
Source: Legit.ng
