Erin Patterson’s 33-year non-parole period has been removed after Victoria’s Court of Appeal rejected her conviction challenge and granted prosecutors’ appeal of her sentence.
The Supreme Court of Victoria said the Court of Appeal ruled on both matters Oct. 30. ABC News reported the result means Patterson will serve life in prison without parole.
The jury convicted Patterson of the murders of Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson, as well as the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson. The case arose from a July 2023 lunch at her home in Leongatha, Victoria, where guests ate beef Wellington containing death cap mushrooms. Three people died; Ian Wilkinson survived.
Justice Christopher Beale sentenced Patterson on Sept. 8, 2025, to life imprisonment with the 33-year non-parole period.
Patterson’s appeal included a challenge to juror accommodation. Jurors stayed at the same hotel as a police witness and members of the prosecution team. Justice Stephen McLeish said the arrangement could not have changed the jury’s verdict. ABC reported that leave to appeal was granted on two grounds, but the judges dismissed Patterson’s challenge.
Victoria’s Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) argued that the original sentence was too lenient, seeking either a longer minimum period or no parole. The Court of Appeal allowed the DPP’s appeal and removed the existing period.
The Associated Press reported that McLeish described the offending as “extraordinarily cold and calculated.” The ruling resolved the two appeals covered in EconoTimes’ earlier preview of the cases.
