Australian woman appeals triple-murder convictions over death-cap mushroom poisoning
Erin Patterson is challenging her murder and attempted-murder convictions in Victoria, while prosecutors seek a harsher sentence, arguing the killings were deliberate.
A three-judge panel of the Victoria Court of Appeal began hearing Erin Patterson's appeal on Wednesday, reviewing convictions for three murders and one count of attempted murder linked to a July 2023 lunch she prepared at her Leongatha home. The appeal, scheduled to continue for two days, follows a September 2022 sentencing that imposed life imprisonment with a minimum term of 33 years before parole eligibility.
Prosecutors, led by Brendan Kissane, are requesting that the sentence be changed to life without the possibility of parole, arguing the evidence shows Patterson deliberately sourced death-cap mushrooms shortly before the meal.
"There was no actual contact between any juror and any other person," Kissane told the court, rejecting the defence's claim that jurors were improperly sequestered with a police witness.
Defence counsel Richard Edney argued that the jury sequestration breach constituted a serious error, while colleague Veronika Drago contested the reliability of mobile-phone location data that placed Patterson near the towns of Loch and Outtrim, describing the evidence as "dangerous and unfair."
"It is certainly not a direct allegation or suggestion of that, but what is clear in our submission from the reading of all of the material is that where things started and where it finished by the end of the prosecution case were different," said defence lawyer Vargo when questioned by Justice Lesley Taylor.
The defence also claimed that prosecutor Nanette Rogers' five-day cross-examination of Patterson was oppressive and that trial judge Christopher Bale allowed prejudicial Facebook-friend testimony.
The victims were the parents and sister of Patterson's estranged husband, Simon Patterson, who was invited but did not attend the lunch. Don and Gail Patterson and their daughter-in-law Heather Wilkinson died; Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson survived after weeks in hospital. Patterson maintained that the poisoning was accidental.
If the appellate court finds merit in the appeal, it could overturn the convictions and order a retrial. Patterson did not appear in person, viewing the proceedings via video link from prison.