Australian woman appeals murder convictions over death-cap mushroom poisoning
Erin Patterson is challenging her murder and attempted-murder convictions in Victoria’s Court of Appeal, while prosecutors seek a harsher sentence.
Three judges of the Victoria Court of Appeal began hearing the two-day appeal of Erin Patterson, 51, who was convicted of murdering three of her estranged husband’s relatives with death-cap mushrooms in July 2023. The appeal concerns three murder counts and one count of attempted murder linked to a lunch of beef Wellington pastries prepared at her home in Leongatha.
Prosecutors are also seeking to increase her sentence, arguing that she should receive life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. > "She should be sentenced for life without possibility of parole," prosecutor Brendan Kissane said.
Patterson’s defence raised several grounds. Lawyer Richard Edney claimed a procedural error occurred when jurors were housed in the same hotel as a police witness and members of the prosecution team. > "This was a very serious breach of sequestration," Edney told the court. Prosecutor Kissane countered that there was no evidence of any contact between jurors and others.
Another defence argument, presented by Veronika Drago, questioned the reliability of mobile-phone location evidence that placed Patterson’s phone near the towns of Loch and Outtrim where death-cap mushrooms had been reported. > "That in and of itself illustrates just how dangerous and unfair that evidence was on Patterson’s trial," Drago said. Prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams responded that the evidence showed Patterson had the opportunity to obtain the mushrooms shortly before the lunch.
The defence also contended that a five-day cross-examination by prosecutor Nanette Rogers was "unfair and oppressive" and that trial judge Christopher Bale allowed prejudicial Facebook material from Patterson’s friends into evidence.
The victims were Don and Gail Patterson and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, who died after the lunch; Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson survived after weeks in hospital. Patterson’s estranged husband, Simon Patterson, was invited but did not attend. During the original trial she maintained the poisoning was accidental.
If the appeal succeeds, the appellate judges could overturn the convictions and order a retrial. Patterson did not appear in person, watching the proceedings via video link from prison.