Prosecutor urges life sentence without parole for Australian triple-murderer Erin Patterson
A Victorian Court of Appeal heard a prosecutor’s request that Erin Patterson, convicted of poisoning four relatives with death-cap mushrooms, never be eligible for parole, arguing the current 33-year non-parole period is insufficient.
A prosecutor told three judges of the Victoria Court of Appeal on Thursday that the 33-year non-parole period imposed on Erin Patterson should be extended, or that she should never be considered for parole. Patterson was convicted of three murders and one count of attempted murder after she poisoned four members of her estranged husband’s family with death-cap mushrooms at a lunch in Leongatha in July 2023.
"That’s a harsh submission to make," prosecutor Brendan Kissane said, adding that the request was "demanded by the nature of the offending."
Kissane argued the current sentence is "manifestly inadequate" and urged the judges to impose a longer non-parole term if they do not accept a total denial of parole. Under the existing sentence, Patterson, 51, would not be eligible for parole until she is about 82 years old.
Patterson is held in the high-security Gordon Unit of Melbourne’s Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, a facility for inmates deemed high-risk. During sentencing, the trial judge warned that she could spend years in solitary confinement. Her defence lawyer, Richard Edney, said the confinement meets the United Nations definition of solitary confinement, involving 22 or more hours a day without meaningful human contact.
The appeal also addressed claims that Patterson’s five-day cross-examination at trial was "unfair and oppressive." Prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams rejected that argument, describing the cross-examination as "thorough, fair and conducted in accordance with settled principles and the prosecutor’s overarching duty of fairness."
Patterson’s estranged husband, Simon Patterson, was invited to the fatal lunch but did not attend. His parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, died; Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, survived after weeks in hospital. Patterson maintains the poisoning was accidental.
The court reserved its decision on both the sentencing and conviction appeals pending further deliberation.