Australian court upholds life sentence for mushroom murder case

Victoria's Court of Appeal dismissed all seven grounds raised by Erin Patterson in her attempt to overturn murder convictions stemming from a 2023 poisoning incident. The three-judge panel affirmed the original life sentence, which includes a 33-year non-parole period, and agreed with prosecutors that the sentence should not allow for any possibility of release.

Patterson, 51, was found guilty of murdering three relatives and attempting to kill a fourth after serving them meals laced with death-cap mushrooms. The victims included her in-laws Don and Gail Patterson and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson; Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson survived the attack but suffers lasting health effects.

"We have concluded that the case involved such shocking criminality that it is inappropriate to fix a non-parole period," Justice Peter Kidd said on behalf of the panel.

The appeal argued that procedural issues, such as a hotel booking that placed the jury near prosecution witnesses and media, and the exclusion of certain evidence, compromised the trial's fairness. The judges found none of these arguments sufficient to merit overturning the convictions.

Patterson has 28 days to consider applying to the High Court of Australia for permission to appeal further.