Australian court says mushroom poison murderer should never be released from prison
Erin Patterson poisoned estranged husband, his relatives with death cap mushrooms
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Patterson → say → mushrooms
An Australian appeals court on Friday ordered triple-murderer Erin Patterson to never be released from prison because of the "shocking criminality" involved in poisoning four of her estranged husband's relatives with death cap mushrooms.
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court → order → mushrooms
The three judges of the Victoria state Court of Appeal dismissed Patterson's appeal of her convictions and upheld prosecutors' challenge to the leniency of her 33-year non-parole sentence, meaning she will spend the rest of her life behind bars.
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she → dismiss → bars
Beforehand, she would have been 82 years old when she could be considered for release.
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she → consider → release
"This offending was extraordinarily cold and calculated and stands to be denounced in the strongest terms," Justice Stephen McLeish said on behalf of all three judges.
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McLeish → offend → judges
"In all the circumstances after anxious consideration, we have concluded that the case involved such shocking criminality that it is inappropriate to fix a non-parole period," McLeish added.
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McLeish → conclude → period
The convictions stemmed from a family meal she hosted at her rural home in Leongatha in July 2023.
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she → stem → July
Death cap mushrooms are seen in this undated handout by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
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mushrooms → see → Control
She can apply to Australia's High Court to overturn the verdicts on her sentence and her convictions.
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She → apply → sentence
Patterson insisted she added death cap mushrooms to the beef Wellington pastry dishes accidentally.
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she → insist → dishes
She was sentenced last year to three life sentences for murder and 25 years for attempted murder.
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She → sentence → murder
Murders attract global attention
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Murders → attract → attention
The deaths of Patterson's parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, within days of having lunch immediately attracted an extraordinary level of global media attention.
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deaths → have → attention
The case has also inspired podcasts, books and screen adaptations.
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case → inspire → podcasts
Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson survived the lunch after spending weeks in hospital.
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husband → survive → hospital
Erin Patterson was convicted of his attempted murder.
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Patterson → convict → murder
Prosecutors argued at an appeal hearing in August that she should never become eligible for parole.
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she → argue → parole
They argued the minimum period behind bars did not reflect the "calculated criminality" of the case.
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period → argue → case
McLeish said Patterson's intent to murder all four was sustained for almost three weeks from when she invited them to lunch.
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she → say → lunch
Her crimes involved an "elaborate series of deceptions" including falsely claiming a cancer diagnosis to explain the absences of her two children from the lunch, the judge said.
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judge → involve → lunch
The only survivor, Ian Wilkinson, testified that Erin Patterson had told her guests she wanted their advice about what to tell the children about her diagnosis.
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she → testify → diagnosis
Destroyed evidence, false claims
McLeish noted Erin Patterson had destroyed evidence, denied foraging for mushrooms and repeatedly made false claims about where the mushrooms had come from.
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mushrooms → destroy → where
"The offending was carefully planned and deliberate.
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offending → plan → ?
It represented a cruel breach of trust," McLeish said.
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McLeish → represent → trust
Patterson opted not to attend court and watched the verdicts by video link from prison.
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Patterson → opt → prison
In a supplied court sketch, Erin Patterson is depicted on a video link, as seen in the Victorian Court of Appeal in Melbourne, Australia, on Aug. 19.
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Patterson → supply → Aug.
Because of her notoriety, Patterson is held in the high-security Gordon Unit of Melbourne's Dame Phyllis Frost Centre women's prison.
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Patterson → hold → prison
The unit is for prisoners assessed as being at high risk from other inmates.
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unit → assess → inmates
In sentencing her in September 2025, trial judge Christopher Bale said there was a "substantial chance" that Patterson could be held in "solitary confinement for years to come."
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Patterson → sentence → years
Patterson's estranged husband, Simon Patterson, was invited to the lunch but declined the day before.
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husband → invite → lunch
After her conviction, pretrial evidence was released that detailed the husband's suspicion that Erin Patterson had previously attempted to kill him.
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Patterson → release → him
Simon Patterson testified at a pretrial hearing that he had declined the lunch invitation out of fear.
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he → testify → fear
The Aporia
