Australian judge sentences Erin Patterson to life in prison for poisoning relatives with mushrooms
Erin Patterson was sentenced to life with 33 years non-parole for deliberately poisoning three relatives with death cap mushrooms, causing three deaths and one severe injury.
- On Monday, an Australian court handed Erin Patterson, 50, a life sentence with no chance of parole for 33 years after she killed three family members and tried to kill a fourth by serving them beef Wellington containing poisonous mushrooms in Leongatha in July 2023.
- Patterson invited her estranged husband’s parents, aunt, and uncle to lunch, with the prosecution arguing that she planned to kill them all under the pretext of discussing a fabricated medical issue.
- The deaths of Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson, and the survival of Ian Wilkinson with lasting health problems, devastated both the Patterson and Wilkinson families and attracted intense public, national, and international attention.
- Judge Beale stated that Patterson alone understands her reasons for committing the crimes and that he would not attempt to guess her motives.
- Patterson will be eligible for parole in November 2056, and she has 28 days from sentencing to appeal her conviction or the punishment imposed.
150 Articles
150 Articles
The Supreme Court of Victoria sentenced Erin Paterson (50) to life imprisonment, with a minimum of 33 years in prison without the right to parole, for the murder of three close relatives of her husband, with whom she had a tense relationship and separate life for years, and the attempted murder of a fourth.


Australia's High Court has sentenced Erin Patterson, who served a lunch of poisonous mushrooms and killed three family members in July 2023, to life in prison. Patterson, 50, will be eligible for parole after serving 33 years, when
The Australian woman convicted of a triple murder at a family meal during which she served a Wellington beef to the phalloid amanites, was sentenced to life imprisonment this Monday.
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