Erin Patterson loses mushroom murder appeal and is resentenced to life without parole

Erin Patterson, 52, has lost her bid to overturn her convictions for three murders linked to a death cap mushroom lunch and been resentenced to life in prison with no chance of release, after Victoria's court of appeal ruled on two appeals on Friday.

The court's justices, Lesley Taylor, Stephen McLeish and Peter Kidd, heard arguments from Patterson's legal team and prosecutors in August. Patterson did not attend the 15-minute hearing in person and showed no emotion on a video feed as McLeish outlined why her appeal had failed and how the director of public prosecutions had succeeded in seeking a longer sentence.

Convictions upheld

Patterson was sentenced last year to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 33 years for the murders of her estranged husband's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt Heather Wilkinson, after she hosted them for lunch. She was also convicted of the attempted murder of Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, who survived the beef wellington laced with death cap mushrooms after spending weeks in hospital.

McLeish said the court granted leave to appeal on the first two grounds raised by Patterson's lawyers, but dismissed the appeal, and dismissed the five other grounds. The court granted the DPP's appeal against the sentence, however, because the original term did not properly reflect the seriousness of her offending.

"This offending was extraordinarily cold and calculated, and stands to be denounced in the strongest possible terms," McLeish said. He said Patterson sustained an intent to murder all four people for three weeks, from the time they were invited to the lunch, during the meal, and during the "protracted suffering and ultimate deaths that resulted". The offending was carefully planned and deliberate and involved an "elaborate series of deceptions", including claims that she had cancer, denials that she had foraged mushrooms, and lies about the mushrooms' source.

Appeal grounds rejected

Her lawyers argued seven grounds, including that allowing jurors to stay in the same hotel as police and the prosecution while they deliberated represented a "catastrophic" failure of the justice system. Richard Edney, for Patterson, said the failure to properly separate the jury was a fundamental irregularity that had denied her a fair trial. They also argued that trial judge Christopher Beale erred in ruling that photos and videos related to mushrooms, found on an SD card in Patterson's home, were inadmissible, as they tended to support her evidence that she foraged for mushrooms.

During the hearings, Brendan Kissane KC, the DPP, said that even though Patterson would be in her 80s by the time she was eligible for parole, her sentence was still too lenient. Asked whether a longer non-parole period would essentially mean she died behind bars, he said: "It has its harsh aspect to it, of course, we accept that. But in our submission that is not a matter that is outweighed by the seriousness of the offending."

In the courtroom, family members hugged and were emotional, and detectives involved in the case looked elated. Nobody commented outside court. Patterson must apply to the high court for leave to appeal should she wish to continue fighting her conviction or the new sentence. She is one of only a handful of Victorian offenders sentenced to life without parole, and one of the only women in Australian history to be given the sentence.

Source: The Guardian World.