Woman who killed relatives with poisonous mushrooms sentenced to life in prison

An Australian woman has been sentenced for killing her estranged husband’s family by serving them a beef wellington laced with poisonous mushrooms.

Erin Patterson was sentenced to life in prison, where she must serve a minimum of 33 years after being found guilty by trial in July of murdering her parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, and aunt-in-law Heather Wilkinson at her home in Victoria in July 2023.

During her sentencing, Justice Christopher Beale told the Victoria state Supreme Court that Patterson’s crimes involved an enormous betrayal of trust.

She had served them a lunch containing death cap mushrooms – one of the world’s deadliest fungi.

They all became ill within 24 hours and died in hospital.

Patterson’s uncle-in-law Ian Wilkinson survived the meal but spent weeks in hospital and had to have a liver transplant.

Ian Wilkinson (left) was the only survivor of the lunch which killed his wife Heather (left) and Don and Gail Patterson (middle). / Credit: 7 News

Her husband Simon, who she had been estranged from since 2015, was invited, but declined to go, as he believed she had tried to poison him three times before.

He said he suspected his wife had deliberately made him seriously ill during family camping trips with dishes including penne bolognese pasta, chicken korma curry and a vegetable curry wrap.

Following one episode, he spent weeks in a coma in the hospital, and his family was told to say goodbye. A large part of his bowel was removed to save his life.

Simon said that while he had stopped eating food prepared by his wife, he never thought others would be at risk.

This picture of mushrooms on a scale was recovered from Erin Patterson’s devices / Credit: Channel 7

Patterson invited her guests to the meal under the guise that she had a health condition she needed to discuss with them. At the lunch, she told her guests she had been diagnosed with cancer – which was a lie.

She had cooked individually portioned pastries, which prosecutors argued allowed her to lace the other diners’ portions, but not her own, with the fatal fungi.

Survivor Ian Wilkinson said all guests were served food on grey plates, while Patterson used an orange-toned one, implying she knew not to eat the poisoned food.

During the trial, the defence argued the reason Patterson didn’t have a grey plate was that she didn’t own a full set.

Patterson initially denied wrongdoing, claiming she used a mix of mushrooms sourced from an Asian grocery store and dried fungi, which she said were gifted by a friend.

However, police alleged inconsistencies in her account, including the disposal of a food dehydrator and deleted digital records.

Prosecutors argued she had been out foraging for the deadly mushrooms and dried them months before the fatal lunch.

Speaking during her sentencing, Justice Beale said: “Your victims were all your relatives by marriage. More than that, they had all been good to you and your children over many years, as you acknowledged in your testimony.

“Not only did you cut short three lives and cause lasting damage to Ian Wilkinson’s health, thereby devastating extended Patterson and Wilkinson families, you inflicted untold suffering on your own children, whom you robbed of their beloved grandparents,” he added.

Both prosecution and defence lawyers had agreed that a life sentence was an appropriate punishment for the 50-year-old on three counts of murder and one of attempted murder.

However, defence lawyers had requested that Patterson become eligible for parole after serving 30 years. Prosecutors had argued she should never be considered for parole because she did not deserve the court’s mercy.

Ian Wilkinson, who survived the poisoning, did not comment on the sentence but thanked police, prosecutors and health services he’d encountered since the poisonings.

“We’re thankful that when things go wrong, there are good people and services and systems available to help us recover,” he told reporters outside court.

“Our lives and the life of our community depends on the kindness of others. I’d like to encourage everybody to be kind to each other. Finally, I want to say thank you to the many people from across Australia and around the world who, through their prayers and messages of support, have encouraged us,” he added.