Triple murderer Erin Patterson has been jailed for life after poisoning four of her estranged husband’s family members with a toxic beef wellington.
A judge told the Australian 50-year-old she had ‘inflicted untold suffering’ on her own kids, who were now ‘robbed of their beloved grandparents’.
Three of Patterson’s targets – her husband Simon’s mum Gail, dad Don and maternal aunt Heather Wilkinson – died after eating the meal at her home in July 2023.
The fourth, Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson, survived after spending weeks in hospital but continues to suffer lasting damage.
Patterson had served the group a homemade lunch laced with foraged death cap mushrooms.
She had invited Simon to the meeting along with his parents-in-law, aunt and uncle, but he did not attend.
Handing down his sentence, Justice Christopher Beale told the Victoria state Supreme Court the crime involved an enormous betrayal of trust.
He 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.’
Her actions had ‘cut short three lives and cause[d] lasting damage to Ian Wilkinson’s health, thereby devastating extended Patterson and Wilkinson families’, the judge added.
Due to the enormous interest in the trial state-wide, nationally and internationally, the Supreme Court allowed the sentencing hearing to be broadcast live on television for the first time.
Patterson was convicted in July of murdering three people and attempting to murder a fourth person.
Her sentence of life with a non-parole period of 33 years is backdated until November 2 2023, when she first entered custody after being charged.
It was not disputed that Patterson served the mushrooms or that the pastries killed her guests – the jury was tasked with deciding if she knew the lunch contained death caps, and if she intended for them to die.
Patterson’s lawyers said she had no reason to do so – she had recently moved to a beautiful new home, was financially comfortable, had sole custody of her children and was due to begin studying for a degree in nursing and midwifery.
Prosecutors did not offer a motive for the killings but had pointed out strained relations between Patterson and her estranged husband, and frustration that she had felt about his parents in the past.
The case turned on the question of whether Patterson meticulously planned a triple murder or accidentally killed three people she loved, including her children’s only surviving grandparents.
Mr Beale, the judge, said he would not speculate on her motive.
Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.
