Mushroom cook killer Erin Patterson will make her plea for leniency to a Supreme Court judge later this month.
Justice Christopher Beale said at a hearing on Friday – Patterson’s first since her conviction – the pre-sentence hearing would run over two days on August 25 and August 26.
Erin Patterson arrives at court in a prison van during her trial in May.Credit: Agence France-Presse
Beale said due to works occurring at the Morwell courthouse, the pre-sentence hearing would be held in Melbourne.
Crown prosecutor Jane Warren agreed one of the two days would likely be taken up with the reading of “a lot” of victim impact statements.
The hearing comes a month after a jury found Patterson guilty of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, and the attempted murder of Heather’s husband, pastor Ian Wilkinson, after feeding them a lunch laced with death cap mushrooms on July 29, 2023.
Unlike the trial – which ran in Morwell, the court closest to her crimes – Friday’s hearing was held in Melbourne where Patterson appeared via videolink from prison.
From left: Don Patterson, Gail Patterson, Heather Wilkinson and Ian Wilkinson.
Beale also ruled at the hearing to release, for the first time, critical evidence used to prosecute Patterson but kept secret until now.
They include online searches she made about poisons, details of allegations husband Simon made against her and a meeting that set police on her after her lunch guests fell critically ill.