faced a plea hearing<\/a> on Monday, where the court heard victim impact statements ahead of her sentencing by Justice Christopher Beale. Wilkinson, standing at the end of the bar table throughout court and facing Beale rather than Patterson, spoke for about 20 minutes about the impact of what he called the \u201cfateful lunch\u201d.<\/p>\n\u201cI make an offer of forgiveness to Erin,\u201d he told the court.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn regards to the murders of Heather and Gail and Don, I am compelled to seek justice.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I am no longer Erin Patterson\u2019s victim, and she has become the victim of my kindness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilkinson said he bore Patterson no ill will and his prayer for her was that she would use her time in custody to reform. But he said he remained troubled by the decision she made to kill his loved ones and to try to kill him too.<\/p>\n
Illustration: Guardian Design<\/p>\n
\u201cI am distressed that Erin has acted with callous and calculated disregard for my life and the life of those I loved,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat foolishness possesses someone to think that murder could be the solution to their problems, particularly people who only have good intentions towards her?\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilkinson\u2019s was the first of seven victim impact statements read in court on Monday, with 28 tendered to the court for Beale\u2019s consideration.<\/p>\n
He spoke of his marriage of 44 years to Heather and the loss of joy and silence that her murder had caused. She was a stay-at-home mother to their four children, he said, who believed her greatest work was raising them to become good people.<\/p>\n
Reverend Ian Wilkinson (right) said his late wife Heather Wilkinson was \u2018wise, and had skills that made up for my shortcomings\u2019. Photograph: Facebook<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was wise, and had skills that made up for my shortcomings,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTogether we faced life as a team, and we delighted in each other\u2019s company.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way our children conducted themselves through the crisis of our illness and the subsequent legal processings is testament to her mothering skills \u2026 the trauma they experienced at their mother\u2019s death, and my near death, has left deep wounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilkinson said it was \u201ca truly horrible thought to live with, that someone could decide to take her life\u201d.<\/p>\n
At this point he removed his glasses, dabbed his tears with a tissue and sipped from some water before continuing.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy consolation is we will be reunited in the resurrection, and the age to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Erin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/3455.jpg\")
Erin Patterson found guilty of murdering three relatives and attempting to murder a fourth \u2013 video<\/p>\n
Wilkinson bemoaned that \u201cso much attention is showered on those who do evil, and so little on those who do good\u201d and said he also felt that the death of Don and Gail was the second-greatest impact of Patterson\u2019s crimes on him.<\/p>\n
Simon Patterson, Erin\u2019s estranged husband, had his victim impact statement read in court by Naomi Gleadow, his cousin.<\/p>\n
He said he missed his parents and aunt \u201cmore than words can express, I am thankful however that they are with God, and I will see them again\u201d.<\/p>\n
Simon Patterson leaves Latrobe Valley magistrates court during the murder trial in May. Photograph: Martin Keep\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Simon said he believed all three could have lived to 100, given the genes of their parents, had they not met an untimely end.<\/p>\n
Their two children, a son born in 2009 and a daughter born in 2014, had been \u201crobbed of \u2026 the kind of relationship with their mother that every child yearns for\u201d, Simon said.<\/p>\n
He said they lived in an \u201cirreparably broken home, with only a solo parent, and almost everyone knows their mother murdered their grandparents\u201d, but both children remained strong and knew they would always be loved and supported.<\/p>\n
Simon said the court process and media coverage had been dehumanising.<\/p>\n
He described the \u201ccallous\u201d and \u201cdeplorable\u201d behaviour of \u201cstrangers\u201d clutching cameras and notebooks, who rapped on the window of his house in the early hours of the morning and stalked him and his children, including filming them in public.<\/p>\n
Ian Wilkinson also remained standing at the bar table while his daughter, Ruth Dubois, read her victim impact statement.<\/p>\n
Dubois said that it was deeply disturbing that Patterson had sat at the dining table watching her family members eat a meal that she knew would kill them and then followed that up with \u201cextraordinary lies and a complete lack of care\u201d.<\/p>\n
There were multiple times that Patterson could have abandoned the plan, but \u201cat every step of the way, she chose to follow through\u201d.<\/p>\n
TimelineErin Patterson: how Australia’s mushroom poisoning case unfolded \u2014 a timelineShow<\/p>\n
29 July 2023<\/p>\n
Erin Patterson hosts lunch for estranged husband Simon\u2019s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and his aunt and uncle Heather and Ian Wilkinson. Patterson serves beef wellington.<\/p>\n
30 July 2023<\/p>\n
All four lunch guests are admitted to hospital with gastro-like symptoms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
4 August 2023<\/p>\n
Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson die in hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n
5 August 2023<\/p>\n
Don Patterson dies in hospital. Victoria police search Erin Patterson\u2019s home and interview her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
23 September 2023<\/p>\n
Ian Wilkinson is discharged from hospital after weeks in intensive care.<\/p>\n
2 November 2023<\/p>\n
Police again search Erin Patterson\u2019s home, and she is arrested and interviewed.\u00a0She is charged with three counts of murder relating to the deaths of Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson, and the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
29 April 2025<\/p>\n
Murder trial begins.\u00a0Jury hears\u00a0that charges\u00a0of attempting to murder her estranged husband Simon are dropped.<\/p>\n
7 July 2025<\/p>\n
Jury finds Erin Patterson guilty of murdering Heather Wilkinson, Don and Gail Patterson and attempting to murder Ian Wilkinson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n
Dubois found intense media coverage compounded her grief and left her second-guessing who she could share her pain with. It was \u201cparticularly revolting\u201d, she said, that some media were using the tragedy as \u201centertainment for the masses\u201d.<\/p>\n
Dubois said she could also not understand, as a mother, why Patterson had acted the way she had, given the impact it would have on Patterson\u2019s two children.<\/p>\n
Statements from Lynette Young, Heather and Gail\u2019s sister; Martha Patterson, Don\u2019s mother; Colin Patterson, Don\u2019s younger brother; and Tim Patterson, Don\u2019s nephew, were also read into court.<\/p>\n
Mushroom lunch murder victims Don and Gail Patterson. Photograph: no credit<\/p>\n
Tim Patterson, whose statement was also read by Gleadow, his sister, said that he wrote in his diary on 30 July, the day after the lunch: \u201cDon and Gail in hospital with apparent food poisoning after eating at Erin\u2019s. Coincidence, or is [there] evil at play here?\u201d<\/p>\n
He said his worst fears were confirmed the following day, when their conditions worsened.<\/p>\n
He had \u201conly experienced death at a distance before this\u201d, but then had to reckon with the death of loved ones, including Don, who he described as his role model.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did Erin decide she would make her life\u2019s work a portrait of death and destruction?,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Patterson, 50, was not required to speak during the hearing, other that to confirm four questions about her particulars: her date of birth, age, previous job and former address.<\/p>\n
Appearing more drawn and gaunt than when she was last in court on the day of her verdict, Patterson watched on quietly but appeared to become emotional during the statements, occasionally dabbing at her eyes and nose with a tissue.<\/p>\n
The court is set to hear about Patterson\u2019s time in custody from Jenny Hosking, the assistant commissioner of Corrections Victoria, later on Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ian Wilkinson says he forgives Erin Patterson for trying to murder him but cannot offer her forgiveness for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93871,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-93870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}