{"id":574963,"date":"2026-08-20T15:30:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T15:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/574963\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T15:30:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T15:30:15","slug":"crown-push-for-life-without-parole-for-mushroom-killer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/574963\/","title":{"rendered":"Crown push for life without parole for mushroom killer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Triple murderer Erin Patterson’s cruel betrayal of her lunch guests renders any opportunity for parole manifestly inadequate, a top prosecutor argues.<\/p>\n

Patterson, 51, was sentenced to life behind bars after she killed her three lunch guests by serving them beef Wellingtons laced with death cap mushrooms in July 2023.<\/p>\n

But Victoria’s top prosecutor Brendan Kissane KC is challenging her 33-year minimum term that makes her eligible for parole in her 80s.<\/p>\n

The sentencing judge rightly found Patterson’s crimes were a cruel betrayal and the worst case of murder, Kissane told the Victorian Court of Appeal on Thursday. <\/p>\n

But the prosecutor argued the judge made a mistake giving Patterson a chance at walking from prison. <\/p>\n

“It was not open to His Honour to fix a non-parole period in this case when it involved three murders, one attempted murder and significant circumstances of aggravation,” Kissane said.<\/p>\n

The 50-year-old was convicted of killing three lunch guests with a poisoned beef Wellington in 2023. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Even if the court was against him, Kissane still submitted 33 years was manifestly inadequate. <\/p>\n

He argued the sentencing judge wrongly determined Patterson would likely be held in solitary confinement for years to come. <\/p>\n

Kissane pointed to the fact Patterson had access in prison to the library, leisure equipment and the chaplain.<\/p>\n

But Patterson’s barrister Richard Edney argued the sentencing judge was correct to find she was experiencing solitary confinement.<\/p>\n

The judge made clear and “impeccable” sentencing remarks that the court should not overturn on appeal, Edney said.<\/p>\n

“He has clearly taken into account all relevant considerations,” the barrister said.<\/p>\n

“In our submission, the sentencing judge did everything right in this complex sentencing exercise.”<\/p>\n

Patterson is separately fighting to quash her murder convictions, arguing she suffered a substantial miscarriage of justice.<\/p>\n

One of her appeal grounds is that she was forced to give evidence<\/a> at trial because the trial judge excluded mushroom photos.<\/p>\n

\"Death<\/p>\n

Death cap mushrooms (file image). (Source: istock.com)<\/p>\n

Her barrister Veronika Drago pointed to the judge’s decision to not allow the photos from 2020 found on Patterson’s SD card into evidence.<\/p>\n

The defence wanted to use those photos to show Patterson always had an interest in foraging for mushrooms, Drago said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Without the images, the only way jurors could hear evidence of foraging was through Patterson, the barrister argued.<\/p>\n

But crown prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams refuted that claim on Thursday, saying Patterson seemingly always intended to give evidence. <\/p>\n

He noted there was no evidence Patterson had previously foraged, citing her police interview, in which she denied any interest.<\/p>\n

McWilliams referenced statements from Patterson’s family and friends who did not have recollections of her foraging. <\/p>\n

But Patterson’s trial barrister submitted in his opening address that she had lied in the police interview and she always had an interest in foraging, McWilliams said.<\/p>\n

“[Patterson] would need to give evidence about those matters given the evidentiary landscape,” the prosecutor said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

“Both to overcome the lie but also the suite of evidence that tends to support the lie.”<\/p>\n

\"Erin<\/p>\n

Erin Patterson. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

McWilliams denied that simply tendering the photos to the jury would have been sufficient.<\/p>\n

The prosecutor also refuted the claim Patterson’s cross-examination was unfair and oppressive, arguing the trial prosecutor had been fair and careful.<\/p>\n

“Plainly, we reject any suggestion the prosecutor acted as anything other than a model administrator of justice,” McWilliams said.<\/p>\n

A jury found Patterson deliberately served beef Wellingtons laced with death cap mushrooms to her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66.<\/p>\n

The three guests died after the July 2023 lunch at Patterson’s Leongatha home, in regional Victoria.<\/p>\n

\"Leftovers<\/p>\n

Leftovers from the fatal beef Wellington lunch laced with death cap mushrooms. (Source: Supreme Court of Victoria)<\/p>\n

Heather’s husband Ian fell seriously ill from the meal but survived.<\/p>\n

Patterson was also convicted of Ian Wilkinson’s attempted murder. <\/p>\n

Wilkinson and other members of the Wilkinson and Patterson families were back in court on Thursday, alongside members of the public and dozens of journalists.<\/p>\n

Justices Stephen McLeish, Lesley Taylor and Peter Kidd will hand down their decision on the two appeals at a later date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Triple murderer Erin Patterson’s cruel betrayal of her lunch guests renders any opportunity for parole manifestly inadequate, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574964,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[85,67,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-574963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-australia","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}