Australia’s Court of Appeal in Victoria on Friday dismissed Erin Patterson’s appeal against her mushroom murder convictions and ruled she should not be eligible for parole, meaning she will serve life without parole, according to Al Jazeera. The ruling is the outcome of the Erin Patterson appeal, which challenged both her convictions and her sentence.
Three judges dismissed the appeal against the convictions. Patterson was convicted of murdering Gail and Donald Patterson and Heather Wilkinson, and of attempting to murder Ian Wilkinson, by serving beef wellington laced with death cap mushrooms, according to Al Jazeera.
Justice Stephen McLeish said the offending was "extraordinarily cold and calculated" and should be denounced "in the strongest terms," according to BBC World.
The court granted the prosecution’s appeal against the sentence. It found that the original 33-year non-parole period did not reflect the seriousness of her offending, according to Guardian World.
The court also rejected the defence argument that jurors staying in the same hotel as police, a key witness and prosecutors was a fundamental failure. It found no evidence of wrongdoing, according to Guardian World.
Patterson has always denied wrongdoing, saying the deaths were accidental, according to Al Jazeera.
Patterson is only the second woman in Australia sentenced to life without possibility of parole. The first was Katherine Knight, sentenced in New South Wales in 2001.
The trial judge had earlier allowed a 33-year non-parole period last September, citing the "harsh prison conditions" Patterson would likely face, according to BBC World. That detail comes from BBC World alone, and no second source has confirmed it.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Brendan Kissane KC, argued during the hearings that her sentence was too lenient.
Reports differ on how the appeal grounds were handled. BBC World says all seven grounds were dismissed, while Guardian World says the court granted leave on the first two grounds but dismissed the appeal. Guardian World also reports that written reasons were provided, though only excerpts were available for this article.
Patterson’s response to the ruling and any comment from her lawyers have not been reported.
Patterson has 28 days to decide whether to apply to the High Court of Australia for leave to appeal her convictions or her new sentence, according to BBC World. It is not yet known whether she will do so.
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This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.