The key facts

  • Erin Patterson, sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 33 years, will learn the outcome of her appeal on Friday
  • The defence argued there was a 'miscarriage of justice', while the prosecution considers the 33-year term 'manifestly inadequate'
  • The motive for the murders remains unknown

Two appeals in one case

On Friday morning the Court of Appeal in Melbourne will deliver its ruling in the case of Erin Patterson, who was found guilty of murdering three people with a poisoned lunch. The report comes from AFP. Patterson, 52, was convicted last year of killing her husband's parents and an elderly aunt in 2023: she served them a beef Wellington filled with deadly death cap mushrooms. The judge sentenced her to life in prison with the right to seek parole after 33 years.

What the parties are contesting

In August this year, Patterson's lawyers argued before the Court of Appeal that she had been the victim of a miscarriage of justice, listing a series of irregularities at the trial, including, in their words, an 'oppressive' cross-examination and unfair evidentiary rulings. The prosecution filed a cross-appeal, calling the 33-year term before possible release 'manifestly inadequate' and demanding that Patterson never be released.

Possible outcomes

On the conviction, the judges must first decide whether leave to appeal should be granted at all. If leave is granted, they may dismiss the appeal or allow it — in which case the options are a quashed conviction with an acquittal or a new trial. On the prosecution's appeal, the court will either dismiss it or allow it and impose a new sentence. According to AFP, Patterson herself was not expected to attend the ruling in person.

A case the world watched

Last year's trial drew podcasters, camera crews and true crime fans to the courthouse in the town of Morwell in the state of Victoria; audiences from New York to New Delhi followed the twists of the case, now often called the 'mushroom murders'. In July last year, the jury found Patterson guilty of murdering her husband Simon's parents — Don and Gail Patterson — as well as his aunt Heather Wilkinson at her home in the farming village of Leongatha. She was also found guilty of the attempted murder of Heather's husband, pastor Ian, who fell seriously ill but eventually recovered. The motive for the murders, AFP notes, remains a mystery.