Erin Patterson, 50, was told Monday that her crimes fall into the "worst category" of offending and warrant the maximum penalties as the Victorian Supreme Court moved to sentence her for the deaths of three relatives after a lunch poisoned with death-cap mushrooms.
Justice Christopher Beale began sentencing remarks at the Melbourne court after a packed public gallery and crowds gathered outside. Patterson was convicted last month of the murders of Don and Gail Patterson and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, and of attempting to murder Pastor Ian Wilkinson, who survived the lunch at a Leongatha home on July 29, 2023.
Beale told Patterson the prosecution had submitted, and her counsel conceded, that the offending "falls into the worst category of offending for these offences and that you should receive the maximum penalties for your crimes." The judge said he agreed "for reasons that I will come to in due course." He noted the prosecution had sought that no non-parole period be fixed.
The judge outlined a series of aggravating circumstances that, he said, supported the severity of the sentence. He found that the killings involved substantial premeditation and that Patterson had acted with an ongoing intention to kill. Beale said he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Patterson "must have anticipated that your victims would suffer in the way they did" and that she had taken steps to preserve death-cap mushrooms, including buying a dehydrator on April 23, 2023.
Beale recounted evidence, accepted by the court, that Patterson had invited members of her estranged husband's family to a lunch in mid-July 2023 without the presence of children, apparently to discuss a fabricated medical issue, and had served each guest an individual beef Wellington containing the toxin. The judge said Patterson used different-coloured plates and placed her own meal on a smaller plate, steps the court accepted were taken so she would not mistakenly eat a poisoned portion.
Beale also rejected Patterson's account that the mushrooms came unknowingly from an Asian grocer, concluding she had lied about that explanation and later concocted a story about foraged mushrooms contaminating a container. He accepted evidence that Patterson had accessed online resources, including the iNaturalist website, which lists sightings of death-cap mushrooms, and that she had researched such sightings in suburban Melbourne in May 2022.
The judge described the killings as an "enormous betrayal of trust," noting the victims were relatives by marriage who had been close to Patterson and had been supportive of her and her children. He said Patterson's failure to show remorse "pours salt into all the victims' wounds" and referred to victim impact statements the court had heard about the lasting damage to family members and the harm inflicted on Patterson's children.
Patterson was observed in court wearing a paisley top and brown jacket and showing little visible emotion, the court said. More than 100 members of the public attended the hearing in person, and satellites and television helicopters had been seen over William Street earlier in the day. Pastor Ian Wilkinson, the sole survivor of the lunch, attended the sentencing.
The hearing was streamed live across Australia — the first time the Supreme Court's sentencing remarks have been broadcast — a decision that prompted debate. Under normal circumstances, Australian law bars media or public photography and recording in courtrooms; for the broadcast, Justice Beale was the only person visible on the feed. Court officials indicated Beale's remarks would take about 30 minutes.
At trial the prosecution did not prove motive, and Beale noted that motive need not be established to secure a conviction; he said only Patterson knows why she committed the offences. The judge told the court he would set out factual findings about the circumstances of the offending and his reasons for the sentence.
Prosecutors had urged the court to impose the maximum penalties, including that Patterson never be released on parole. Defence counsel challenged that submission, pointing to the unusually harsh conditions of Patterson's likely imprisonment, which both sides agreed were likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Beale said whether to fix a non-parole period was the principal disputed issue he had to determine.
Patterson's convictions follow an intensive police investigation and a trial that attracted extensive public and media attention. The deaths and near-death raised questions about access to information on poisonous fungi and the means by which toxins were preserved and concealed. The sentencing hearing, conducted with an unusually high degree of public access, underscored continuing public interest in the case.
Beale said he would announce the sentence and his decision on any non-parole period after completing his written reasons. The court is scheduled to publish the full sentencing remarks and the judge's reasons in accordance with standard practice.