Erin Patterson’s Appeal Hearing Begins in Victoria’s Court of Appeal

Melbourne, 19 August: An appeal hearing has begun for Erin Patterson, who was convicted of murdering three members of her estranged husband’s family by serving them a meal containing poisonous mushrooms.

The hearing commenced on Wednesday, 19 August, in Victoria’s Court of Appeal. The court will also consider a separate prosecution appeal arguing that Patterson’s sentence was inadequate.

Patterson, 51, was found guilty last year of three counts of murder. The court heard that she served beef Wellington containing poisonous death cap mushrooms during a lunch at her home in Leongatha, southeast of Melbourne, in 2023.

Her former parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, died after eating the meal.

Heather Wilkinson’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, also became critically ill but survived. Patterson was found guilty of attempting to murder him.

In September 2025, Patterson was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 33 years—one of the longest prison sentences ever imposed on a woman in Australia.

Patterson has continued to deny deliberately poisoning her guests, maintaining throughout the trial and after her conviction that the deaths were a tragic accident.

Her lawyers are raising several grounds of appeal. They argue that certain evidence should not have been admitted during the trial and allege that Patterson was treated unfairly while being cross-examined.

Patterson’s legal team has also argued that, because of an administrative error, jurors stayed at the same hotel as several members of the media during the trial. They claim the arrangement may have exposed jurors to outside influence and compromised the fairness of the proceedings.

The prosecution has lodged a separate appeal against Patterson’s sentence. Prosecutors argue that the punishment was insufficiently severe, given the gravity of the three murders and one attempted murder, and have asked the court to reconsider it.

The 2023 lunch attracted intense public attention across Australia. Investigators later established that the meal contained toxins associated with death cap mushrooms, which can cause severe poisoning and prove fatal without urgent medical treatment.

Patterson’s trial lasted almost 11 weeks and was held in the regional Victorian town of Morwell. It attracted extensive international media coverage and later became the subject of numerous podcasts, books and other productions.

Victoria’s Court of Appeal will now examine the arguments presented by both sides. Its decision on whether Patterson’s conviction appeal will succeed—and whether her sentence will be altered—will be delivered at a later date.