Erin Patterson, 52, lost her appeal against three murder convictions in Victoria's Court of Appeal on Friday. The court also ruled that she will never be eligible for parole.
Patterson was found guilty last year of murdering her in-laws Don and Gail Patterson and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson by serving them beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms in 2023. She was also convicted of attempting to murder Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson, a local pastor, who survived but spent weeks in hospital with ongoing health complications.
Three appeal judges rejected all seven grounds of her challenge. Her defence team had argued that a hotel booking error, which placed jury members in the same location as prosecutors and a key police witness, compromised the trial's integrity. They also claimed certain evidence, including cell tower data and Facebook posts critical of her in-laws, was prejudicial and irrelevant. The judges dismissed these arguments.
Justice Stephen McLeish said the crimes were "extraordinarily cold and calculated" and required "denunciation in the strongest terms." The court agreed with prosecutors that Patterson's original sentence, which included a non-parole period of 33 years, was inadequate because it allowed for eventual freedom.
Patterson was originally sentenced last September. She has 28 days to decide whether to seek a hearing at Australia's High Court.