Australian mushroom killer faces victims’ family in sentencing hearing

MELBOURNE: Australian mushroom killer Erin Patterson faces her victims’ relatives in court as a judge prepares to sentence her for a triple murder that captured global attention.

The fifty-year-old appears for the first time since a jury convicted her in July of murder by preparing a beef Wellington meal containing death cap mushrooms.

She deliberately served the poisonous dish to her husband’s parents, aunt and uncle during a lunch at her rural Victoria home in 2023.

The parents and aunt died within days of consuming the lethal meal.

The uncle survived the poisoning after spending weeks in hospital and later testified against Patterson during the trial.

Patterson now undergoes a two-day pre-sentencing hearing at the Supreme Court of Victoria where friends and family will describe the crime’s impact.

They may read statements personally, have the prosecutor deliver them, or submit written accounts without public reading.

Both legal teams will present arguments regarding factors that could influence the sentence’s severity.

The judge will determine Patterson’s punishment at a later date, with murder carrying a maximum life sentence without parole in Victoria.

Her legal team retains twenty-eight days to appeal both the conviction and sentence after sentencing concludes.

A twelve-person jury found Patterson guilty of murdering Simon’s parents Don and Gail Patterson along with aunt Heather Wilkinson.

She also received a conviction for attempting to murder Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson.

Simon Patterson had been invited but cancelled attendance, texting his estranged wife about feeling uncomfortable.

The couple remained legally married but estranged while disputing child support payments.

The murder motive continues to remain unexplained despite extensive court proceedings.

The trial attracted international media coverage and true crime enthusiasts to Morwell’s courthouse in rural Victoria.

Global audiences from New York to New Delhi followed the case widely known as the “mushroom murders”.

Patterson maintained throughout the two-month trial that the mushroom poisoning occurred accidentally.

Death cap mushrooms resemble edible varieties and reportedly have a sweet taste masking their extreme toxicity. – AFP