Erin Patterson is appealing her guilty verdict after killing three of her estranged husband’s relatives with a poisonous beef Wellington.
Three of Patterson’s four lunch guests – her parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson – died in the hospital after the 2023 meal at her home in Leongatha.
The fourth, Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson, survived after spending weeks in hospital but continues to suffer lasting damage.
Last year, Patterson was jailed for life, but is now lodging an appeal against what her defence lawyers call an ‘unfair’ trial.
Appearing via video link from prison, Patterson watched as her team was seen arguing with the judge about whether certain points of the appeal were ‘fair’.
The BBC reports that Patterson’s team is focusing their appeal on the ‘idea that justice needs to be done, but it also needs to be seen to be done’.
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What grounds is Patterson appealing on?
There are quite a few arguments Patterson’s defence lawyers are basing this appeal on.
The first is what they called a ‘catastrophic’ mistake in the trial, in which the jury, prosecutors, witnesses and some journalists stayed at the same hotel.
Lawyers are also arguing that some of the key evidence which would have exonerated Patterson was ‘wrongfully excluded’, prompting Patterson to testify when she may not have done so otherwise.
Some of this evidence included photos dating back to 2020, showing Patterson’s interest in foraging mushrooms. A judge in the case ruled them inadmissable.
It was not disputed that Patterson served the mushrooms or that the pastries killed her guests – the jury was tasked with deciding if she knew the lunch contained death caps, and if she intended for them to die.
Patterson’s team is hoping to overturn her conviction.
How did the crime unfold?
Prosecutors said Patterson foraged poisonous death cap mushrooms sometime before, dehydrated them, and used them in the mushroom duxelle that sits between the beef and the pastry.
She denied the charges, with her defence saying the poisonings were a ‘terrible accident’.
The court was previously told Patterson cooked individual beef Wellingtons instead of a single large dish.
She claimed this was only because she couldn’t source a single ‘log’ of fillet, while prosecutors argued it was a deliberate ploy to ensure she controlled who was eating what.
It was said that Ms Wilkinson noticed her host eating from a ‘noticeably different’ plate to the rest of the table, relaying her concern to Patterson’s estranged husband after she started falling unwell.
Third, Rogers said, Patterson allegedly lied that the food also made her sick in order to avoid suspicion.
The court heard she went to the hospital the day after her guests were admitted and said she felt unwell but discharged herself without treatment.
She told health authorities she used dried mushrooms bought from an Asian grocer, telling police she had been ‘very helpful’ in doing so.
The court also heard that a week after the meal she dumped a food dehydrator allegedly used to dry the death caps used in the dish.
Patterson admitted dumping the appliance but claimed she ‘panicked’ after her estranged husband allegedly accused her of using it to poison his parents.
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