‘Mushroom Killer’ Appeals Conviction for Poisoning In-Laws with Toxic Beef Wellington

TOXIC mushroom killer Erin Patterson has launched a dramatic appeal to overturn her conviction for fatally poisoning her in-laws.

after being found guilty of killing three relatives she served a beef wellington laced with death cap mushrooms.

Her mum-in-law Gail Patterson, dad-in-law Donald Patterson and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson died in hospital within six days of .

was also convicted for the attempted murder of Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, a small-town local pastor who miraculously survived the poisoning.

with eligibility for parole after 33 years.

Three judges at the Court of Appeal in Melbourne will now hear two appeals.

The first will be ; the second, the prosecution’s demand for a stiffer sentence.

Prosecutors blasted the 33-year non-parole period as “manifestly inadequate”.

The judge erred in finding there was a substantial chance Patterson would be held in solitary confinement for years to come, and this “infected” his decision, the prosecution argued.

Patterson, who is serving her time at the maximum-security Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Melbourne, has asked to watch her appeal by live video link from prison.

She claims to have suffered multiple counts of “substantial miscarriage of justice” because the trial judge erred in deciding what evidence could be presented.

Her lawyers argue that key evidence – including cell tower location data and messages from friends – was either irrelevant or unfairly prejudicial.

In documents lodged with the last November, her legal team said a “fundamental irregularity” occurred while the jury was sequestered.

They further claim she was subjected to an “unfair and oppressive” cross-examination during the trial.

By contrast, prosecutors filed their own appeal in October, arguing the sentence was “manifestly inadequate”.

The case centres on a lunch Patterson hosted at her home in Leongatha, south-east of on July 29, 2023.

She is said to have served Beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms to her guests.

Patterson has maintained she unknowingly used foraged death cap mushrooms in the meal.

However, Ian Wilkinson, the sole survivor of the lunch, told the trial that Patterson served guests individual portions, separate from her own.

Toxicologists confirmed all four guests displayed symptoms consistent with death cap mushroom poisoning, a highly lethal species found in the local area.

Symptoms can begin within hours of ingestion and include severe vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain.

In the most serious cases, they can temporarily subside before returning days later, often leading to liver and kidney failure and death.

Patterson has faced separate allegations while in custody, including and made a fellow inmate sick.

According to the Herald Sun , the inmate fell ill following a dispute with Patterson and allegedly blamed her for the illness.

She had been working in the prison kitchen despite the nature of the charges that led to her imprisonment.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice and Community Safety Victoria said: “there is no evidence to support that there has been any contaminated food or suspected poisonings at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre”.

have also alleged Patterson may have attempted to poison her ex-husband, Simon Patterson, on three separate occasions between 2021 and 2022.

Simon previously wrote about a near-fatal illness that left him in a coma for 16 days, during which doctors advised his family to prepare for the worst.