Erin Patterson officially launches appeal against murder convictions
Mushroom killer Erin Patterson has launched an appeal against her convictions as prosecutors push for her to become the first woman in Victoria to be sentenced to life without parole.
Mushroom cook Erin Patterson has officially launched an appeal against her murder convictions.
The Herald Sun revealed in July that Patterson, 51, would appeal her convictions and it is understood the relevant paperwork was filed by her legal team on Monday.
Her grounds of appeal are expected to be released in the coming days.
On July 7, Patterson was found guilty of the murders of her estranged husband’s parents Don and Gail Patterson, Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and the attempted murder of Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson.
A Supreme Court jury found she served them beef wellingtons she had deliberately laced with lethal death cap mushrooms at her Gibson St home in Leongatha on July 29, 2023.
On September 8, she was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 33 years.
With time served, she will be eligible for parole in 2056 as an 82-year-old.
Patterson, who has always maintained her innocence, had a 28-day window from sentencing to appeal her convictions, but she opted to take advantage of an automatic extension of this window by another 28 days.
Her new deadline was due to lapse at 11.59pm tonight.
It is understood that the triple murderer will be represented in her appeal by barrister Julian McMahon SC.
Mr McMahon, who has practised at the Victorian Bar for more than 25 years, specialises in criminal and human rights law and has represented Australians facing the death penalty overseas.
He has previously described himself as having a history of “looking after people who no one else really wants to defend”.
Last month, the prosecution launched its own appeal, calling for Patterson to be re-sentenced to life without parole.
If Patterson is successful, the Court of Appeal will quash her convictions and either order a new trial or acquit her.
On the other hand, if the prosecution is successful, Patterson will be re-sentenced to either life without parole or life with a non-parole period greater than 33 years.
If handed the former, she would become the second woman in Australian history to be sentenced to life without parole.
NSW woman Katherine Knight became the first in 2001 after she stabbed her partner John Price to death, skinned his body and cooked his head with the intention of feeding it to his children.
The two appeals are expected to be heard together next year.
The Herald Sun revealed in September that Crown prosecutors were “underwhelmed” by the 33-year non-parole period handed to Patterson and were considering an appeal.
In early October, a “Notice of Appeal” penned by the Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Diana Piekusis KC confirmed the two grounds of appeal.
“The sentencing judge erred in finding that there was a ‘substantial chance’ the respondent would be held in ‘solitary confinement for years to come’ when such a finding was not open on the evidence, and that finding infected his assessment of the respondent’s likely future conditions in custody and his decision to fix a non-parole period,” she wrote.
“The sentence imposed on the offender is manifestly inadequate, in that a) it was inappropriate for the sentencing judge to fix a non-parole period; or b) the non-parole period of 33 years is manifestly inadequate.”
She added that she considered that there is an “error in the sentence imposed” and that a “different sentence should be imposed”.
“I am satisfied that an appeal should be brought in the public interest,” she wrote.
At a pre-sentence hearing, Crown prosecutor Jane Warren said the crimes committed by Patterson were “so horrific, so cruel and so callous” that she was not deserving of mercy.
But ultimately, Justice Christopher Beale sided with the defence by fixing a non-parole period.
He said he believed there was a “substantial chance” she would be held in solitary confinement at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre for years, if not decades, given her notoriety.
“The harsh prison conditions that you have experienced already and the likely prospect of solitary confinement for the foreseeable future are important and weighty,” he said at her sentencing.
“In my view, the only scope for making them count is by the fixing of a non-parole period.”
Originally published as Erin Patterson officially launches appeal against murder convictions
