One of Australia’s most high-profile criminal cases, the Leongatha mushroom murders, is set to return to the legal system this year, with a two-day hearing scheduled for convicted triple killer Erin Patterson’s appeal in Victoria’s highest appellate court.
The 50-year-old was found guilty by a jury in September 2024 of murdering three of her husband’s relatives and attempting to murder a fourth during a homemade lunch gathering at her Leongatha, Victoria home in July 2023. Following the conviction, she was handed a life sentence with a 33-year non-parole period, a penalty that prosecutors have also challenged as too lenient in a separate state-led appeal.
The fatal lunch that sparked the national case saw Patterson serve beef wellington to Don Patterson, Gail Patterson, Heather Wilkinson and Ian Wilkinson—her in-laws and her spouse’s aunt and uncle. All four guests developed life-threatening poisoning from toxic death cap mushrooms, and only Ian Wilkinson survived after an extended stay in intensive care.
Throughout the trial and in the period since her conviction, Patterson has consistently maintained her complete innocence, arguing she had no knowledge that the mushrooms she used in her cooking were poisonous. Her legal team’s appeal, scheduled to begin on August 19 at the Victorian Court of Appeal, rests on seven distinct legal grounds, according to filed court documents.
Key among Patterson’s challenges to her conviction are claims that her cross-examination while testifying in her own defense was unreasonably unfair and oppressive. She also argues that multiple pieces of evidence admitted during the original trial created unfair prejudice against her and should never have been presented to the jury. This contested evidence includes data tracking her mobile phone’s connection to local cell towers, crowdsourced observations of death cap mushroom growth in the region posted to the citizen science platform iNaturalist, and content from a Facebook true crime enthusiast group that Patterson was part of.
Patterson’s legal team is asking the appellate court to overturn her original conviction and order a full new trial. In a rare procedural twist, the separate appeal brought by Victoria’s Director of Public Prosecutions will be heard alongside the defendant’s challenge. Prosecutors argue that the 33-year minimum non-parole term handed down last year is manifestly inadequate given the severity of her crimes. Court officials have confirmed that Patterson will not appear in person for the appeal hearing, which is expected to conclude after two days of legal argument.