An Australian court has dismissed all grounds of appeal by Erin Patterson, the woman convicted of murdering three members of her estranged husband's family with a meal laced with deadly mushrooms.
A three-judge panel at the Supreme Court of Victoria delivered its ruling on Friday. The court rejected all seven grounds argued by Patterson's lawyers and resentenced her to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Patterson, 51, was convicted last year of murdering her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, her father-in-law Donald Patterson, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson. The three died after eating a beef wellington lunch she had prepared, laced with death cap mushrooms. She was also convicted of the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, Heather's husband, who survived.
Patterson had originally been sentenced to life in prison with a 33-year non-parole period, one of the longest terms ever handed to a woman in Australia. The director of public prosecutions had appealed that sentence, arguing it was manifestly inadequate. The court agreed, removing the non-parole period entirely.
Justice Stephen McLeish, speaking on behalf of the panel, said Patterson's conduct had been carefully planned and deliberate.
"This offending was extraordinarily cold and calculated, and stands to be denounced in the strongest terms," he told the Melbourne court.
"In all the circumstances, after anxious consideration, we have concluded that the case involved such shocking criminality that it is inappropriate to fix a non-parole period."
The court found that Patterson's murderous intent dated back to the invitations to lunch themselves. Judges noted that her crimes involved an "elaborate series of deceptions," including falsely claiming a cancer diagnosis to explain why her two children would not be attending the meal. The sole surviving victim had testified that Patterson told her guests she wanted their advice on how to speak to the children about her diagnosis.
Patterson showed no emotion during the ruling, appearing via video link from the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, the state's women's prison, wearing a royal blue jumper. She raised her thumb when asked by court staff whether she could hear proceedings. When the judges left the courtroom, she took a book from beside her and walked off-screen.
In court, family members of the victims embraced and were visibly emotional. Homicide squad detectives, including the lead investigator in the case, were also present and appeared elated. No one commented outside the court.
Ian Wilkinson, the only surviving victim, was not present for the ruling.
Patterson's lawyers had argued seven grounds for appeal, including that certain evidence should not have been admitted at trial, that her cross-examination was unfair, and that jurors staying in the same hotel as police and prosecution representatives during deliberations represented a catastrophic failure of the justice system. The panel found none of these grounds sufficient.
Patterson has always denied wrongdoing, maintaining that the deaths were accidental.
She is now only the second woman in Australian history to be imprisoned for life without any possibility of parole. The first is Katherine Knight, a meatworker sentenced in New South Wales in 2001 for the murder of her partner John Price.
Patterson may still apply to Australia's High Court for leave to appeal against both her conviction and her new sentence. The High Court represents her last remaining legal option.
