Erin Patterson is escorted out of the Supreme Court of Victoria following the day's proceedings in a pre-sentencing hearing in Melbourne on 25 August, 2025. Photo: AFP / Martin Keep
Erin Patterson will spend at least 33 years behind bars for murdering three relatives and trying to kill a fourth with beef Wellingtons laced with death cap mushrooms.
A Victorian Supreme Court judge on Monday handed Patterson, 50, a life sentence for the 2023 murders of her in-laws Don and Gail Patterson with Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson.
However, Justice Christopher Beale spared Patterson the harshest penalty under the law - a life sentence with no parole - meaning she could potentially leave prison if she is still alive in the year 2056.
Patterson has already been in custody for close to two years.
The triple-murderer was also sentenced to 25 years for the attempted murder of Heather Wilkinson's husband Ian.
Justice Beale called the crime "an enormous betrayal".
The fatal mushroom lunch made global headlines and was one of Australia's most talked-about cases in decades.
Patterson invited the three murder victims and Heather Wilkinson's husband, Ian, to her house in Leongatha for a family lunch on 29 July, 2023.
Unbeknown to the guests, their beef Wellington portions contained toxic death cap mushrooms.
"Clearly, the jury was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that you committed the alleged offences. Only you know why you committed them," Justice Beale said during Monday's sentencing.
The judge said the crime involved "substantial premeditation" and was planned about two weeks before the lunch, when Patterson invited the guests.
"Your crimes have harmed a great many people," Justice Beale said.
The group were all devout Christians, with Wilkinson the long-term pastor of the nearby Korumburra Baptist Church.
"Your lunch guests undoubtedly belonged to that company of people among us who do good," the judge said.
"Not only did you cut short three lives and cause lasting damage to Ian Wilkinson's health, thereby devastating extended Patterson and Wilkinson families, you inflicted untold suffering on your own children, whom you robbed of their beloved grandparents."
A huge media scrum descended on the Supreme Court in Melbourne, as Patterson was brought in on a prison van and marched into the dock of courtroom 4, where every seat was filled.
A large television audience was also watching, with Justice Beale's sentencing remarks beamed live on Australian networks.
Patterson sat glum-faced in the court dock, dressed in a paisley top and brown jacket, as the judge read out his sentencing remarks.
Last month, prosecutors had called on the judge to sentence Patterson to life in prison with no parole, calling her crimes "worst category offending".
While Justice Beale agreed, he said a non-parole period was needed.
- ABC
