An Australian judge has sentenced triple-murderer Erin Patterson to life in prison after she was found guilty of serving a beef Wellington laced with one of the world’s deadliest ingredients — the death cap mushroom.
The shocking case, which has gripped Victoria, the rest of Australia and even gained international attention, came to a close on Monday when Justice Christopher Beale told the court that Patterson’s crimes represented an 'enormous betrayal of trust.'
It all began on July 29, 2023, when Erin Patterson served lunch that would become infamous — and FOODBible has a handy timeline of the case tracing the fall-out from that fateful meal right through to the judge’s sentence.
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Patterson, 50, was convicted of murdering her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, along with Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, after inviting them to her home in Leongatha, Victoria, for a family lunch in 2023. On the table was a golden, flaky beef Wellington — but inside it was filled with foraged death cap mushrooms, a fungus so toxic that even the tiniest amount can destroy vital organs.
Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson was also at the table and became gravely ill after eating the meal. He survived, but spent weeks in hospital recovering from severe poisoning. Justice Beale described the lasting impact on his health as part of the devastation inflicted on both the Patterson and Wilkinson families.
In an extraordinary twist, Patterson’s estranged husband Simon had also been invited to the gathering but chose not to attend. The judge later said it was clear she had also intended to kill him had he joined the meal.
The court heard that Patterson went to great lengths to stage the deadly lunch. She had told her guests she’d been diagnosed with cancer and wanted advice on how to share the news with her children, who weren’t present on the day. According to Ian Wilkinson’s testimony, Patterson also served the food in a way that ensured she wouldn’t accidentally consume the poisoned portions herself — dishing up grey plates for her guests while keeping an orange-tan plate for her own meal.
Justice Beale said her actions didn’t just destroy lives in the immediate family but caused immense suffering to her two children, who were robbed of their grandparents. In his words, it was a crime marked by 'enormous betrayal.'
Prosecutors and defence lawyers both agreed that a life sentence was the only fitting outcome for three counts of murder and one of attempted murder. The only argument was whether she should ever be eligible for parole. Defence lawyers argued for 30 years before she could apply, while prosecutors pushed for no chance at all. In the end, Justice Beale set a non-parole period of 33 years.
Patterson, who has been behind bars since November 2023 when she was first charged, continues to claim that the mushrooms ended up in the dish by accident. But the jury and the judge rejected that defence, with the court accepting that she had deliberately foraged the mushrooms and incorporated them into the Wellington.
Her sentence is backdated to the time of her arrest, and she now has 28 days to appeal both her conviction and the severity of the punishment.
The case has become one of Australia’s most infamous food-related crimes, not only for the shocking use of a dish often associated with celebrations and comfort, but also because of how it exposed the terrifying potential of the death cap mushroom. For the first time ever, the Supreme Court of Victoria even allowed the sentencing hearing to be broadcast live on television — a reflection of just how much public attention it has drawn.
What began as a family meal ended in tragedy, leaving a community stunned and the world reminded that sometimes, even the most delicious-looking dish can hide something truly deadly.
Lara Owen