Australian woman sentenced to life in prison for mushroom poisonings

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Australian woman sentenced to life in prison for mushroom poisonings

2025-09-08 16:16 Last Updated At：16:20

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian judge on Monday sentenced triple-murderer Erin Patterson to life in prison with a non-parole period of 33 years for poisoning four of her estranged husband’s relatives with death cap mushrooms.

Justice Christopher Beale told the Victoria state Supreme Court that Patterson’s crimes involved an enormous betrayal of trust.

Patterson was convicted in July of murdering Don and Gail Patterson and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, with a lunch of beef Wellington pastries laced with foraged death cap mushrooms.

Patterson was also convicted of attempting to murder Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson, who spent weeks in a hospital.

Patterson’s estranged husband, Simon Patterson, was invited but did not attend the July 2023 lunch served to her parents-in-law and her estranged husband’s aunt and uncle at her home.

“Your victims were all your relatives by marriage. More than that, they had all been good to you and your children over many years, as you acknowledged in your testimony,” Beale 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,” he added.

Both prosecution and defense lawyers had agreed that a life sentence was an appropriate punishment for the 50-year-old on three counts of murder and one of attempted murder.

But defense lawyers had asked for Patterson to become eligible for parole after serving 30 years. Prosecutors had argued she should never be considered for parole because she did not deserve the court’s mercy.

Ian Wilkinson did not comment on the sentence but thanked police, prosecutors and health services he'd encountered since the poisonings.

“We’re thankful that when things go wrong, there are good people and services and systems available to help us recover,” he told reporters outside court.

“Our lives and the life of our community depends on the kindness of others. I’d like to encourage everybody to be kind to each other. Finally, I want to say thank you to the many people from across Australia and around the world who through their prayers and messages of support have encouraged us,” he added.

Beale said Patterson had also intended to kill her husband if he had accepted his invitation to lunch.

She had pretended to have been diagnosed with cancer as a reason to bring them together. She claimed to have wanted advice on how to break the news to her two children, who were not present at the lunch.

Beale accepted Ian Wilkinson's account that the guests were served grey plates while Patterson ate from an orange-tan plate. This was to ensure she didn't accidentally eat a poisoned meal, Beale said.

“Only you know why you committed them (the crimes). I will not be speculating about that matter,” the judge told Patterson.

Patterson showed little emotion during the sentencing hearing, which took less than an hour. She kept her eyes closed for much or it or stared directly ahead.

Patterson maintained at her trial that she had added foraged mushrooms to the meals by accident.

But she had initially denied to authorities that she fed her guests foraged mushrooms. A drug that is a specific antidote for death cap mushroom poisoning was not initially administered to her dying victims.

Beale told Patterson he inferred “from your pitiless behavior that your intention to kill was ongoing.”

Beale noted that no psychiatric or psychological reports had been provided in her sentencing hearing. He said he had no doubt she had instructed her lawyers not to provide such evidence.

Patterson has been in custody since she was charged on Nov. 2, 2023. Her sentence is backdated until then. She has 28 days from her sentencing to appeal against her convictions and the severity of her sentence.

Patterson, who turns 51 on Sept. 30, will be 82 years old when she becomes eligible for parole in November 2056.

The case has attracted enormous public interest in Victoria, nationally and internationally. Because of this, the Victorian Supreme Court allowed for the first time a sentencing hearing to be broadcast live on television.

Beale accepted that because Patterson was classified as a “notorious” prisoner who had to be kept separate from other inmates for her own safety, her conditions were harsher than those of a mainstream prisoner.

Patterson spends at least 22 hours a day in her cell and has never spoken to the only inmate she's allowed to. That inmate, who has an adjoining exercise yard that shares a mesh wire fence, has been convicted of terrorism offenses and has attacked other prisoners.

"I infer that, given the unprecedented media coverage of your case, and the books, documentaries and TV series about you which are all in the pipeline, you are likely to remain a notorious prisoner for many years to come, and, as such, remain at significant risk from other prisoners," Beale said.

Federal officer shoots person in leg after being attacked during Minneapolis arrest, officials say

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal officer shot a person in the leg in Minneapolis after being attacked with a shovel and broom handle while trying to make an arrest Wednesday, federal officials said.

Smoke filled the street near the site of the shooting as federal officers and protesters squared off. A group of officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas and grenades into a small crowd while protesters threw snowballs and chanted, “Our streets.”

Such scenes have become common on the streets of Minneapolis since an immigration agent fatally shot Renee Good on Jan. 7. Agents have yanked people from cars and homes and been confronted by angry bystanders who bare demanding that officers pack up and leave.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on the social media platform X that federal law enforcement officers stopped a person from Venezuela who was in the U.S. illegally. The person drove away and crashed into a parked car before taking off on foot, DHS said.

After officers reached the person, two other people arrived from a nearby apartment and all three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.

“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said.

The two people who came out of the apartment are in custody, it said.

The shooting took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) north of where Good was killed.

Earlier Wednesday, a judge gave the Trump administration time to respond to a request to suspend its immigration crackdown in Minnesota, while the Pentagon looked for military lawyers to join what has become a chaotic law enforcement effort in the state.

“What we need most of all right now is a pause. The temperature needs to be lowered," state Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter said during the first hearing in a lawsuit filed by Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Local leaders say the government is violating free speech and other constitutional rights with the surge of law enforcement. U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez promised to keep the case “on the front burner” and gave the U.S. Justice Department until Monday to file a response to a request for a restraining order.

The judge said these are "grave and important matters,” and that there are few legal precedents to apply to some of the key points in the case.

Justice Department attorney Andrew Warden suggested the approach set by Menendez was appropriate.

The judge is also handling a separate lawsuit challenging the tactics used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal officers when they encounter protesters and observers. A decision could be released this week.

During a televised speech Wednesday evening, Gov. Tim Walz described Minnesota as being in chaos, saying what's happening in the state “defies belief.”

“Let’s be very, very clear, this long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement," he said. "Instead, it’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”

Walz added that “accountability” will be coming through the courts.

The Department of Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December and is vowing to not back down. The Pentagon is preparing to send military lawyers to Minneapolis to assist.

CNN, citing an email circulating in the military, says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is asking the branches to identify 40 lawyers known as judge advocate general officers or JAGs, and 25 of them will serve as special assistant U.S. attorneys in Minneapolis.

Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson appeared to confirm the CNN report by posting it on X with a comment that the military “is proud to support” the Justice Department.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to emails from The Associated Press seeking more details.

It’s the latest step by the Trump administration to dispatch military and civilian attorneys to areas where federal immigration operations are taking place. The Pentagon last week sent 20 lawyers to Memphis, U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said.

Mark Nevitt, an associate professor at Emory University School of Law and a former Navy JAG, said there's concern that the assignments are taking lawyers away from the military justice system.

“There are not many JAGs but there are over one million members of the military, and they all need legal support,” he said.

Jonathan Ross, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who killed Good, suffered internal bleeding to his torso during the encounter, a Homeland Security official told The Associated Press.

The official spoke to AP on condition of anonymity in order to discuss Ross’ medical condition. The official did not provide details about the severity of the injuries, and the agency did not respond to questions about the extent of the bleeding, exactly how he suffered the injury, when it was diagnosed or his medical treatment.

There are many causes of internal bleeding, and they vary in severity from bruising to significant blood loss. Video from the scene showed Ross and other officers walking without obvious difficulty after Good was shot and her Honda Pilot crashed into other vehicles.

She was killed after three ICE officers surrounded her SUV on a snowy street a few blocks from her home.

Bystander video shows one officer ordering Good to open the door and grabbing the handle. As the vehicle begins to move forward, Ross, standing in front, raises his weapon and fires at least three shots at close range. He steps back as the SUV advances and turns.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said Ross was struck by the vehicle and that Good was using her SUV as a weapon — a self-defense claim that has been deeply criticized by Minnesota officials.

Chris Madel, an attorney for Ross, declined to comment on any injuries.

Good’s family, meanwhile, has hired a law firm, Romanucci & Blandin, that represented George Floyd’s family in a $27 million settlement with Minneapolis. Floyd, who was Black, died after a white police officer pinned his neck to the ground in the street in May 2020.

The firm said Good was following orders to move her car when she was shot. It said it would conduct its own investigation and publicly share what it learns.

“They do not want her used as a political pawn,” the firm said, referring to Good and her family, “but rather as an agent of peace for all.”

Waving signs reading “Love Melts ICE” and “DE-ICE MN,” hundreds of teenagers left school in St. Paul and marched in freezing temperatures to the state Capitol for a protest and rally.

The University of Minnesota, meanwhile, informed its 50,000-plus students that there could be online options for some classes when the new term starts next week. President Rebecca Cunningham noted that “violence and protests have come to our doorstep.” The campus sits next to the main Somali neighborhood in Minneapolis.

Associated Press reporters Julie Watson in San Diego, California; Rebecca Santana in Washington, D.C.; Ed White in Detroit; Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Graham Lee Brewer in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.