Erin Patterson, the Australian woman convicted of the Leongatha mushroom murders, has lost her appeal against three murder convictions and one attempted murder conviction. Victoria’s Court of Appeal has also removed her chance of parole, ruling that she must serve life imprisonment without a minimum release date.
The decision was delivered in Melbourne on Friday 30 October 2026. The court rejected Patterson’s challenge to her convictions, while allowing a separate appeal by Victoria’s Director of Public Prosecutions against her original sentence. The result means the woman widely described as Australia’s ‘mushroom killer’ is now sentenced to remain in prison for life, unless a further legal challenge succeeds.
What did the Victorian Court of Appeal decide?
Three judges, Lesley Taylor, Stephen McLeish and Peter Kidd, considered Patterson’s attempt to overturn the jury’s verdicts alongside a prosecution argument that her sentence was too lenient. Justice McLeish delivered the court’s decision on 30 October.
Patterson’s lawyers sought to challenge the fairness of the 2025 trial. The court granted permission to appeal on two of her seven grounds but dismissed the appeal. Permission was refused on the remaining five grounds. Her convictions therefore remain intact.
The prosecution’s sentencing appeal succeeded on the ground that the original sentence was manifestly inadequate. The judges set aside the 33-year non-parole period imposed in September 2025, leaving Patterson with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole under the present judgment. The Supreme Court of Victoria’s case notice links to the full Court of Appeal judgment.
Why did Erin Patterson’s appeal fail?
Two central issues concerned where jurors stayed during deliberations and evidence from mobile phone records. During the trial, jurors were accommodated at the same hotel as a police witness and prosecution personnel. Patterson’s lawyers argued that the arrangement risked compromising the fairness of the proceedings.
The appeal judges were not satisfied that the hotel arrangements made the convictions unsafe. They also rejected a challenge to the admission of mobile phone evidence. The other grounds put forward by Patterson’s lawyers did not persuade the court to allow an appeal.
The dismissal of an appeal is not a new trial or a fresh jury verdict. It means the appellate court found no sufficient legal basis to overturn the original convictions.
Why was the sentence increased to life without parole?
In September 2025, trial judge Justice Christopher Beale imposed three life sentences for murder and a 25-year term for attempted murder, with a minimum period of 33 years before parole could be considered. The earliest possibility of release had therefore been in 2056, when Patterson would have been in her eighties. Eligibility for parole would not itself have guaranteed release.
The original sentencing judge had taken account of unusually restrictive prison conditions linked to Patterson’s notoriety. Prosecutors argued that the severity and calculated nature of the crimes made even the possibility of parole inappropriate.
The Court of Appeal agreed that a 33-year non-parole period did not adequately reflect the offending. The judges described the acts as ‘extraordinarily cold and calculated’, pointing to the planning of the meal, repeated deception, destruction of evidence and betrayal of trust within the family. The court found that the crimes warranted the most severe sentencing outcome available.
Importantly, Patterson’s own appeal did not automatically increase her punishment. The harsher outcome followed the prosecution’s independently lodged sentencing appeal, which the judges considered separately.
What happened at the Leongatha mushroom lunch?
The case began on 29 July 2023, when Patterson served beef Wellington to four relatives at her home in Leongatha, South Gippsland, Victoria, about 135 kilometres south-east of Melbourne. The meal contained highly toxic death cap mushrooms. All four guests became seriously ill.
- Don Patterson: the father of Patterson’s estranged husband, Simon, died in August 2023.
- Gail Patterson: Don’s wife and Simon’s mother, died after the lunch.
- Heather Wilkinson: Gail’s sister, also died from the poisoning.
- Ian Wilkinson: Heather’s husband, survived after weeks in hospital. Patterson was convicted of attempting to murder him.
Patterson maintained that the poisoning was accidental, but a jury found her guilty of three murders and one attempted murder on 7 July 2025. She was sentenced on 8 September 2025. The 30 October 2026 appeal judgment leaves those convictions in force and removes parole eligibility.
Can Erin Patterson appeal again?
Patterson can seek special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia, the country’s highest court. Such permission is not automatic and any further challenge would face a substantial legal hurdle. The Court of Appeal’s ruling stands unless it is overturned or changed by a higher court.
Life without parole is an exceptionally rare sentence in Australia. The current ruling rules out the ordinary parole process, rather than simply postponing her earliest release date.
Watch: Court of Appeal delivers the Erin Patterson judgment
ABC News Australia has published video of Victoria’s Court of Appeal announcing its decision on 30 October 2026. Watch the court’s judgment on ABC News (8 minutes, 17 seconds).
Sources
- Supreme Court of Victoria: Erin Patterson appeals, judgment issued 30 October 2026
- Court of Appeal judgment, Patterson v The King / Director of Public Prosecutions v Patterson [2026] VSCA 253
- ABC Australia: appeal ruling and court proceedings, 30 October 2026
- Associated Press: court orders Patterson to remain in prison for life, 30 October 2026
- ABC Australia: original Leongatha poisoning investigation and chronology
