Australian woman given life without parole for mushroom poison murders

An Australian appeals court has ordered Erin Patterson to spend the rest of her life in prison without the possibility of parole for poisoning four of her estranged husband's relatives with death cap mushrooms, CBS News reported. The Victoria state Court of Appeal dismissed Patterson's appeal and upheld prosecutors' challenge to the leniency of her original 33-year nonparole sentence.

The judges described Patterson's crimes as "extraordinarily cold and calculated," with Justice Stephen McLeish stating the case involved "shocking criminality" that warranted no nonparole period. Patterson is only the second woman in Australia to receive a life sentence without parole, following Katherine Knight, who was sentenced in 2001 for murder in New South Wales.

Patterson's convictions stem from a family meal she hosted in July 2023 in Leongatha, where she poisoned beef Wellington dishes with death cap mushrooms, which are responsible for 90% of lethal mushroom poisonings worldwide, according to the BBC. Patterson maintains she added the mushrooms accidentally.

She was originally sentenced to three life sentences for murder and 25 years for attempted murder last year. She can still appeal to Australia's High Court, which is her last option for overturning the verdicts or sentence.