What happened to Erin Patterson's appeal against her death cap mushroom murder conviction?

The Victorian Court of Appeal dismissed Erin Patterson's appeal over evidence, her cross-examination and how the jury was held, BBC Australia correspondent Katie Watson reports. The judges also upheld the prosecution's appeal that her life sentence, with parole possible after 33 years, was manifestly inadequate, ruling that no non-parole period should be set. Patterson now faces dying in prison and has 28 days to seek a High Court hearing, which is hard to obtain.

• Patterson murdered three relatives and tried to kill a fourth with a meal containing death cap mushrooms in 2023.
• The judges called the offending extraordinarily cold and calculated.

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on Global News Podcast (2026-10-30). Read the whole episode summary →

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