As of June 2025, there were nearly 47,000 adult prisoners in Australia. Around 1,000 of them are serving life sentences.

Most life sentences come with a mandatory minimum non-parole period, after which the offender can apply for release. For Patterson that period was 33 years - which meant she could have been released in her 80s.

But that possibility has just been thrown out by the appeals court today. Barring a successful second appeal, she will be spending the rest of her life in prison.

It's exceedingly rare for people to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. After today's court decision, Erin Patterson is one of the only women in the country to receive such a sentence.

Days after she served her relatives toxic mushroom laced beef Wellingtons that ended up killing three and leaving one in intensive care, Erin Patterson told police she loved her in-laws. Here's a a short clip of that police interview from 3 August 2023.

In appealing for Patterson to be denied the chance for parole, prosecutors had argued in August that more weight had to be given to the nature of Patterson's crime.

These were the points they made during the hearing back then:

• Patterson had planned the murders over a long period, from learning about death cap mushrooms to cooking the fatal lunch
• The relatives who accepted Patterson's lunch invite were "completely unsuspecting"
• After her guests fell ill, Patterson could have admitted using foraged mushrooms without admitting her guilt - but she denied that possibility to police and health workers
• The cruelty of the murder method, which saw victims suffering from "shocking illnesses"
• Patterson staged an elaborate cover-up, lying to police and disposing of evidence

Image source, Getty Images

Erin Patterson’s triple-murder trial centred around a lunch she served at her home in Leongatha, regional Victoria, in 2023.

Here are some of the key moments of the case.

Two weeks before the lunch

• Erin invites her estranged husband Simon Patterson, his parents Don and Gail Patterson, Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, and Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson - a local pastor - for a lunch on Saturday 29 July

24 hours before the lunch

• Simon cancels as he feels “too uncomfortable” given recent tensions between the estranged couple

29 July, day of the lunch

• Everyone, including Erin, eats the homemade meal and hours later, they all report feeling ill

30 July

• All four guests are admitted to hospital with severe nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea

1/2 August

• Within days of the lunch, all four guests are on life support with advanced multiple organ failure. Erin is discharged from hospital and dumps the dehydrator she used to dry wild mushrooms at a local tip

4/5 August

• Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson all die from mushroom poisoning. Police recover the dumped food dehydrator from the local tip

22 September

• Ian Wilkinson is discharged from hospital after weeks in an induced coma

2 November

• Erin is charged with the three counts of murder and one of attempted murder. Four other attempted murder charges are dropped before her trial

Katy Watson
Australia correspondent

Erin Patterson was hoping her conviction would be quashed today - instead she’s facing the reality of dying in prison.

The decision will be welcome news of course for her in-laws - several of whom attended the trial - the most well-known face was Ian Wilkinson, the only survivor at the lunch, who sat in court most days, attended her sentencing and some of the appeal.

The family has largely stayed away from speaking to the media but after she was sentenced, Ian Wilkinson thanked police who "brought to light the truth of what happened with the death of three good people.”

While this isn’t the end of the road for Erin Patterson - she can still appeal to the High Court - it’s not a guaranteed route for her. For the family, welcome news that she won’t be released and they won’t be subjected to another trial.

Image source, Getty Images

Tiffanie Turnbull
BBC News, Sydney

With her appeal against her convictions set aside by the Victorian Court of Appeal, Erin Patterson could now choose to take her case to the High Court of Australia.

Getting the nation's top court to even agree to hear a case is often a challenging and expensive endeavour.

Patterson has 28 days to decide if she wants to do that.

Let's bring you a few more comments from the judges who have just dismissed Patterson's appeal and upheld the prosecution's appeal against her sentence.

The prosecution had argued that Patterson shouldn't be allowed a non-parole period of 33 years. This meant she could apply to leave prison after that period was served.

The appeal judges agreed and she will now spend the rest of her life behind bars.

“This offending was extraordinarily cold and calculated and stands to be denounced in the strongest terms," Justice Peter Kidd said.

“We have concluded that the case involved such shocking criminality that it is inappropriate to fix a non-parole period.”

Image source, EPA

The part of rural Victoria where this crime took place is dotted with small towns and hamlets, which may at first appear quite isolated.

The reality is they are held together by close ties - ties which this case has rattled.

The community of Korumburra, where the victims were beloved figures, became shrouded in grief. Leongatha, where Patterson lived, was gripped by shock. The nearby towns of Loch and Outtrim were horrified by the prosecution suggestion their gardens may have produced the murder weapon. And Morwell, host of the lengthy trial, was overwhelmed by journalists, lawyers and spectators - as were towns nearby.

Many in these towns hope today's appeal decision will help close the door on what has been a painful chapter.

You can read more about how these towns have grappled with the case here.

The appeal judges have just ruled on the prosecution's appeal against Patterson's sentence, which they claimed was inadequate.

Justice Peter Kidd tells the court that the appeal is allowed and her non-parole period of 33 years is "set aside".

He says "the nature of appellant's offences makes the fixing of a non-parole period inappropriate".

Erin Patterson has lost her appeal, the judges have said, but the prosecution has won theirs - over her sentencing.

The judges have discarded the non-parole period set by the sentencing judge and ruled that the triple-killer can never be released from prison.

All the remaining grounds of appeal, five of them, have been dismissed

Ground two of Patterson's appeal has just been dismissed,

This argument claims that cell tower evidence and evidence of death cap mushroom sightings posted on a citizen scientist site were not relevant to the trial, unfairly prejudicial and has resulted in a "substantial miscarriage of justice".

Just moments ago, the judges said leave to appeal was granted, but ultimately they were unconvinced by the arguments and the appeal ground was dismissed.

Ground one of Patterson's appeal has just been dismissed by the judges.

This ground is about an accommodation booking mishap that saw the jury - as they were deliberating the verdict - stay at the same hotel as members of the prosecution, a key police witness and the media.

Patterson's lawyers say that this "fundamental irregularity" had "fatally undermined the integrity of the verdicts" - "justice cannot only be done but be seen to be done".

Justice Peter Kidd says the trial judge's tipstaff has said there was not interaction between the jury and other hotel guests.

"That ground is therefore unsuccessful," he says.

The three judges - Justices Peter Kidd, Stephen McLeish, Lesley Taylor - have just taken their seats at the bench.

The hearing is now underway.

It's almost 10:00 and the hearing on Patterson's appeal is about to get started.

A panel of three judges will hand down their decision.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest updates.

The three judges who are deciding on Patterson's appeal are:

• Justice Peter Kidd
• Justice Stephen McLeish
• Justice Lesley Taylor

As appeal court judges, they had no involvement with the trial in Morwell last year.

It'll be up to them to decide whether or not the appeals by both Erin Patterson and the public prosecutor are successful.

If they do not all agree on the decision, the case will be decided by a majority vote (two to one), so the opinion of the two agreeing judges becomes the final order of the court.

In a previous life before the murders, Patterson was active in true crime communities as an internet sleuth.

In a twist of fate, she has become the subject of obsession for true crime fans in Australia and around the world.

During her weeks-long trial last year, journalists and curious members of the public descended upon the small town of Morwell to catch a glimpse of Patterson.

Podcasts dedicated to the murder trial were updated daily; books have been published dissecting the case.

Despite a jury finding her guilty on all charges, the fascination with Patterson has not gone away.

This week it was announced that the Emmy-nominated actress Melanie Lynskey would play Patterson in the upcoming series Mushroom Murders: There's More To Unearth.

Image source, Getty Images

Tiffanie Turnbull
BBC News, Sydney

Last July, hundreds descended on Australia's Gippsland region from around the country for the most exciting event on the annual table tennis calendar.

But as elite players vied for medals at the national championships, one of the biggest criminal cases in the nation's history - that of mushroom murderer Erin Patterson - was unfolding just a few kilometres away.

This tournament inadvertently became part of a perfect storm which the triple killer's lawyers are now arguing "fatally undermined" the fairness of her trial.

The jury which condemned Patterson to prison were supposed to be isolated - sheltered from the frenzy surrounding the case while they deliberated - but accommodation shortages in the region meant they shared a hotel with members of the prosecution, a key police witness, and journalists.

Read why Patterson's lawyer say that is ground for appeal - and a re-trial.

As we wait for the court proceedings to start in about 40 minutes, let’s go through the possible outcomes for Patterson’s appeal against her guilty conviction:

• She loses her appeal
• She wins her appeal and a retrial is ordered
• She wins her appeal and she is acquitted

If Patterson loses her appeal, the court will hand down its decision on the prosecution’s appeal against her sentence which they claim is “manifestly inadequate”. The possible outcomes of that are:

• Appeal is dismissed and Patterson’s life sentence with a non-parole period of 33 years remains
• Appeal is upheld and the Court of Appeal will re-sentence Patterson

Image source, Getty Images

Prosecutors have filed an appeal of their own, arguing that the trial judge erred in handing Erin Patterson a life sentence that would allow her to apply for parole after 33 years.

Patterson should never be freed, according to the prosecutors, noting her mushroom poisonings fell into the "worst category" of offending.

Justice Christopher Beale last year agreed that Patterson's crimes were the worst of their kind, but said his decision to allow parole after 33 years was influenced by the "harsh prison conditions" she faced.

If the prosecution's appeal is successful, Patterson could see her parole period extended beyond 33 years. Or she may even be sentenced to life without parole.

Image source, Getty Images