Date set for mushroom killer Erin Patterson’s plea for leniency on murder convictions

Mushroom cook killer Erin Patterson will make her plea for leniency to a Supreme Court judge later this month.

Justice Christopher Beale said at a hearing on Friday – Patterson’s first since her conviction – the pre-sentence hearing would run over two days on August 25 and August 26.

Beale said due to works occurring at the Morwell courthouse, the pre-sentence hearing would be held in Melbourne.

Crown prosecutor Jane Warren agreed one of the two days would likely be taken up with the reading of “a lot” of victim impact statements.

The hearing comes a month after a jury found Patterson guilty of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, and the attempted murder of Heather’s husband, pastor Ian Wilkinson, after feeding them a lunch laced with death cap mushrooms on July 29, 2023.

Unlike the trial – which ran in Morwell, the court closest to her crimes – Friday’s hearing was held in Melbourne where Patterson appeared via videolink from prison.

Beale also ruled at the hearing to release, for the first time, critical evidence used to prosecute Patterson but kept secret until now.

They include online searches she made about poisons, details of allegations husband Simon made against her and a meeting that set police on her after her lunch guests fell critically ill.

Patterson’s barrister Colin Mandy had argued against the release, telling the judge the material must be suppressed to protect his client’s appeal rights. She has until 28-days after sentencing to apply for an appeal.

Barrister Marcus Hoyne, acting for this masthead and other news outlets, argued there was no guarantee Patterson would be granted an appeal and that suppression orders could not prevent overseas media from reporting the information.

Beale rejected the defence argument, instead siding with the press.

“Open justice is a fundamental concern of our criminal justice system,” Beale said.

On Monday, the court released two video clips showing Patterson disposing of a food dehydrator and an interaction she had with police as they raided her Leongatha home in their hunt for clues about the beef Wellington lunch that killed three people.

On July 7, after six days of deliberations, a jury of seven men and five women returned guilty verdicts over the fatal 2023 lunch at Patterson’s Leongatha home.

During a marathon 10-week trial, the jury heard Patterson invited her in-laws and the Wilkinsons to her home that day to falsely tell them she had cancer and ask for their advice on breaking the news to her two children.

Her estranged husband Simon Patterson had been invited, but withdrew from the event the night before.

Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson died in the days after the fateful meal from the effects of toxic mushroom poisoning. Ian Wilkinson survived after spending weeks in a coma in hospital.

Erin Patterson pleaded not guilty to all charges, claiming the deaths were a terrible accident. The jury ultimately rejected her version of events.

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