MELBOURNE, Australia, Sept 8, (AP): An Australian judge on Monday sentenced triple-murderer Erin Patterson to life in prison with a non-parole period of 33 years for poisoning four of her estranged husband’s relatives with death cap mushrooms. Justice Christopher Beale told the Victoria state Supreme Court that Patterson’s crimes involved an enormous betrayal of trust.

Patterson was convicted in July of murdering Don and Gail Patterson and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, with a lunch of beef Wellington pastries laced with foraged death cap mushrooms. Patterson was also convicted of attempting to murder Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson, who spent weeks in a hospital. Patterson’s estranged husband, Simon Patterson, was invited but did not attend the July 2023 lunch served to her parents-in-law and her estranged husband’s aunt and uncle at her home.

"Your victims were all your relatives by marriage. More than that, they had all been good to you and your children over many years, as you acknowledged in your testimony,” Beale said. "Not only did you cut short three lives and cause lasting damage to Ian Wilkinson’s health, thereby devastating extended Patterson and Wilkinson families, you inflicted untold suffering on your own children, whom you robbed of their beloved grandparents,” he added.

Both prosecution and defense lawyers had agreed that a life sentence was an appropriate punishment for the 50-year-old on three counts of murder and one of attempted murder. But defense lawyers had asked for Patterson to become eligible for parole after serving 30 years. Prosecutors had argued she should never be considered for parole because she did not deserve the court’s mercy.

Ian Wilkinson did not comment on the sentence but thanked police, prosecutors and health services he'd encountered since the poisonings. "We’re thankful that when things go wrong, there are good people and services and systems available to help us recover,” he told reporters outside court. "Our lives and the life of our community depends on the kindness of others.

I’d like to encourage everybody to be kind to each other. Finally, I want to say thank you to the many people from across Australia and around the world who through their prayers and messages of support have encouraged us,” he added. Beale said Patterson had also intended to kill her husband if he had accepted his invitation to lunch.