Mushroom murderer trial undermined by 'catastrophic' hotel mix-up, court told

Lawyers for Australian mushroom murderer Erin Patterson say her conviction was undermined by a "catastrophic" mix-up that led to the jury staying at the same hotel as prosecutors and a key witness. Patterson is serving a life sentence after killing three of her relatives and trying to kill another by serving them a beef Wellington containing death cap mushrooms at her Victoria home in 2023. Her lawyers also argued some evidence in the trial was too speculative, while evidence crucial to their own case was wrongfully excluded.

At the same hearing, Victoria's Director of Public Prosecutions is appealing against the sentence, arguing a 33-year parole period is "manifestly inadequate". Patterson's victims include her in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66. Patterson, 51, did not attend the Court of Appeal in Melbourne in person, opting to watch via video link from prison.

Also not present was Patterson's estranged husband Simon Patterson, who was meant to attend the deadly lunch but cancelled at the last minute, in part due to his belief that his wife had been trying to poison him for years. Heather Wilkinson's husband Ian, the only surviving guest of the lunch, was in court. During Wednesday's hearing, the appeal judges heard that while deliberating their verdict, jurors stayed in the same hotel as members of the prosecution team, a key police witness, and journalists.

Patterson's barrister Richard Edney said this "catastrophic" situation had "undermined the integrity of the verdicts and requires the quashing of the convictions". He said a retrial was required "so that justice can not only be done but be seen to be done". Director of Public Prosecutions Brendan Kissane accepted it was regrettable but "happened, as far as we can tell… by accident".

"The issue is whether there was communication between this jury and any other person," he said. "The evidence as it stands points towards there being no communication. Once the court accepts that, there's no irregularity in this situation, let alone a fundamental irregularity that goes to the root of the trial." Patterson's lawyers have also argued a prosecution theory about how the death cap mushrooms were located and foraged should not have been allowed to be put to the jury.

During the trial, prosecutors suggested Patterson went looking for death caps after two sightings near her hometown were reported on the citizen scientist site iNaturalist. Jurors heard her phone connected to cell towers in both of those areas. But at Wednesday's appeal, one of her lawyers, Veronika Drago, accused prosecutors of "turning nothing into something".