An Australian woman who murdered three of her estranged husband’s elderly relatives with a poisoned Beef Wellington has been jailed for life.
In the early hours of Monday morning, UK time, Erin Patterson, 50, was handed a minimum 33-year jail sentence.
The case which has gripped Australia for years saw Patterson found guilty in July of killing her mother-in-law, Gail Patterson, her father-in-law, Donald Patterson and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson.
A jury also found the 50-year-old guilty of the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, Heather’s husband, who survived the meal at Patterson’s home in Leongatha, Victoria.
Sentencing, Justice Christopher Beale said Patterson’s extensive planning lack of remorse meant her sentence should be lengthy.
“The devastating impact of your crimes is not limited to your direct victims. Your crimes have harmed a great many people,” he told the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne.
“Not only did you cut short three lives and cause lasting damage to Ian Wilkinson’s health, thereby devastating the extended Patterson and Wilkinson families, you inflicted untold suffering on your own children, whom you robbed of their beloved grandparents.”
Erin Patterson has been found guilty of murdering three of her family members with a poisoned mushroom meal | REUTERS
