Benedict Tetzlaff-Deas

Erin Patterson is appealing her convictions for murdering her former in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Heather Wilkinson by serving a meal containing poisonous deathcap mushrooms. Her lawyers argue that improper evidence, an oppressive cross-examination, excluded defence material and a jury accommodation error—where jurors stayed in a hotel with prosecutors, a police witness and journalists—undermined the trial. Prosecutors have filed a separate appeal claiming her life sentence with a 33-year non-parole period was too lenient and could seek a longer period or life without parole. A three-judge Victorian Court of Appeal panel will determine whether the convictions stand, are retried or overturned.