2 November 2023
The remembered headline was the start of a prosecution
Erin Patterson was arrested and charged after the lunch she hosted at Leongatha on 29 July 2023. Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson died; Ian Wilkinson survived. The original reports described police allegations, before a jury had decided guilt.
That distinction matters when returning to an old headline. At the time of her arrest, Patterson denied wrongdoing. A charging report could tell readers what police alleged, but it could not supply the verdict or punishment that would come later. The case eventually went to trial in Victoria’s Supreme Court.
Supreme Court of Victoria: sentencing notice and jury findings · R v Patterson (Sentence) [2025] VSC 557 · full court reasons reproduced by CaseChat
7 July 2025
A jury found her guilty of three murders and an attempted murder
After the trial, the jury convicted Patterson of murdering her parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, and of attempting to murder Heather’s husband Ian. The Office of Public Prosecutions records the verdict date as 7 July 2025.
The sentencing judge later explained what those verdicts established: deliberate poisoning of the four lunch guests. Patterson had given evidence that the poisoning was accidental; the jury rejected that account. That was a finding about the offences, not proof of a particular motive. Justice Christopher Beale expressly declined to speculate about why she did it.
Supreme Court of Victoria: sentencing notice and jury findings · R v Patterson (Sentence) [2025] VSC 557 · full court reasons reproduced by CaseChat · Office of Public Prosecutions: annual report records 7 July 2025 verdict
8 September 2025
Life imprisonment, with 33 years before parole can be considered
Justice Beale imposed life sentences for the three murders and 25 years for the attempted murder. They run concurrently, giving a total effective sentence of life imprisonment, with a 33-year non-parole period.
A non-parole period is the minimum time before release on parole can be considered. It is not an order that Patterson must be released after 33 years, and it does not turn the life sentence into a fixed 33-year term. The judge took account of unusually harsh conditions of imprisonment; his reasons also state that parole is not automatic.
The sentence supplied a substantial answer to “what happened to her?” But it did not end the legal process. Both the convictions and the possibility of eventual parole would be challenged.
R v Patterson (Sentence) [2025] VSC 557 · full court reasons reproduced by CaseChat · Supreme Court of Victoria: appeals heard, judgment to follow · current notice checked 18 October 2026 · ABC: sentence and non-parole period · 8 September 2025
6 October 2025
Prosecutors challenged the sentence too
The Director of Public Prosecutions filed an appeal arguing that the sentence was inadequate. That created a second legal track alongside Patterson’s challenge to her convictions.
The prosecution challenge concerns the fixing or length of the non-parole period. It should not be confused with Patterson’s attempt to overturn the guilty verdicts. The two sides were asking the appellate court to consider different decisions, with potentially different consequences.
SBS: prosecutors file sentence appeal · 6 October 2025 · Supreme Court of Victoria: appeals heard, judgment to follow · current notice checked 18 October 2026
19 August 2026
She appeared from prison while lawyers argued the conviction appeal
At the conviction-appeal hearing on 19 August 2026, Patterson appeared by video from the Dame Phyllis Frost women’s prison, according to ABC’s court reporter. That is the last specifically dated prison location verified for this account.
Her lawyers challenged the fairness of the trial, including the accommodation arrangements for jurors. Prosecutors rejected the defence arguments. These were competing submissions to appeal judges, not findings that the convictions had been overturned.
The hearing brought Patterson back before the court without her leaving prison. Her lawyers were seeking to undo the convictions, while the prosecution maintained that the guilty verdicts should stand. The appeal hearing itself did not set those verdicts aside.
ABC court report: conviction appeal and prison video appearance · 19 August 2026 · Supreme Court of Victoria: appeals heard, judgment to follow · current notice checked 18 October 2026
20 August 2026
The hearings ended; the decisions are still awaited
The Court of Appeal reserved its decisions after the two-day hearing. Prosecutors sought to remove the possibility of parole; Patterson’s lawyers defended the sentencing decision while pursuing the conviction challenge. The Supreme Court’s notice, checked on 18 October 2026, says judgment will be delivered later.
The two questions still before the appeal court are whether the convictions stand and whether the non-parole period changes. The court’s current notice gives no date for delivery of judgment. Patterson’s life sentence remains the established position in the records reviewed.
That leaves a clear answer about her situation, alongside an unfinished legal process: she has been convicted and imprisoned, but the challenges to those decisions have yet to produce their outcomes.
ABC court report: sentence challenge and reserved judgments · 20 August 2026 · Supreme Court of Victoria: appeals heard, judgment to follow · current notice checked 18 October 2026 · SBS: competing appeals before the Court of Appeal · 20 August 2026
The evidence
Sources for this update
- 01Supreme Court of Victoria: sentencing notice and jury findings
- 02R v Patterson (Sentence) [2025] VSC 557 · full court reasons reproduced by CaseChat
- 03Office of Public Prosecutions: annual report records 7 July 2025 verdict
- 04SBS: prosecutors file sentence appeal · 6 October 2025
- 05ABC court report: conviction appeal and prison video appearance · 19 August 2026
- 06ABC court report: sentence challenge and reserved judgments · 20 August 2026
- 07Supreme Court of Victoria: appeals heard, judgment to follow · current notice checked 18 October 2026
- 08ABC: sentence and non-parole period · 8 September 2025
- 09SBS: competing appeals before the Court of Appeal · 20 August 2026
Where the story stands
In prison, with two appeal decisions still to come.
The case is still unfolding. Patterson is serving the life sentence imposed in September 2025. Her last prison location specifically verified for this account is the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, from which ABC reported her August 2026 court appearance. Her conviction challenge and the prosecution’s sentence appeal have been heard, but decisions remain pending in the court’s current notice. The next substantive milestone is delivery of those judgments; no date is stated.