MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian appeals court on Friday ordered Erin Patterson to never be released from prison after agreeing with prosecutors that her 33-year, non-parole period for poisoning four of her estranged husband’s relatives with death cap mushrooms was inadequate.
The three judges of the Victoria state Court of Appeal also dismissed Patterson’s challenge to her convictions that stemmed from a family meal she hosted at her rural home in Leongatha in July 2023.
Erin Patterson insisted she added death cap mushrooms to the meals accidentally.
Prosecutors argued at an appeal hearing in August that she should never become eligible for parole.
She was sentenced last year to three life sentences for murder and 25 years for attempted murder.
She can challenge the verdict the Australia’s High Court, her final appeal option.