Triple murderer Erin Patterson is facing dying in prison alone as her ultimate fate is set to be decided on Monday.
Patterson, 50, pleaded not guilty to the murders of Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson.
They died after consuming death cap mushrooms served in beef Wellingtons during lunch at her Leongatha home on July 29, 2023.
Only Pastor Ian Wilkinson survived the lunch, with Patterson also convicted of his attempted murder.
During a pre-sentence hearing last month, Justice Christopher Beale indicated he was not against jailing Patterson for the rest of her natural life after the closing address of Crown prosecutor Jane Warren, who claimed her offending deserved the full penalty available under Victorian law.
‘I agree with you that the offending here is horrendous,’ Justice Beale said.
The court heard Patterson’s victims suffered a prolonged and agonising death after consuming the death cap mushrooms.
Her own defence team earlier accepted Patterson should be sentenced to no less than 30 years in jail for her crimes.
Patterson faces the rest of her natural life bound in chains every time she steps foot outside of her prison cell
Erin Patterson pictured on August 25 as she arrived at the Supreme Court of Victoria to hear victim impact statements
‘We make no argument, your honour, that the head sentence should be anything other than life imprisonment,’ her barrister Colin Mandy, SC told the court.
‘The ultimate issue – the dispute between the parties or at issue between the parties is whether or not a non-parole period should be fixed.
‘Ms Patterson is 50 years of age, and so because these allegations, these convictions are standard sentence offences, unless the court considers that it’s in the interest of justice not to do so, the court must fix a non-parole period of 30 years if the relevant term is the term of the offender’s natural life.
‘Even the imposition of a 30-year non-parole period would see Ms Patterson reach the age of 80 or so before she became eligible to apply for parole.’
Patterson’s chances of securing a non-parole period have been further hampered by her refusal to show any insight into her offending.
She maintains her innocence and therefore is seen by the court as a remorseless killer with little to no chance of rehabilitation, even after 30 years behind bars.
Ms Warren cited the disturbing case of evil killer Michael Cardamone to back her submissions.
Cardamone, who was aged 50 like Patterson, sedated Karen Chetcuti near Wangaratta in 2016 with an animal tranquilliser, bound and gagged her, injected her with methamphetamine and battery acid, fractured her skull and then burnt her alive.
Karen Chetcuti was subjected to a horrific death, which earnt her killer life in prison without a chance of parole
The crimes of evil killer Michael Cardamone have been compared to those of Erin Patterson
Cardamone was jailed in 2017 for life without parole by Justice Lex Lasry, who openly stated the cold-blooded killer deserved no mercy.
‘It’s obviously a question that your honour may consider. And that is the question of mercy,’ Ms Warren told Justice Beale.
‘His Honour Justice Lasry considered the question of mercy and whether mercy might be applied in the sentencing exercise; and his decision ultimately not to fix a non-parole period in that case.
‘And his honour stated that, “Sometimes a crime is so horrific, so cruel, and so callous that a step towards mercy becomes too difficult to take”.
‘In our submission, that is apt for this case. It is a crime that is so cruel and so horrific that in our submission the offender is not deserving of this court’s mercy.’
On the night of her death in 2016, Ms Chetcuti, 49, was held prisoner for hours, her wrists and ankles bound with rope, cable ties and duct tape.
She was tortured, and set on fire while still alive. Cardamone may also have sexually assaulted her while she was incapacitated, and drove over her body after she was dead.
Her body was found five days later.
Patterson’s legal team Sophie Stafford, Ophelia Hollway and Colin Mandy, SC enter the Supreme Court of Victoria last month
Cardamone was on parole at the time after serving nine years in jail for raping a 15-year-old while menacing her with a large wrench and threatening to kill her and her family.
His attempt to overturn Justice Lasry’s sentence was later rejected by the Court of Appeal, which agreed the judge made the right call.
‘The murder was premeditated, and committed in circumstances of the utmost cruelty,’ Chief Justice Anne Ferguson said at the time.
‘The sentence of life imprisonment, with no non-parole period was a dreadful punishment … (But) it was, in the exceptional circumstances of this case, well merited.’
Patterson’s living conditions in jail are the only thing standing in the way of her not receiving a non-parole period.
She has remained in the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre’s notorious Gordon Unit for much of her time, with no prospect of moving anytime soon.
Known as a management unit for the jail’s most high-risk offenders, it contains only 20 cells for the worst of society.
There, prisoners are locked down as much as 23 hours a day, with limited access to a small one-metre-square courtyard at the rear of their cells.
Crown prosecutors Dr Nanette Rogers and Jane Warren have called for nothing less than life without parole for Patterson
Detective Leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall arrives at court for Patterson’s pre-sentence hearing. He was the man responsible for bringing the killer to justice
The court heard the Gordon Unit where Patterson is held was recently described as ‘appalling’ by a County Court judge.
Mr Mandy argued no person should be caged for the remainder of their life under such extreme conditions.
‘So informing the question of whether a non-parole period should be fixed, we submit are the conditions and circumstances of her imprisonment. Plainly where a prisoner is held in isolation or separation as it’s described here, that’s a factor relevant to sentence,’ he told the court.
‘The contention is that Ms Patterson will likely be held in those conditions for the foreseeable future and perhaps … for the entire length of her sentence.’
Mr Mandy pointed to the case of Cardinal George Pell, who faced similar jail conditions when he was originally sentenced over historical child sex offences that were eventually overturned.
‘We use that phrase “likely” because it falls within Chief Judge Kidd’s ruling in Pell where his honour said that it’s necessary for the court to inform themselves as to the probabilities of a custodial situation,’ Mr Mandy said.
‘(Patterson) will in our submission always be at risk from other prisoners and that risk, regrettably, given the auspices of the custodial arrangement, can only be effectively managed by isolation. Those are very deprived circumstances.’
Justice Beale suggested some concern over the prospect of Patterson being held within the Gordon Unit for the entirety of her sentence.
Justice Christopher Beale holds the future of Erin Patterson in his hands
‘(It) doesn’t sound very humane,’ he said.
As it stands, the judge has no real idea whether or not Patterson will indeed spend her life caged in isolation.
‘Your honour cannot sentence on the basis of prediction or mere speculation,’ Ms Warren told him.
‘Well, I feel fairly confident that she’s going to remain notorious for a long, long time,’ Justice Beale responded.
Ms Warren argued Justice Beale could not sentence on the basis that Patterson would spend her entire sentence in those conditions.
‘But, we accept, certainly, the foreseeable future,’ she said.
While Patterson’s epic 10-week trial was held in Morwell, in Victoria’s east, Justice Beale will hand down his sentence in Melbourne on September 8 due to maintenance issues in the Latrobe Valley Law Courts.
