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In a statement sent to Victoria Police in August 2023, Erin Patterson described preparing beef Wellington for a family lunch at her Leongatha home. Her account was reported at the time; it was not an independent finding. In 2025, a jury found her guilty of murdering Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson. The Supreme Court of Victoria says she was sentenced on 8 September 2025.
What Patterson said happened at the lunch
PerthNow reported on 14 August 2023 that Patterson had sent Victoria Police a written account the previous week. She said she hosted Don and Gail Patterson, Heather Wilkinson and Ian Wilkinson at her home in Leongatha, Victoria, on 29 July 2023, and served beef Wellington.
According to the report, Patterson said the guests chose their own plates and she ate a serving herself. She said the meal included button mushrooms bought at a supermarket and dried mushrooms she had bought at an Asian grocery store in Melbourne months earlier. She could not provide further details about the dried mushrooms.
What she said about becoming ill and the leftovers
Patterson said she developed stomach pain and diarrhoea after the lunch and was admitted to hospital. She said she was transferred by ambulance from Leongatha Hospital to Monash Medical Centre on 31 July 2023.
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She also said her children had not attended the lunch. According to her account, they ate leftovers the following night after she removed the mushrooms.
What Patterson said about the dehydrator
The 2023 report said Patterson acknowledged that a food dehydrator found by police belonged to her. She said she threw it away after her former husband asked whether it had been used to poison the guests. She said she panicked because she feared losing custody of her children. These are statements attributed to Patterson in the report, not findings about her motive.
PerthNow quoted her as saying: “I really want to repeat that I had absolutely no reason to hurt these people whom I loved.” That was her assertion in the statement, not a court finding.
What happened to the people who ate the meal
Don Patterson, Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson died; Ian Wilkinson survived. In 2025, after a trial that the Supreme Court of Victoria says ran from April to July, a jury found Erin Patterson guilty of murdering Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson. The court reported that Justice Christopher Beale sentenced her on 8 September 2025.
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Appeal status
ABC reported that Patterson’s appeal hearing began on 19 August 2026 and was scheduled to run on 19 and 20 August. The sources cited here confirm that the hearing took place, but do not establish the Court of Appeal’s eventual ruling. They therefore do not show whether the convictions or sentence were upheld or changed.
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