Ian Wilkinson, the sole survivor of a 2023 mushroom poisoning that killed three others, delivered an emotional victim impact statement Monday as convicted killer Erin Patterson awaits sentencing for triple murder. Patterson, 50, was found guilty in July of serving a toxic lunch of beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms to family members at her home in Leongatha, Victoria.
The victims—Don and Gail Patterson, along with Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson—were all relatives of Erin Patterson’s estranged husband, Simon Patterson. Ian Wilkinson, Heather’s husband and a Baptist pastor, survived after spending weeks in the hospital and undergoing a liver transplant. The lunch was served July 2023. Simon Patterson was invited but did not attend.
“The offending here is horrendous,” Justice Christopher Beale told the court during Monday’s hearing at the Victoria state Supreme Court in Melbourne.
Wilkinson described his late wife as a woman of deep Christian faith, known for her love, kindness, and self-control. “I only feel half alive without her,” he said, breaking down in court. He described the Pattersons as the closest people to him after his wife and family. “My life is greatly impoverished without them.”
Wilkinson expressed dismay that Patterson acted “with callous and calculated disregard” for people who had only shown her goodwill. Still, he extended forgiveness for the harm done to him. “My prayer for her is that she will use her time in jail wisely to become a better person,” he said.
Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence without parole, citing the crime’s cruelty. Patterson’s attorneys asked for parole eligibility after 30 years. They argued mental health issues may have played a role, though the judge questioned the credibility of those claims.
Sentencing is set for September 8.
