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A statement from the man who survived her poisoning dominated the plea hearing of mushroom murderer Erin Patterson, as her legal team detailed the conditions she is facing in jail. By Lucie Morris-Marr.
‘Like a tsunami’: The impact of Erin Patterson’s murderous lunch
When Ian Wilkinson, the sole survivor of the infamous death cap mushroom lunch, spoke in the Supreme Court of Victoria this week, he made a magnanimous gesture towards Erin Patterson, the woman who had killed his wife and two other relatives: “I offer you my forgiveness.”
The pastor faced Patterson, pale and wearing a patterned shirt covered by a long cardigan, as he began reading his victim impact statement.
It was the first time the mother of two had appeared in court since a jury found her guilty in July of trying to kill the pastor and of fatally poisoning his wife, Heather, 66, and Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, the parents of her estranged husband, Simon Patterson.
“I have no power or responsibility to forgive harms done to others,” Wilkinson said.
“In regard to the murders of Heather, Gail and Don, I am compelled to seek justice.
“However, I encourage Erin to receive my offer of forgiveness for those harms done to me with full confession and repentance.”
Within the forbidding confines of Court 4 – packed with media, more than 20 family members and members of the public – Wilkinson’s statement was the first of seven heard by the court before mitigating arguments began.
All the statements, and there were 21 others not read out in court, painted a picture of lives stricken by grief, shattered by the fatal meal prepared by Patterson at her Leongatha home in July 2023.
Wilkinson’s voice cracked as he spoke of intense loneliness, despair and lingering ill health. “The greatest impact of Erin’s actions on me has been to deprive me of Heather’s company and Heather’s important place in our family,” he said. “The silence in our home is a daily reminder.”
Wilkinson, 71, broke down several times as he addressed the court. He recovered himself gallantly. There were silent pauses, deep breaths.
Patterson may have nearly taken his life, but she hadn’t destroyed his will to speak his truth.
“I continue to carry a heavy burden of grief over [Heather’s] untimely death … It’s a truly horrible thought to live with, that somebody could decide to take her life.”
Wilkinson, who has since returned to leading services at Korumburra Baptist Church, said it had been heartbreaking to wind up his wife’s affairs, that he faced “unsettled sleep” and had nobody to share life’s daily tasks.
The pastor ended his statement by offering his forgiveness and by saying he hoped Erin’s time in jail would make her a “better person”.
“Now I am no longer Erin Patterson’s victim and she has become the victim of my kindness,” he said.
The couple’s daughter, Ruth Dubois, spoke next, offering another portrait of grief and trauma.
“On 29 July, 2023, four generations of our families – ranging from newborn to 99 years old, countless friends and wider community – were handed a lifetime of carrying this unimaginable horror,” she told the court.
She described the vast chasm the loss of her mother has left in her life, saying: “She was the person I went to for advice, the person I’d call when I wanted to share my successes, the person who comforted me and lifted me up when I was going through hard times. She was somebody I trusted with both the best parts and worst parts of myself, knowing there would be no judgement.”
Concluding her statement, Dubois shared her fears that her children would carry the trauma of the death of their grandmother for their rest of their lives. Referring to Erin’s own children, she said: “As a mother I will never understand how you could willingly choose this for your children.”
The court went on to hear of further layers of heartbreak within the families.
Lynette Anne Young, the middle sister of Gail and Heather, explained that at the time of their deaths they had been busy planning the birthday of their elderly father, who was turning 100.
“She [Heather] had organised a letter from the king and many others besides for his spectacular birthday event,” she said, “It was so sad that Gail and Heather and Dad and Don were denied this special celebration together.”
Their father died in May 2024, five months after his 100th birthday; he did not live to see the woman who killed two of his daughters face justice.
Family friend Naomi Gleadow read victim impact statements from four more family members. The first was the family matriarch, Martha Patterson, who is now 100, followed by statements from Don Patterson’s younger brother, Colin, and Tim Patterson, Colin’s son.
The final statement she read to the court was on behalf of Simon Patterson, who said he still couldn’t accept his parents were gone.
“In my mind … they’re still there in Korumburra, sitting by the fire in a cosy living room reading books, playing with the kids, having interesting conversations and sharing meals and their love of life and family and God and each other. In some ways I hope it stays like that forever.”
Turning to his estranged wife’s crime, his statement said the longevity of his grandparents showed that his own parents could have lived so much longer. “I will be aware for roughly the next 30 years, presuming I live that long, that they could still be alive had Erin not chosen to murder them.”
Talking about the two children he shares with Erin, he said they have been “robbed of hope for the kind of relationship with their mother that every child naturally yearns for”.
“Like all of us, they face the daunting challenge of trying to comprehend what she has done, and then who she might be,” the statement said.
Despite everything, he said, the children are “incredibly strong, loving, intelligent, observant and wise beyond their years”.
Simon, who was critical of both the “abrasive” legal system and the “occasionally callous” mainstream media, said the family were surviving with the help of friends, family, school, the church congregation and professional counsellors.
The court heard that, due to her high profile and fears for her safety, Patterson is being held in the Gordon Unit at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, a close supervision segregation unit.
The prisoner in the cell next door is believed to be female terrorist Momena Shoma, who had her sentence extended in 2021 after she attacked a fellow inmate with garden shears. Patterson’s legal team complained that, due to staff shortages at the high-security women’s prison, she was rarely able to access certain prison facilities such as the library and leisure centre.
Patterson is being housed in one of 20 cells where inmates are generally allowed out into the communal lounge area for one hour a day. Her personal items include wool for her crocheting hobby, a computer and a hair straightener. She is also allowed a TV.
For the past 14 months, according to her barrister, Colin Mandy, SC, Patterson has only been in contact with staff, including a prison chaplain, despite her right to be put in contact with one other prisoner via an intercom in her cell or through a mesh in a small exercise area at the back of her cell.
Jennifer Hosking, the assistant commissioner for Corrections Victoria’s Sentence Management Division, said new recruits due to start in coming months should help ease the problems facing those in custody.
She said she did not view Patterson’s stay in the restrictive unit as permanent but accepted that due to her ongoing high profile the triple murderer may need to stay in the unit long-term. United Nations guidelines state that 15 days should be the maximum time spent in segregation.
While Mandy said he accepted his client was going to face a life sentence for her crime, he suggested her isolation was a mitigating factor.
“The ultimate issue between the parties is whether a non-parole period should be fixed,” he said.
Prosecutor Jane Warren argued Patterson was not deserving of the court’s mercy because her crime was “so cruel” and the victims suffered “slow and painful deaths”.
Justice Christopher Beale, who also oversaw the trial, noted the crime’s impact on the families was “like a tsunami” that had impacted four generations.
He will sentence Patterson on September 8.
This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on August 30, 2025 as "Deep impact".
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