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Mushroom killer to be jailed for life after appeals court finds sentence too light
CNN • • world
Key Points:
- Erin Patterson, who killed three people by serving toxic death cap mushrooms at a family lunch in July 2023, failed to overturn her conviction as an appeals court ruled her original sentence was too lenient.
- Patterson was sentenced to three life terms plus 25 years for attempted murder, with a 33-year non-parole period, but the appeals court removed the possibility of parole, deeming her crimes “extraordinarily cold and calculated.”
- The court rejected Patterson’s appeals regarding jury sequestration and evidence admissibility, finding no reasonable concern about jury impartiality and upholding the use of cellphone data linking her to the mushrooms.
- The murders were described as carefully planned and a “cruel breach of trust,” with Patterson having deliberately picked and dried the poisonous mushrooms despite her claim of accidental poisoning.
- Patterson appeared unemotional via video link during the ruling, while prosecutors and supporters of the victims expressed satisfaction with the decision.
